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I am heading to Seattle for a meeting through next Tuesday and then taking a few days R&R in the Willamette Valley. I made appointments at the following wineries for tastings: Ponci, Soter, Willakenzi and Patricia Green. We will do some hiking too. I will keep you posted.

Hi Julie, Following your suggestions I have been preparing blackberry wine from Blackberry purée purchased through home winery. I have been bulk aging since March. Do you recommend 6 to 12 months of bulk aging? Also do you think the blackberry purée Makes wine as good as from fresh fruit...

I am making peach as well as a blackberry wine from purées. The purées came with an acid pack. The directions say to add the acid blend. However the pH for the BlackBerry is 3.16 with a total acidity of .75. The Ph for the peach is 3.26 with a total acidity of .70. I was thinking of not...

I tried my hand at making hard apple cider. On January 2 I pitched Nottingham ale yeast into 1 gallon of whole foods pasteurize cider after bringing SG to 1.060 with brown sugar and frozen apple juice concentrate. I fermented until SG 1.000 and then racked into fresh gallon jug. When the...

I was in the middle of primary fermentation of WE 2013 Shiraz/Cab kit with RC 212. It was going very well. Then on day 4 I lost power during the storm and my basement is hovering at 40F for the last 36 hours. We anticipate gaining power back tomorrow. Do you think the yeast will survive this...

Cycle of life

I have been bulk aging wine for two months made from fresh Montepulciano juice. A thin creamy smear has appeared at top of carboy. Is this proof positive of a bacterial contamination? The wine does not have an unpleasant smell or taste.......yet.

I never made a fruit wine before. Would BlackBerry purée from LHBS make a wine of equal quality to that derived from frozen BlackBerries?

Can anyone recommend a high end peach white wine kit? Alternatively if anyone has a recipe please let me know. I'd like to make a few gallons to be ready by summer. Thank you.

Good morning mentors. I will be bottling wine for the first time. After sanitizing the bottles with a sulfite solution can I rinse with well water or bottled spring water? Or do I have to boil the water to sterilize it first. My well water is conditioned but not chlorinated. Thank you

I am making my first juice bucket. It is fresh juice pressed from Montepulciano grapes. MLF went slowly taking about two months to complete. I did not add S02 until after completion of MLF. Then I brought the sulfite level to 35ppm. The S02 level was confirmed with the Vinemetric probe. Two...

I have everything I need to make cheese for the first time. I purchased an external thermostat for the refrigerator in the basement and this is keeping the temp at 50 degrees. I placed a bucket of water in the refrigerator to increase the humidity. However I cannot get the humidity above 65%...

This year we are serving wild turkey and venison. I am selecting an Amarone for the venison. We will probably drink Pinot Noir with the turkey. It'll have a giblet gravy.

Following primary, I added culture to start MLF 5 days ago to 6 gallons of Montepulciano juice. PH was 3.30, S02 was 12 ppm and temp was 70. This is the first time I am trying MLF. I see tiny bubbles forming but not many. No bubbling in airlock. Do you think my culture is working? I was going...

Since the summer I now have my first four Eclipse kits bulk aging. These were my first attempts at wine making. As we all know kits contained everything I needed. It was a semi thoughtless process. This weekend I pick up 6 gallons of fresh Montepulciano juice. For the first time I have...

I am at the fining stage for Eclipse Savignon Blanc kit. The directions warn not to rack following secondary but rather to stir lees up from bottom, degass vigorously, add sulfites and finally kitosol pack. I followed directions using my drill to vigorously degas. Now there is a scum on top of...

I am making my first white wine from a kit. It is the WE Eclipse Savignon Blanc. The must went into secondary today. It smells good but it is extremely cloudy. Is it typical for white wine to be cloudy during secondary process. Thanks.

Can anyone comment on the longevity of fruit extract flavor intensity when added to Cabernet savignon near time of bottling? I was thinking of adding some blackberry extract to my cab. However I was going to age for over a year. Do you think any of the blackberry flavor will show through one...

Can anyone comment on the longevity of fruit extract flavors when added to juice or to a kit? Will the fruit flavor be distinctive after a year or two of bottling? Thanks.

Hello everyone, With the help of the forum I now have several kits going at various stages of development. Thank you. It's been a lot of fun. I am ready to get more ambitious. I found a source of montepuciano juice locally. Thank you Boatboy. However the fresh grapes that I was going to crush...