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No cherry, yet. What I did detect, back in October, was a flavor that reminded me of the inside of the skin of a dark plum. I have to say, it's easier to taste by myself--with others around I get distracted and it's hard to sift through what that smell and flavor remind me of. I'm looking...

AlFuchino--Actually, the 5 gallon carboy was at 32 F for two weeks, only the 1.5 L bottle was out for 8 hours, and it already had what may have been wine diamonds in it, so I think it had already precipitated. On Sept 7 the TA was 1.125. No idea what it is now. It has gotten much less sour...

I've never had a confirmed sighting of wine diamonds by an expert, but I'm guessing so. Thanks.

My wine is progressing nicely. To quickly update with dates, September 19 was when I added 4 ounces of American oak chips to the 6.5 gallon carboy. I had a 750 mL bottle also, but didn't add oak to that one. October 24 I racked the wine off the lees, filling a 5 gallon carboy and a 1.5 L...

You know, my friend said he could see the tartaric acid. I never saw anything that looked like salt crystals or any other kind of crystal. We also had a 1.5 L bottle that was just hanging out in the basement (same stuff as in the 5 gal carboy) and when I held it up to the light, it was all...

I put my carboy in the garage for two weeks, where it hung out at 32 degrees +- 2. I don't know if it's the 2 or 3 months it spent at 58 in the basement first, or that two weeks, or both, but the acidity is soooooooo much better now. I'm working with 100% Frontenac grapes, and after the first...

What affect on taste, if any does filtering the wine have? I just can't see why I'd want to add chemicals to my wine. Does it provide any other benefit?

Thanks, Racer. I've added the oak now, during the secondary fermentation. After two weeks, the 6.5 gallons of wine taste/feel a bit buttery, which I must admit is a little weird. It's still pretty tart. I'm thinking of leaving the oak in for another two weeks before racking it off the lees...

I am so relieved to read that. I could not figure out why we had white stuff at the top. Must have been CO2. Thanks!

I'm curious, what are the TA and the pH at?

I bought 10 gallons of Frontenac grapes at $10/gallon, which is pretty close to your price. They had, however, just been put through the destemmer/crusher. I wouldn't want to have had to destem and crush all of those grapes myself. Pressing, however, was not such a huge deal. Sure, using a...

My understanding is that to some extent it really depends on the grapes. Frontenac is really low in tannins, and seeds and stems have tannins, so for that grape I did leave some stems in there.

Hello, I'm a complete novice in the process of making my first wine, which is with Frontenac grapes. It's going well so far, though the speed has taken me by surprise. Harvest was September 4. Crushing/destemming happened September 5. At that time some potassium metabisulfite was added...