Recent content by berrycrush

I am wondering if the grape need to picked a little sooner than fully ripe? I saw a video in which a Oregon wine maker picked his Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on the same day to make a field blended sparkling.

When you press the grapes, does the pink color shows from the first drop? or does it start to get pink after some colorless juice runs off?

It's the season for bubble and fizz. While staring at a glass of Blanc de Noirs I started wonder how a colorless wine can be made out of a red grape like Pinot Noir. Oh-yes, they say it is easy: just squeeze the juice and dump the skin. But anyone who actually made wine from grapes knows that it...

I just came across this hydraulic fruit/wine press for less than $500 on Amazon. It looks really interesting and I wonder if anyone has tried it. https://www.amazon.com/Hydraulic-5-3Gallon-Stainless-Making-Filter/dp/B07Z7GG54J?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A3DAE64FDS550S&th=1

My Hanna HI98128 PH meter stopped working after 8 years of use. This model has been discontinued by the manufacture and the newer models are much pricier than before. At the same time I see lots of cheap products on Amazon with mixed reviews. I'd like to hear some recommendations from someone...

I remember how harsh and tart my first Marquette tasted when I opened it 6 months after bottling. I just recorked it and put it back in the cellar. A year later, to my surprise, they all turned out very nicely. Now my lesson regarding Marquette acid is: just wait a little!

I would use each of them in its own fermenter then mix them when press.

In VA/WV area there are much less JB this year compared to last year. I tried Pyrethrin the first time on some vines and didn't notice any effect. I remembered how devastating JBs were to my young vines. When the vines get older and have more foliage, JBs are less a problem and can be tolerated...

How do you store your bird net? I store it in a plastic trash can inside a shed. During the past winter, mice chewed a hole through the can and nested inside the net and made a stinky mess of it.

Biggio Hamina is my favorite. Cristom and Eyrie are good but expensive. Siltstone has good QPR too but not sure they do tasting.

That is early. Mines are still in buds.

I would just let the wine age. Tanning, acid, tartness will all mellow out in time and they might give the wine a nice structure. No?

Have you seen similar canes in your area?

Yes I am in Virginia. The vines are technically in West Virginia, on the border of the two states.

Has anyone seen this? What is it?