Recent content by rickbw

I've done a serach, but could not find any advice about bottling a port. We purchased the Orange Chocolate Port and I would like to bottle it bythe end of the month. I don't think we want to bottle it with regular wine bottles, but being new at this I wasn't quite sure.

Thanks for all the comments. In regards to the question about the secondary, we followed step 2 in the directions and racked to a secondary for one week before we followed step 3 (adding stabilizer etc). The wine probably is just young and I am new to winemaking. It actually has cleared...

Jon, As a newcomer, I'm not sure what "green" means. I guess its hard to explain a taste...

The stbilzer was what came with the kit. Also here are the instructions; http://www.winexpert.com/images/Orig_Intl_Inst_Sept2011_Eng.pdf See the note in step 3.

Rocky, The off smell was a little like sulfer. The Selection instructions were very specific about stirring everything into suspension before adding the stabilizer etc while the Chardonnay was in the secondary. I guess I should note that the wine fermented very quickly in the primary and...

I know that I should not be worried about this based on the timing of my first attempts, but still wanted to ask the question. We are doing a Chardonnay and a Reisling. The Chardonnay was primary fermented (starting SG 1.08) for about a week and then moved to a secondary, it is a Selection...

Rocky, Thanks. That is exactly what I will do.

Thanks for al the great replies. This forum really helps the newcomer! I have a Brunello ready to go into the barrel (once it cures) and an Amerone in the primary fermentation stage for 6 days. Tonite I plan on starting a Zinfendel, so hopefully I can move all 3 thru the barrel on a timely...

Although new to winemaking we purchased the Allinone and are very pleased with the quality and price. For an extra $25 or so we also purchased the Pentek filter assembly. There are lots of threads about how to use this setup and everyone seems very pleased.

Rocky, Here is the barrel we purchased; http://oakbarrelsltd.com/20-liter-oak-barrel-with-black-steel-hoops.html It is brand new as we just rec'd it this week. I will have to get it ready per the instructions (swelling etc). It is 20 liters and the Brunello is supposed to be 23L...

I have a Grand Cru Brunello wine kit which has now been in the primary fermenter for 10 days. It started at 1.10 SG and is now at 1.0. I will be racking it to a secondary this week. I would like to age it a new oak barrel for 4 weeks or so. When in the process would it be best to do this...

So Mike, from your answer I'm assuming it is a legitemate process to check PH and then add proper amount of sulfite per the video (in other words you do not need an actual sulfite tester)?

My son and I have started to embark on a winemaking mission. We have dove right in and have 4 batches started. Two reds and two whites. We bought the wine kits from our local homebrew / wine store and decided to buy the best kits we could get our hands on (Selection International and Grand...