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Joe, Have you done anything else to your wine recently? We have been bulk aging, been a few months since we tasted it (when it came off oak) so we are due to taste it again here soon. My two small 1-lug batches seem to have gone bad (atleast 1 of them). One of the batches has an odd oil slick...

This guy is a very interesting man, he used to work for the dea in the 70s and was a portfolio manager for stocks etc later on. His g/f passing away 10+ years ago definatly played a big role in the vineyard being forgoton. They also used to raise alpacas and bees etc but he stoped everything and...

Spent the first 2-3hrs of work there today. I found atleast 1 vinifera vine and i think half a row of concord? They also have peaches, pears, and concord grapes on the wall that they used to make preserves from. If we can get a harvest out of the peach/pear trees i might try and make some cider...

So this may belong in the newbie section but i think it will get more traffic here.. Here's the deal. When i was ~12-13 I went with a close friend of the family to one of his friends houses to pick wine grapes and make some wine. I dont remember much beyond the crazy amount of bees that were...

Joe, Maugle Sierra is literally less then 5 minutes away. I am signed up for their special events e-mails and haven't seen a wine festival yet. I will definatly keep an eye out. Their St. Croix is amazing! I've actually volunteered my help over there come harvest time (and whenever for that...

Would we be talking about this fall during the possible group buy? Or in a year or so when our wines are all done? Did you talk to anyone about quantitys and discounts?

I am down for a meet and greet. Any decent pubs in the Hartford area? Would Hartford be pretty central to everyone?

Pectic enzyme can be added when you sulfite. I added 1.5tsp for 1.5-1.8 gallons worth of must. Both of the musts that I added it to are much more soupy then the merlot that I did not. I must agree with you, these grapes are amazing just by themselves right off of the stem. They have a great...

I have the best future wife ever! My fiance says randomly last night "I want more grapes to crush with my hands!" as my buddy and I had two batches of beer boiling away for a friends wedding. My response, "yes dear, absolutely!" haha. On that note, I (atleast for now) find it entertaining. I...

M&m crushed my last order or grapes for me. I wanted to get more hands on and see how long it would take by hand etc. I also was able to be a bit kore picky about the moldy grapes going into the must. It was actually kind of fun and wasn't too hard to do. Eventually, when I buy my next house...

So I found myself at m&m yesterday buying 2 more lugs of grapes. 1 lug of carmenere and 1 lug of malbec. The carmenere grapes were delicious all on their own. The malbec were decent but not as sweet and had a good amount of mold near the bottom of lug. I'll be using rc212 on both and then I also...

When i find myself in hartford again i am going to bring a sample of wine with me to beer wine hobby and buy a titration kit they have. One of the guys that works there, Rich, said he wouldnt mind showing me how to do it once for the cost of the materials. I know there are guides out there, but...

We only got 1 bucket (3-lug) and it was about 6-6.25 gallons of must. We hand presseed so we lost a bit because of that and ended up with a about 4.75 gallons worth of wine. We will probably loose another .25-.5 gallons between racking and tasting for the oak, but we both agree that for our...

Looking good Joe! If we do get something worked out for m&m grapes this fall i think it would be worth the extra 40 minutes from hartford for a bit of hands on experience if you need the help! I thinks its funny that we are both trying for similar results with this chilean harvest. Carmenere...

Just to clarify a few things. The grapes were fresh 2011 chilean merlot grapes that had been crushed and destemed the night before and put into a freezer/fridge (it was 42* when i got home, which is far too cold for the yeast) As far as bulk aging.. What i meant with my post is i should...

I ended up having to take some of the must out of the primary and putting about 1-2 gallons of must into two smaller buckets as well (as I had no other buckets, just carboys available). I know that kmeta before primary to kill wild yeast is the normal procedure for the county wines I've made...

The bucket is of fresh 2011 destemed and crushed chilean merlot grapes. It was 3-lugs worth. We pitched the yeast tonight at ~68-70 degrees after using a brew belt to bring the must up to temp. We did end up adding nutrient as well as a bit of energizer because i had some on hand. We did...

I tried searching for "head space" and "krausen" on this forum (i am used to making beer) and couldnt find anything. Long story short, i have made a few country wines, 1 6-gal batch of skeeter pee, and 1 wine kit so far. I have also brewed 7 batches of beer. Yesterday my buddy and i went to...

I just got home from buying a bucket of chilean merlot (2011) crushed and destemed from m&m grape in hartford, ct. Depending on where you are at in eastern ma, a trip to m&m might be a great option. If you go there you will need to call ahead and order the crushed grapes and make sure they...