Recent content by iamdave

Anyone have any further thoughts about this?

The wall faces east. The prevailing wind is northerly. The attached picture is from February of this year. It's the best one I could find. Snow is a rarity around here but, as you can see, it does happen. Thanks!

Hi! I have a 10' high, ~180' long retaining wall in my back yard made of staggered blocks and I'd like to grow some grape vines along it. I live in middle Tennessee and the soil in the surrounding area is somewhat rocky but around the wall there is topsoil and sod with some clay around as well...

I "like" you guys on Facebook. And IRL too!

I've never used glycerin before. It gets added at bottling time, right? Is it just to taste or is there an amount per volume I should be aware of? Thanks so much for all the information guys! This is really helpful and I appreciate it!

8lbs? Wow. Why does the recipe suggest so much less than that? I want to make sure this has plenty of body so I'll definitely go with at least 8 as you suggest. Unless you think 16 is better for this? I'm not sure. What do you suggest? I don't want to make rocket fuel. Just a nice...

Great question! I don't know. Should I double the amount of fruit I use in the recipe? I'm using this one: http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3721 Thanks!

I want to fortify a raspberry wine and am looking for suggestions about what liquor to do it with. I was thinking maybe a brandy? Also, this will be my first time fortifying a wine so any tips will be helpful as well. Thanks! Dave

Thanks for the continued input! I plan to look further into all of these suggestions.

I looked up some crusher/destemmers at finevinewines.com and they seem to be around the $1000 mark. This is something that I am going to need at some point but I may not be ready for it yet. I still have plenty to learn about the process and I will probably continue using kits or juice for a...

Interesting. A filtration system is definitely something I have thought about it to eliminate the sediment in the carboys when bottling. I will look into this. When you say a crusher/destemmer is a big investment, how big are we talking? I like to do things right. The expense is less...

Telling you what I have would make sense, wouldn't it. Should have thought of that. lol I have a 6gal plastic bucket with a spigot and two 6 gal glass carboys in the way of containers. I also have some plastic hose, a thief, an auto siphon, a bottle rack, the thing that squirts sulfite...

Hi everyone. I'd like to put some money into upgrading my operation a bit. The only equipment I have is from a starter kit. I'm looking for suggestions on where to start. I was thinking maybe some small stainless steel tanks or something? any input is welcome. Thanks!

You know, I'd been thinking about doing that but wasn't sure what the chances were anyone would actually let me do it. Now that you've said this I will definitely pursue this. Thanks!

I talked to him this morning and I've ordered a deluxe kit and the ingredients necessary to make a pinot noir. I'm really looking forward to giving this a try. Thanks everyone! And I did mention to him that I was referred by this forum. :)