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Hi Boatboy. I got roughly 8-gal from 6 18lbs boxes of Malbec grapes last year. They crushed/destemmed them for me, but I pressed them in strainer bags after fermentation. What a chore! I bought a press after that experience. I will probably buy a bucket of muscat juice this year since...

The Chilean Viognier I did last year is gone. Best white wine I ever made. Made from fresh grapes. I also made a Syrah and a Malbec. The Syrah had H2SO2 problems, but the Malbec was awesome. Still bulk aging. Also from Chilean grapes. This year I'm planning to get Cab, Merlot, Muscat...

http://morewinemaking.com/public/pdf/so2.pdf I've used this article and the chart on page-2 as a guide.

ibglowin, thanks for the info. After your initial post, I Googled this topic and found similar info. Guess I'll lower my target average humidity to 55%. When I first sealed and then filled my barrels with wine, all the stave joints appeared tight. But after a couple of weeks, I noticed...

Novalou, where do you get your juice, and have any adjustments been made to it? I figured it would make little difference. I press the whites off their skins within a few hours of crush. Then I let them settle out and rack the clear juice before starting fermentation. Haven't tried any other...

ibglowin, I've never read anything like that. I thought you lost both water and alcohol in low humidity. Please explain. Thanks.

Boatboy, this is my first experience with barrels. Through Nov/Dec they were losing a lot of wine through evaporation. At least it seemed that way to me. My basement temp has been between 55-60 degrees since I started measuring- mid Dec. But it was somewhere around 40% humidity then too. I...

I'm in Southern Maryland, Boatboy. Leonardtown to be exact. I would interested in going in on a group purchase, so I'll check out the link you provided. Thanks!

I've read that it's important to maintain temperature and humidity when aging wine in barrels. Optimum seems to be 55 degrees F and between 65-75% humidity. So I bought a small greenhouse and built it in my basement. It's just a plastic tent over metal frame. I put a small humidifier in it...

Another awesome post. Thanks for starting this.

Pumpkinman, thanks for posting this thread. I too am struggling with my barrel schedule. Fortunately, I have four reds to rotate through until spring when I plan to get some more chilean grapes. I was also wondering about a larger barrel. I'm thinking about buying 120 lbs of both Cab and...

Hi all, I drove a few hours North to Harford Winery in Forrest Hill, MD to buy Chilean grapes last spring. Also bought California grapes there this fall. With all the talk about Chilean grapes this coming spring, I'm considering my options. First of all, who ships grapes and how does that...

I bought my first barrel from Harford while picking up my grapes this fall. I bought my second (Vadai) from More Wine. The Harford barrel was 6-1/2+ gal while the Vadai barrel was 6-gal. The hoops on the Harford barrel were loose and needed to be tapped into place, while the Vadai hoops were...

I went to the Zemplin website and saw that for smaller barrels you need to contact Kevin Mooney Harford Vineyards 495-1699 or 443-271-2589. FYI, I bought a Zemplin barrel from Kevin in Sept. My first barrel, but the oak character it provided for my Chilean Malbec and now my Amador Zin is...

All three wines taste pretty good at this point. The two whites are from Lodi, Albarino and Pinot Grigio. Excellent bouquets, but slightly round/flat taste. I was hoping increased acid would sharpen the flavor and give it the zing I'm used to with with most dry whites. The red in question is...

Hi All. I'm trying to raise the acidity of two whites and a red wine that are bulk aging. I added tartaric acid last month to all three. Target was 7.0 g/L for the whites and 6.5 g/L for the red. I added 1/2 the amount calculated after testing. But today, a month later, the PH is the same...

I added way too much tartaric acid to my Malbec must right after crush because I misinterpreted the acid test kit color change. Now I have a PH meter and PH test strips, so the color change is irrelevant. PH was 2.99 and TA was 1.025. Too acidic for MLF, so I decided to add a base to lower...

For better or worse, I chose the path of intervention for both the Syrah and the Malbec today. Checked MLF progress on both with Accuvin Malic acid test strips. The Syrah appeared to be almost done while the Malbec hadn't even started. Recalibrated my PH meter and got 3.7 for the Syrah and...

Sebring, thanks for keeping such a careful log of your progress here on the forum. Reading your posts and the responses from other members is very helpful. I may have missed it in your posts, but where do you buy your winemaking supplies? Ken

Joe, hope your carmenere turns out okay. Thanks for the well wishes. Sebring, thanks for the link. I'll check it out. Did either of you get your grapes from Harford WInery in MD? Marty, thanks for all the advice.