Paul pressed out the syrah this week, and then racked the juice off of the gross lees into carboys to start the MLF. It looks like we only got about 10 gallons of juice, and he also kept a bucket of “sludge” that looked like it might settle out and yield a little more volume. [...]
Tag archive: primitivo
I checked on the primitivo this morning, and saw that the bottles had warped again. This happened before, the ongoing fermentation creates a negative pressure that causes the bottles to kind of “suck in” and get warped. It’s an easy fix, I just pulled off the bungs to release the pressure and they went back [...]
It was time to pump off the cleared wine into a clean trash can for inoculation of the MLB. My hubby was nice enough to help me, since wrangling the wine pump could get a little hairy; both hoses need to be held under the wine, while plugging in the pump and sucking air through [...]
I got everything set up and started pressing the primitivo after retesting the brix, which were at 0 for both cans. It took about 4 hours total, it’s quite tedious with the basket press – the must gets poured in until the basket is about full, then the lid gets screwed down to press. The [...]
This is unexpected, both the syrah and the primitivo are ready to press this weekend. It would not normally be a problem, except we are going to our friends’ wedding today in Fallbrook (an hour away, but oh so pretty there!). That makes pressing today with the basket press not an option, leaving only one [...]
I checked the brix today – can A is at 11.7 brix, and can B is at 9 brix! I gave can A 40 grams of fermax yeast nutrient, since it has a slight sulfur smell, and 20 grams to can be. The temps were up to 88 degrees, too. Looks like I’ll be pressing [...]
Day 2 after inoculation of the primitivo. I went to punch down this morning, and noticed that the can with BM45 (can B) was exceptionally foamy, whereas can A with ICV-D80 had no noticeable foam. Can A was at 82 degrees F, and can B was at 85 degrees F. I checked out Lallemand’s wine [...]
There are signs of fermentation – little bubbles forming at the top, the cap already forming, and the aromas of fermentation in the air. Both cans were at about 75 degrees F. I added 18 grams fermaid-K and 12 grams opti-red to each can, and gave them a good stir.
Time to check out the primitivo must. Brix are at about 26-26.5; pH is up at 4, and TA is ~9.5-10 g/L. Not perfect; I decided to add a half gallon of water with 14 grams of dissolved tartaric acid to each can, and also added pectinase. When I retested, the brix were at about [...]
My friend Ray emailed me on Tuesday that the Zin at BellaGrace Vineyards slowed down in ripening, and would not be ready for harvest until next week. This would not normally had been a problem, but Ray was going to South Bend to cheer on the Irish against Michigan State. The grower told him that [...]