Recent content by LenMajdan

The technique is called Peid de Cuve by the French who have been using it for centuries. It is a safe and reliable technique. When this small batches starts to ferment you know straight away if it is good or bad. I either pick some fruit a few days before harvest to make the Pied de Cuve or if...

Jeff Cox in his book From Vines to Wines says 22-24 days is best with the outer limit 28. When the fermentation finishes he sets up a little dribble of CO2 into the vat to stop oxidation. When the skins and other detritus falls to the bottom that means it is ready to press. He does all this at...

For Scooter68. Just re-read you comment again. I agree it could be a maybe result on using wild yeasts. I hedged my bet in two ways. First the Pied de Cuve method establishes a starter culture before I harvest. If it smells good I use it if not I use bought yeast. I also only used it in half of...

I got the idea from Jeff Cox "From Vines to Wines" 22-24 days is he feels ideal. The skins break down more and release extra colour, fragrance and flavour. The short chain tannins join up to make long chains which are not as bitter. Same effect as aging. When the ferment slows the fermenter is...

One last thought. Each year the weather varies the grape ripening conditions. The question is will that then vary the yeasts and bacteria that predominate in the vineyard that year. And will those organisms align to produce the best wine from that crop. I'll report back in 2017.

Why bother using the native yeasts? A few reasons: 1) To see what happens when you do. There is the hope that you might stumble on a fabulous outcome. 2) Breeding up the native yeasts results in more than one yeast inoculating the wine hence the complexity. 3) The yeasts in the vineyard most...

I harvested a kilogram of grapes and broke the skins by hand about a week before the main harvest and let it commence fermentation. It was kept it in a jar with an airlock to reduce contamination risk. It smelled quite nice and so I used it to help launch the main batch. The technique is called...

I usually bottle leftovers into750, 375 or 180 ml bottles. If it is sludgy it goes into the refrigerator until it settles out and then gets racked into a glass for early enjoyment.

I made the CCJ Berry Stinging Nettle wine once from fresh nettles (Just use thick gloves for picking). It was extremely good drinking. Very popular among friends. Now I'm into making wine from fresh grapes and have moved away from the country wines other than Cider, Perry and recently and...

I've never filtered. A couple of rackings in line with the Bio-Dynamic calendar and bottle a couple of months before the next vintage. The reds still throw some sediment but the whites are usually crystal clear.

Sorry guys but in 2006 I did 21 batches from grapes with a mate across seven varieties. About 1200 KGs in total. Then there were a couple of batches of Cider and some beer as well. It was a bit full on but a wonderful way to learn quickly Got rid of the mate a few years ago as he was too busy...

The post ferment soak creates longer tannin chains which are softer. It is ready to drink even though it will also age well (I hope). I use our kitchen SodaStream with a small plastic tube and give it a couple of blasts once a day. Jeff Cox says buy a CO2 cylinder (that is the expensive part)...

This is an interesting topic, Some research has shown that if you chill Shiraz grapes after de-stemming to 4C for 4 days then ferment at 14-20 C it increases the anthocyanins. The colour extraction is improved on all reds that sit for 4 days at 4 C. If you freeze the grapes you get 52% more...