Friday afternoon I picked up 3 lugs each of Syrah and Merlot. The Syrah grapes had a few raisins and slightly shriveled ones on some of the clusters but overall pretty good, The Merlot we just beautiful throughout the entire batch. I started a beef brisket about 6:00 pm planning on about 18 hours cooking time and pulled bbq sandwiches for lunch after the crush.
Saturday, with the help of Lori, Kellie (the redheaded god child), Mom and my friend Anthony, we destimed and crushed completely by hand the Syrah grapes then broke for lunch about 2:00. Food was great, everyone ate too much and with a few glasses of wine we headed back to the Wine House to finish up. The consensus, including Lori, was that I should invest in a crusher/destimer. Sensing a mutiny brewing I decided to do the Merlot by myself on Sunday so we could just have fun the rest of the afternoon. Besides, I’d already secured permission to buy a new piece of equipment for next year!
Sunday, working by myself and watching football and golf, I adjusted chemistry on the Syrah. I then destimed/crushed and had the Merlot in 3 primary buckets in just 4 hours. Pitched the yeast on the Syrah, cleaned up the Wine House, tasted a few more glasses of our 2014 Pinot/Cab blend and called it a day.
Monday after work I pitched yeast on the Merlot, Syrah is fermenting away and things seem to have gone as planned. Hopefully It’ll all be ready to press next weekend but we’ll see.
Even on such a small scale using all grapes is a lot of work. I ended up with about 3-1/2 to 4 gals of must from each lug but I know that as I collect the right tools things will be much easier. I’m already thinking next year I will probably be doing more in the range of 400-500 lbs. of grapes.
Special Note:
Being a part of this community has helped give me the confidence to take my winemaking up in levels at a steady pace and I thank all of you for sharing your stories and experiences, it really does mean a lot and inspire us rookies in ways you’re not always aware of.
Thank you,
Mike
Saturday, with the help of Lori, Kellie (the redheaded god child), Mom and my friend Anthony, we destimed and crushed completely by hand the Syrah grapes then broke for lunch about 2:00. Food was great, everyone ate too much and with a few glasses of wine we headed back to the Wine House to finish up. The consensus, including Lori, was that I should invest in a crusher/destimer. Sensing a mutiny brewing I decided to do the Merlot by myself on Sunday so we could just have fun the rest of the afternoon. Besides, I’d already secured permission to buy a new piece of equipment for next year!
Sunday, working by myself and watching football and golf, I adjusted chemistry on the Syrah. I then destimed/crushed and had the Merlot in 3 primary buckets in just 4 hours. Pitched the yeast on the Syrah, cleaned up the Wine House, tasted a few more glasses of our 2014 Pinot/Cab blend and called it a day.
Monday after work I pitched yeast on the Merlot, Syrah is fermenting away and things seem to have gone as planned. Hopefully It’ll all be ready to press next weekend but we’ll see.
Even on such a small scale using all grapes is a lot of work. I ended up with about 3-1/2 to 4 gals of must from each lug but I know that as I collect the right tools things will be much easier. I’m already thinking next year I will probably be doing more in the range of 400-500 lbs. of grapes.
Special Note:
Being a part of this community has helped give me the confidence to take my winemaking up in levels at a steady pace and I thank all of you for sharing your stories and experiences, it really does mean a lot and inspire us rookies in ways you’re not always aware of.
Thank you,
Mike
