The rewards and frustrations of home winemaking

Tag archive: grapes

Try MLF on Merlot Again and First Reserve Kit for 2009

Time to rack and check the home merlot.  I splash racked again, and tested/tasted it.  The Free SO2 seemed to be below 20 ppm, so I’m going to try to restart MLF with the dried bacteria I got in December.  I’m not optimistic, because I’m pretty sure the bacteria is no good after this long, […]

Checking on the Barrel Wines

I stopped by the office to check out the barrel wines to make sure they’re not over-oaked.  They both taste great, and we don’t think they’re too oaky yet.  Let a sleeping cab lie ….

Splash Racking the Merlots

The merlot has been on my mind.  I’m bothered that the MLF didn’t finish, although the MLF in the barrel batch did not complete either.  But, since the Cab MLF went great, I feel like there should be something proactive I can and should do to try to make it work.  I’m worried that it […]

Cab Sauv MLF Almost Complete

Just checked the malic acid levels in the cab, and it’s at the bottom end of the strip test, reading ~50 mg/L.  So, we know the strip tests work, the MLF in the merlot just didn’t.

Racking Cab to the Barrel

We racked the cab out of the lovely grey trash cans into an even lovelier new American oak barrel with medium toast.  Dave and I ended up with a full 30 gallon barrel plus a 6 gallon carboy and another 2 gallon bottle full of fine lees.  I checked the malic acid, and it’s down […]

Merlot Analysis

Paul sent in a sample of his merlot to Vinquiry for a full panel analysis.  The merlot Dave, Josh, and I made should be similar, although our MLF definitely did not complete like Paul’s did.  Here’s his analysis results: Alcohol: 16.4% pH: 3.56 TA: .765 Free SO2 : 0 (He hadn’t added any yet) Total […]

Yay, MLF!

I stopped over to check the MLF progression on the cab, and it looks like it’s working this time!  Malic acid levels have dropped below 300 mg/L (not at max at least!), and lactic acid is reading positive at 80 mg/L.

Pressing Cabernet Sauvignon

Paul borrowed the bladder press again, and I happily took a day off of work to, well, work on the wine.  Definitely more fun work anyway!  We got it all pressed out and added the Malostart, and tomorrow the guys will add VP41 malolactic bacteria.  Let’s hope it works this time.

I Don’t Think MLF Is Working … At Least the Cab is Working

Week 3 of malolactic fermentation, and malic acid levels are not going down.  I’m a bit nervous about not sulfiting the wines at this point, and it is possible that MLF might not complete in these wines anyway.  I poked around the internet and decided it was not worth risking, so I added ¼ tsp […]

Cabernet Progression

I went over to the office to check on the wine.  Sugars are dropping steadily, down to 8.5 degrees brix.  We added more yeast nutrient to all of them.