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**PCharles** · 10-30-2011, 07:45 PM

Here in Western NC, we didn't awake to a white blanket of snow as many North of us did, but it was darn cold. The temperature was just below freezing. Just yesterday I picked an arraingement of flowers to display in my friends wine tasting room. Today those flowers are finished. So goes it with the seasons. I've attached a photo of my fall wine efforts. I excited to say there isn't a kit in the batch. Included here are the following.

Cabernet Sauvignon - 9 gallons under MLF

Jalapeno Mint (Fire and Ice) - 3 gallons 1/3 straight, 1/3 American oak, 1/3 French oak. So far I like the French oak best.

Scuppernong - 5 Gallons

Spiced Apple Cider - 11 gallons

This appears to be the end of my 2011 wine projects. Temps in the basement are around 55 degrees, so it looks like I will be waiting until spring to start my 2012 strawberry wine. This end my first wine making season. Much thanks to those of you who have provided helpful information here on winemakingtalk.

Happy fermenting friends,
Paul

**Brian** · 10-30-2011, 08:00 PM

Nice assortment Paul! Even though the basement gets a little cold you can always use brewbelts to keep your fermentation going.. I could not stop making.. I would go into DTsssssssssss

**cpfan** · 10-30-2011, 09:35 PM

Paul...I love the assortment of fermentation vessels...bottles, jugs, carboys.

Steve

**SarahRides** · 10-30-2011, 09:50 PM

I agree! I love the round jugs!

**PCharles** · 10-30-2011, 11:40 PM

Most of those round jugs came from the habitat restore shop for a buck each. I bought them out early this spring. One of them is truly unique, holding about 1000 mls. I'm able to use a 6 1/2 bung on these. I have a smaller siphon tube to drain rather than my regular pump siphon.

Runningwolf · 10-30-2011, 11:49 PM

Very cool. I like the round ones also.

**dangerdave** · 10-31-2011, 02:59 PM

Excellent assortment, Charles. However, like Brian said. I'd have to find a way to keep making over the winter. I just bottled four of my six batches I had going, and the Lab looks empty with just two full carboys and six empties sitting there---lonely and hollow. After the week long flurry of activity culminating in the mass bottling, I feel like I now have nothing to do. I told the wife I was going to take a wee break from winemaking, but it's not going to happen (yea, that's what she said). I'm already looking through my recipies.

I just can't stop. I'm hooked on this thing called wine.

**PCharles** · 11-01-2011, 05:19 AM

Hey Dave and Brian,

Don't get me wrong, temps may be low, but I know I could ferment more over the winter. Pehaps low temps are just an excuse for me to plan for other projects. I have a good bit of bottling and storage ahead of me. My 175 bottle shelf will have to be enlarged to handle what I already have. It's not that I don't want to try to make more, it that I want to plan more for what I want. I've decided that I prefer homemade wine to kits. My major project for next season will be a big fall Red Wine fermentation. I'm hoping to negotiate 400-500 lbs of red grapes. Perhaps I may do an early red followed by a late red ferment. To accomplish this I'll need to have the funds for equipment and fruit. I also anticipate an early season strawberry project and a late season apple project. No doubt I'll slip a few smaller ferments into my schedule.

Living here in the Western NC, I don't have access to frozen juice like you NE wine makers. I was fortunate to achieve access to freshly picked/crushed grapes. Moving this up in volume while maintaining the quality of grape will be a challenge. I may need to pair up with other wine makers to procure 1 or more tons of fruit.

So, I am avoiding some of the smaller project with the bigger project in mind.

Thanks for the encouragement though,

Best regards,
Paul

**Rocky** · 11-01-2011, 10:39 AM

Paul, Great assortment of containers. I am trying to figure out which wines are which. The Cab is obvious and I am guessing that the BB has the Scuppernong. The clear wines on the right of the picture are probably the Jalapeno and all the rest is the spiced apple, right? What is confusing me, I guess, is the different color of the spiced apple wines or is that coming from a tint on the container? Also, what did you mean by the "habitat restore shop?" Thanks.

**PCharles** · 11-01-2011, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocky

Paul, Great assortment of containers. I am trying to figure out which wines are which. The Cab is obvious and I am guessing that the BB has the Scuppernong. The clear wines on the right of the picture are probably the Jalapeno and all the rest is the spiced apple, right? What is confusing me, I guess, is the different color of the spiced apple wines or is that coming from a tint on the container? Also, what did you mean by the "habitat restore shop?" Thanks.

You got it right, the Cab Sauv is the dark one on the left, the Jalapeno is the clear one on the right, the Scuppernong is in the rear right, and the apple is the hazy one in the front. One explanation for the apple having varying color is that the last half coming out of the fermenter was split. By this I mean the first six gallons went straight into a six gallon carboy. The remainder was bounced around into several combinations of carboys. I had trouble with the bungs going into the Livingston wine jugs, so I put the wine in my 2 gallon fermenter for a day. When I moved the wine into the jugs, some of the sediment had already fallen out. This, as well as the glass tint, may explain the difference in color. I worked out the problem with the bungs. Apparently the bungs needed to be squeezed into jugs for a day or so before they would fit properly. At first they kept popping out, but stay put now.

The Habitat Restore Shop is a local second had shop that sells donated items.