The rewards and frustrations of home winemaking

Tag archive: Cellar Craft

Starting Syrah Fermentation and Bottling Zin

Time to get the syrah started.  I met Dave at the office, and he set up the “server room winery” with plastic sheeting while I revved up the yeast.  I heated up some water and dissolved in go-ferm, then added ICV-D254 yeast and let it wake up for about 15 minutes.  Then I added some [...]

Is That Supposed to Look Like That?

I was racking off my Cellar Craft 5-week Old Vines Zinfandel kit today and noticed this yucky-looking white residue at the top of the wine, sticking to the side of the carboy as it was racked off.  There was a lot of lees at the bottom, too.  I have an extra liter or so of [...]

Cellar Craft Lodi Old Vine Zin

I finished bottling the “Bahia Belle” blend and Merlot B (“Embarcadero” merlot) today.  Then I finally started another “easy drinker” red kit that I’ve been excited about, a Cellar Craft Lodi Old Zinfandel.  I wanted a good, easy house zin to have around for grilling and whatnot, so I did a lot of research on [...]

First Racking of Yakima Synergy and Starting Year-Old Kit

The SG on the Yakima Synergy is at 0.994, although it’s still bubbling away in there.  After racking, it’s not very pretty!  But, it’s early in the game, there’s still plenty of stirring ahead before it’s expected to clear. In the meantime, Dave bought a cabernet sauvignon kit last year, at the same time that [...]

Starting Yakima Synergy Cellar Craft Reserve

This is my first Cellar Craft kit.  I’m looking forward to this one for several reasons.  I’ve read a lot of good things about Cellar Craft on winepress.us.  Also, the description of this white blend sounds beyond yummy;  it’s a blend of Marsanne and Roussanne from Yakima valley in Washington state, two lovely rhone whites.  [...]