I have been busy with work and making wine, so I am overdue for a post.
On Sept. 21, I received an order of 3 lugs of Syrah and 1 lug of Carignan from a California produce seller as part of a DFW group purchase. (A lug is approx. 36 lbs). I had not ordered grapes by the lug before (usually just containers from Brehm), and was worried what the result might be. I cold-soaked the grapes for five days after crush and fermented on the skins for 12 days before pressing. I pressed the grapes on Sunday, Oct. 8. The resulting wine is delicious.The pressing yielded 10 gallons of wine. I started MLF yesterday. Given that, with shipping, I paid a total of $81, this has turned out to be a very good deal. I did have to add about 4 liters of acidulated water because the grapes were high in brix (27.5) and a bit dehydrated from shipment. I started the fermentation with 24 brix. Overall, I am very pleased with the results.
After pressing, I did a second run witha kit. Itook about 2/3 of the pomace, placed it in a clean 10 gallon fermenter, and added a VR Zinfindel kit I bought from George. Because of all the yeast in the pomace, the fermentation was robust only 3 hours after adding the kit to the pomace.
Robert
On Sept. 21, I received an order of 3 lugs of Syrah and 1 lug of Carignan from a California produce seller as part of a DFW group purchase. (A lug is approx. 36 lbs). I had not ordered grapes by the lug before (usually just containers from Brehm), and was worried what the result might be. I cold-soaked the grapes for five days after crush and fermented on the skins for 12 days before pressing. I pressed the grapes on Sunday, Oct. 8. The resulting wine is delicious.The pressing yielded 10 gallons of wine. I started MLF yesterday. Given that, with shipping, I paid a total of $81, this has turned out to be a very good deal. I did have to add about 4 liters of acidulated water because the grapes were high in brix (27.5) and a bit dehydrated from shipment. I started the fermentation with 24 brix. Overall, I am very pleased with the results.
After pressing, I did a second run witha kit. Itook about 2/3 of the pomace, placed it in a clean 10 gallon fermenter, and added a VR Zinfindel kit I bought from George. Because of all the yeast in the pomace, the fermentation was robust only 3 hours after adding the kit to the pomace.
Robert