The rewards and frustrations of home winemaking

Monthly archive: 03 2010

Diggin’ Holes

I went out to help my friend Ray put posts in for his new vineyard at Highland Valley.ย  It was a great day, although we had Santa Ana winds.ย  That means nice warm, clear weather, and it also means strong gusts of wind up to 35 mph.ย  There were a few times we had to […]

Another New Addition!

I found a listing for a used crusher/destemmer online, and we went and picked it up today!ย  Now we’re really ready for harvest season this year!

Trying MLF Again on Syrah

Since our syrah never finished malolactic fermentation, and since the free SO2 is below 10 ppm, I decided to try to restart the MLF with some fresh bacteria.ย  I set up 200 mL of filtered water with some acti-ML nutrient and added 2 grams of dry “Bacchus” MLB.ย  While that was incubating, I rechecked the […]

Pinot Gris Two and a Half Year Tasting Note

There are only 2 bottles of this wine left, though it is surprising that it has lasted this long.ย  This wine has really developed nicely over the years. It now has very rounded, mellow nose of apricots and melon. Coconut notes develop on the tongue coupled with crisp flavors of lychee and apple. This wine […]