The rewards and frustrations of home winemaking

Tag archive: acetone

Blending Trials for Three Pelicans Blend

I’ve been planning to make a blend similar to Duckhorn’s “Paraduxx” for a while; their blend is a combination of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot.  I was planning to substitute my 2009 Primitivo for the zinfandel, but in a previous blending trial the primitivo just overwhelmed all of the other varietals and any blend was […]

2011 Syrah Tasting Party #2

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, […]

Syrah Stink Update

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 […]

Barrel to Barrel Syrah

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 […]

2011 Syrah Tasting and the Case of the Stinky Syrah

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. […]

Racking Primitivo and Petite Sirah Sludge

The primitivo has been settling out since October, so it seemed like time to poke at it.  I like to splash rack my wine that is bulk aging in carboys at least once to try to give it a little oxygenation while it’s hanging out. The primi has become wonderfully clear already, a lovely purple-ruby […]

Rack and Test Home Merlots

I noticed that quite a bit of sediment fell out of the home merlots, so I decided it was time to rack them off again and test them for pH and acid levels.  I also figured the Free SO2 levels had dropped (I give up on the test strips) and added ¼ tsp Kmeta to […]

Dealing with the Acetone

Since Dave has already drunk half of his bottled wine, I asked if he had any acetone problems, and he said no.  So, I checked one of the small bottles of extra merlot, and was very happy that there was no acetone odor or taste there.  OK, then something happened to the carboy.  I checked […]

Guest Room Winery is Out of Control

With all of the carboys from the barrel wine plus the kit wines I have bulk aging, the wine has now overflowed out of the shower and into the guest room.  Reservations are now required!  The shower is also quite busy. We busted out a little sample of the merlot from the carboy, expecting it […]