bin o' 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 must to let it acclimate to the sugar and acid levels for another 15 minutes.  While that was hanging out, we checked the total acidity with our quick test, and it read around 10, which fit with the pH.  We stirred in some pectin enzyme and then the yeast, then let it sit for the night.  The must was a little cooler than desirable (~65 degrees F), but it should get going anyway.  I had weighed out everything at home before heading over, and I realized there that I probably overestimate the must volume by using weight since I did not discount the stem weight.  Oh well, we’ll see if it foams over I guess!

Since it was Labor Day, I continued my laboring at home.  I bottled the Cellar Craft 5-week Old Vine Zinfandel kit.  I thought the kit might benefit from blending with a little bit of my barrel merlot, and did a little trial with 1:6 or 1:3 merlot:zinfandel.  My hubby and I agreed that the kit was pretty good on its own, so I bottled it as it was.  Should be a good house wine, it was already really good — only a slight kit taste, very fruit-forward with light spice. Very likely this wine will be outstanding in as little as 6 months of aging, and probably won’t last long!