I checked in with the guys yesterday, the petite sirah was due to be pitched. In fact, it looked like it was already bubbling away, like what happened with the merlot this year. But, it looked great — Paul added vinozyme, and the juice was a lovely inky dark purple color. Then I got a […]
Tag archive: grapes
Today we pick up the Petite Sirah grapes from Chris van Alyea at his new digs up in San Marcos. Unfortunately, the grapes arrived later than expected, although it’s not too bad, Paul and I had a lot to do before we head up to get them. We spent about 4 hours racking the merlot […]
All of our wines are fermenting fast this year, the merlot was already at 0 brix by Friday. Dave retested all the cans Saturday morning after we had all gathered for pressing, and noticed that the hydrometer he had used was broken — there was juice inside of the hydrometer. But, luckily the juice was […]
Since pressing 1500 pounds of merlot plus the incoming 1000 pounds of petite sirah with a one-gallon basket press did not sound exciting, we all went in on a 90-L bladder press. Our new addition arrived today! Good timing, too, the merlot is already below 11 brix and falling fast.
Yep, harvest season is in full swing. Our merlot from Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma arrived Tuesday. The plan was to do a 4-5 day cold soak, then pitch the yeast on Sunday — except it started spontaneously fermenting on Friday! Paul ran out and got the yeasts to pitch, ICV-D21 and BM4x4. Chris recommended […]
Although this blend is still very young — only about 2 months in the bottle! — I really wanted to try it out. Decanted very briefly. Very sharp, acidic nose. Hint of raspberry and blackberry with spice. Very clear, garnet-purple in color. Very vegetal flavors of green pepper, raspberry, plum, and oak. After about an […]
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 […]