The rewards and frustrations of home winemaking

My 2011 Hands-on Harvest class met again last night to check out the progress on our 2011 Live Oak Vineyard Fallbrook syrahs. Details on fermentation and previous tasting notes are in prior blog posts.  Here are our tasting notes: Batch #1 — No additional oak was added after the first racking. Peppery aromas and very peppery, [...]

Last weekend the barrel of 2010 syrah had NO free SO2 detectable with the Vinmetrica SC-100. I added another 1 1/2 tsp of Kmeta, and tested the free SO2 again yesterday. I noted that the odor of acetone had already subsided, and happily the free SO2 is up to 20 ppm. I added another teaspoon [...]

I was given some samples of a new product called “One Little Drop,” touted to “improve wines.” We opened a bottle of my 2009 Merlot, which is a bit on the tannic side, so decided it was a good opportunity to test it out. Basically, you put one drop of the solution into your wine [...]

I finally got around to transferring the problem 2010 syrah from one barrel to another. The acetone aroma was definitely present, though not so bad in the taste. If I let a sample sit out in a cup for a while it seemed to dissipate, so hopefully a good splash rack and some sulfite will [...]

My Hands-on Winemaking Class got together last night for a potluck dinner to taste the fruits of our labors. We put French oak cubes in the wines about 2 months ago, so now is a good time to give them all a taste to see if there is enough oak, or if it needs more. [...]

I just tested our 2011 syrah batch #1 for malic acid levels, and it’s finally done!  I’m still baffled why this one batch, out of four total, took 2 more weeks to finish MLF than the others.  The particular yeast used (ICV-D80) must have produced something that was slowing down the malolactic bacteria.  I’m curious [...]

  It’s almost 6 weeks after initiating malolactic fermentation on our 2011 Fallbrook Syrah. I tested malic acid levels today with the Accuvin quick tests. Batch #1 (fermented with ICV-D80) is the one batch that didn’t seem to be progressing at all, but today it seems to be below the max value on the scale. [...]

Today I’m finally getting around to taking care of the 2010 Syrah we just brought down, plus I need to stir and check the progression of the MLF on the 2011 Syrah.  My Hands-on Winemaking class did the initial test for lactic acid in all four batches of the 2011 Syrah last Sunday, and all [...]

The oak trials were bottled about 2 months ago now, and I’m ready to do a tasting of the panel.  My husband has agreed to help me out, since there are 7 different wines to taste.  First is the unoaked Winexpert Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay:  dry, but not crisp, with subtle hints of apple and pear.  [...]

Paul and I are not happy with the way the 2010 Syrah is tasting.  It has been hanging out in the Flextank for about a year now, with oak cubes, but it just tastes kind of closed up.  Supposedly the Flextank “breathes” like a barrel, but right now I’m not buying that.  We both agreed [...]