Recent content by NorCal

I have 3 varietals in the vineyard; Zin, Syrah, Cab Sauv. Last year I netted 50 gallon Syrah, 60 gallon Zin and 30 gallon Cab Sauv. The Syrah is the best grape in the vineyard, just not a fan of Zin, but Zin grapes are what they should be and the Cab Sauv should not have been planted; just too...

The vineyard has been through 3 owners, only the first knew what they were doing. I make a trade off each season on rehab, aesthetics and fruit production to slowly bring the vineyard around.

Starting to think about my suckering strategy.

Yes, CO2. There are degassing techniques you can do, or simply give it time. Once you bottle it, the CO2 is there to stay, so make sure you are happy with the taste profile before you put the cork in. I have Chardonnay that is 6 months old and still needs some more time. The retention of...

I have a vineyard that produces 30 gallons worth of Cab Sauv. I have 30 gallons of Cab from 2023 in two 15 gallon spiedels. My plans is to co-ferment (alcohol & mlf) the 2024 crop then combine the 2023 and 2024 into a 60 gallon barrel. I will then let in age until 2025, where I will bottle 30...

Aggressively splash rack, it should blow off. Don’t wait, the earlier and the more aggressive you are in treating it, the better.

95% my own

I’ve found that there are two types of winemakers. Ones that have a regiment that they stick to regardless of the situation and ones that whose baseline is do nothing and only do things based on the situation. I’ll explain. Winemaker #1 - Wants the wine to be dictated by the grapes. The...

It was probably co2 coming out of solution that you observed. Wine is pretty hardy early on.

I must pull back on the reins this year! It’s crazy how this hobby unintentionally expands until something hits a hard limit. 60 gallon barrel estate Zin 60 gallon barrel estate Syrah 30 gallon Spiedel estate Cab Sauv 5 gallon a tbd white wine This assumes a similar yield as last year, which...

Some barrel tasting. And all the leftovers (whites, reds) blended together and a “Frankenstein” bottle for everyone to take home. We opened the Frankenstein bottle from last year and it was pretty darn good.

Fun tasting with our group tonight. Barrel tasting, recently bottled and some state fair award winners shared. Among the group @4score, @Busabill, @crushday delivered some very nice wines. However, the wine that stole the show for me was this one. Better than many $100+ bottles I’ve had...

I adjust the sugar to taste. Below is my proportions and an email I wrote to a buddy that was making a large batch. I use a lot of lemons and shows how much sugar as a baseline. ———— 1.5L of everclear 60% abv The zest of 20 lemons 3.5 cups of white sugar 5 cups of filtered water ————-...

Storing in bulk under 40 degrees will help facilitate the fallout.

When I make a rose while doing saignee, I typically remove the juice immediately, then add juice on the skins to color the rose to my liking. Even when pulling right away, it is still has some color to it. I remember taking a picture, I’ll try to find.