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  1. Bartman

    FREE WINE!

    I don't want to belabor this, but regardless of how she justifies it, she is using her authority as "probation officer for the county" (how that's not characterized as "law enforcement" is beyond me) to seize personal property from someone without paying for it. Why evidence only has to be kept...
  2. Bartman

    Hot Dog pairing?

    Maybe some Welch's Special?
  3. Bartman

    FREE WINE!

    I don't know what the guy did to get on probation, but it makes me furious when law enforcement abuses their authority to STEAL personal property from people, criminal or otherwise. I know nothing about your daughter, but her actions here were those of a thug (forcing him to give her his...
  4. Bartman

    First time from grapes

    My LHBS lets me rent their basket press and take it home to do the pressing. It's only a 15 minute drive, but loading up 8 buckets of fermented juice and skins would be a huge PITA. That said, I pretty much only do red wine from grapes these days (1 kit per year or less).
  5. Bartman

    I need wine bottles!

    Side note: Louisiana was effectively the last state to raise its drinking age to 21 because of a sale loophole that let bar owners sell alcohol to 18-20 year olds. Curious legal case from 1996: "For years, she and other advocates worked to sew shut the loophole in a Louisiana law that protected...
  6. Bartman

    Vacation / Property Scouting Trip

    Call me old-fashioned, but I notice you have no dining room or breakfast nook, just the seating at the island. Do you think you will stick with that? I'm curious because your island will be your main prep area and is also where your sink is, so there will be dirty dishes there every time you...
  7. Bartman

    Stupid or brilliant?

    Brilliantly stupid? Just kidding - I enjoy self-employment far more than working for someone else. Nice going!
  8. Bartman

    Water for your wine

    I use tap water if I am making kits, but I generally make my wine from fresh grapes now, so no water added. That said, I have never had an issue with tap water (city treated). My wife worries about high chlorine and fluorine levels, but she can't tell me what is 'too high', so I don't worry...
  9. Bartman

    Crafting a Big Red.

    I blend prior to fermentation, but if you enjoy being more precise (read: more labor intensive) with your wine, then ferment separately and plan on blending later. I'm ll about letting nature take its course - if the fruit is high quality, then I do as little as possible to let that come through...
  10. Bartman

    Cedar Closet

    "Every time I went and got wood all I could think was "man, there has to be a way to get a hint of that cedar into an agreeable wine..."" You might want to try Retsina, a style of Greek wine. It has a unique flavor because it is aged with pine resin (historically, to deter oxidizing). I don't...
  11. Bartman

    WineXpert WE LE Petit Ruby Cab

    Definitely skip the sorbate on a dry red like this one. Leaving it in the primary for an extra day or two is no problem, but monitor the SG level after that. Once it is below 1.000, you should rack it. Not sure what the instructions say about when to rack (does it just tell you a number of days...
  12. Bartman

    co-fermentation vs blending

    I've been co-fermenting all of my wines-from-grapes for years now. I have neither the capacity nor the interest level to mess with bench testing different ratios. I prefer the KISS principle - separate fermentations for each varietal would be a huge violation of that. Since I consistently get 3...
  13. Bartman

    WineXpert WE LE Petit Ruby Cab

    I always skip the bentonite. I was told commercial winemakers only use it for 'problem' wines that need some extra help clearing, so it's not a standard protein binding agent. I used it on my first 5-10 kits, but stopped using it except for white wines that remain hazy (or if I'm trying to speed...
  14. Bartman

    Appassimento

    So what benefit does this method have, other than concentrating the flavor/sugar/tannins? That should be enough, but is there anything else beyond that? Seems like a lot of work unless it creates a substantially better wine. Is this a necessary chore if the grapevines received a late rain that...
  15. Bartman

    Lowes Movers Coupons

    My 13-year-old and 11-year-old daughters would disagree vehemently with that statement. :)
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