Our syrah finished fermenting in about 7 days. Average fermentation temperatures were 80 to 82 degrees, though the bucket with Pasteur Red got up to 88 degrees on day 2 of fermentation. It was progressing smoothly so we did not add Fermaid K this time. Now it’s time to press out our wine! We decided […]
Tag archive: pressing
Our 2010 Syrah from Live Oak Vineyard in Fallbrook fermented fast, and the brix were below 5 by the next week. We decided to go ahead and press out the wine before it was completely dry so that we could do it on a weekend day. We took a quick brix test and an obligatory […]
We have lived in San Diego for about 10 years now, and I can’t believe I didn’t know about Bernardo Winery until now. It is the oldest winery in San Diego (actually in southern California), and is truly a unique venue. The winery tasting room is located on the original winery property, and is now […]
With four different varietals in various stages of progress, as well as the last of the 2008 merlot to bottle, every weekend is going to be quite busy for a few more weeks. Since I was out of malic acid tests last weekend when the primitivo was racked, sulfited, and oaked, I took a sample […]
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.
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 […]
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.
Lot B merlot FINALLY reached zero degrees brix. What a relief! Lot B, with the Pasteur red yeast, took a whole week longer than lot A, with the RC212 yeast. It should be interesting to see how different they taste. I borrowed a gallon basket press from another home winemaker I met the day we […]