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It's the end of summer so that can only mean one thing... vintage time. I've got involved with a local amateur winemakers' club in Adelaide and am part of a syndicate making a few different wines ... shiraz from two different vineyards in McLaren Vale, and a sparkling pinot noir / chardonnay...

My brother-in-law is buying a house with some established Shiraz vines in the backyard .. he's not even into wine so I put my hand up to look after the vines and, of course, take the grapes for my own nefarious purposes! I haven't seen the place in person but judging from the real estate photos...

I am about to start a small batch of blackberry mead and was wondering what the benefits are of adding the fruit during or after primary fermentation? I've seen recipes for both, I'm leaning towards adding the berries at the start (approx 1 1/2 cups per gallon) and fermenting with Mangrove Jack...

Hi everyone, I am an anthropologist based at the University of Adelaide, Australia, who studies wine production and consumption. My research to date has mostly been to do with commercial wine, but as a home winemaker myself (and a member of this forum for a few years) I want to extend research...

Well the grape harvest is suddenly here so I thought I'd start a ferment diary rather than asking a bunch of different Q's in different threads. The plan is to do 3 x 30L batches, of shiraz, grenache, and primitivo. I collected my primitivo/zinfandel* grapes from McLaren Vale yesterday (22/2)...

What are people's thoughts on the benefits of co-fermentation as opposed to blending? I have read that co-ferments on the one hand promote a bit more complexity of flavour and balance, but on the other hand (obviously) you're committed to the varietal percentages and whatever additions /...

Hi all. I will be making 4 small (30L) batches of red wine from grapes this year ... in ascending order of fruit weight: -grenache -nero d'avola -primitivo/zinfandel -shiraz. I will be fermenting & ageing them in neutral containers but I want to add a bit of oak, particularly for the Primitivo...

Hi gang. Here in Aus 2018 vintage is pretty much upon us and I have sources for some Primitivo (aka Zinfandel) and Nero d'Avola grapes. I haven't used these before - only Grenache and Shiraz - so I was wondering if people had any specific tips about handling these varieties? Like: should I be...

So, I'm putting together a course about cultural and social approaches to wine & fermented drinks... One of the weeks will focus on prehistoric / early booze. There is tasting involved throughout this course, so one thing I am really keen to do is try to make / approximate some of the sorts of...

I have ~30L of Grenache must starting the fermentation process. I have been fermenting & maturing in inert containers (plastic and glass) and last time round I felt the wine lacked a bit of tannic complexity that I would like to introduce via oak. So I picked up a bag of medium-toasted French...

I am making a batch of Shiraz / Grenache from grapes. It has gone through primary, been pressed, and has been bulk aging in demijohns for about 2 1/2 months. Thing is, I was lazy and haven't added any malo culture thus far. I have just done my first racking off the sediment - wondering if it...

I'm planning on doing a ferment of partial carbonic maceration - so I will fill about 1/3 of the fermenter with whole bunches, and add the crushed grapes on top. The general idea of carbonic maceration is that anaerobic fermentation takes place within the intact grapes, which leads to some...

Harvest time here in SA and the weather is beeeeeeyoudiful (sorry to all you North Americans still shivering through the depths of winter... Tomorrow I'm picking Grenache at my in-laws' place ... and Friday heading to McLaren Vale to take a row of Shiraz that is inaccessible for machine...

So my father-in-law has decided that he doesn't want to put all the work into his vineyard any more (specifically, he wants to travel and things like that without worrying about his vines). He wanted to rip them all out but I've (hopefully) convinced him to keep them .. on the condition that I...

Hi all, Just wondering how accurate a vinometer usually is? This sort of style: Tested my Grenache-Shiraz wine at 9% abv - it does taste very light & the Grenache was picked quite early, but even so that seems a very low measurement. Is this the most accurate way to get an alcohol...

Next vintage I am looking to mature a batch of wine in a proper oak barrel. I have been thinking about trying to locate a barrique (225 L / 60 gal) but I may not actually have the capacity of grapes to do this size. My question is this: if I found a new or relatively new smaller barrel (say 30...

:try Who's watching? Brazil-Croatia 3-1 ... it was a pretty ordinary game to kick the tournament off ... Brazil with a very un-Brazilian performance and Croatia getting the rough end of the referee's whistle. Australia open their campaign against Chile early tomorrow morning (Aus time), so...

I'm planning on trying my hand at beer brewing to keep my fermenters in use over the 'off season' :D I want to try a kit brew first of all, probably using Coopers kits, but I'm keen to pimp it up a little bit with additional hops & grain to try to get a feel for that side of things (with a...

Not sure if this should go here or 'general chit-chat', please move if necessary! --- Lately there has been a lot of talk about the so-called natural wine movement, which is, basically, a philosophy that suggests that wine should be made with as little 'manipulation' as possible by the...

Oops. Posted elsewhere. Delete thread please :i