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Is anyone planning on attending the Winemaker Conference in Charlottesville. I've never been to one and was considering going.

I've always been confused on what reading to use when measuring pH. FWI I use a Vinmetrica 300 which uses a bulb. If the probe is placed in the sample it is always a higher reading than if I were to swirl the sample. In fact the difference is substantial. Once it is swirled to the point the...

I've been a little unsatisfied with the bitterness and astringency in some of my wines, especially Tannat. Although I like big high tannin wines I would like experiment trying to soften them a bit. I will attempt to modify my procedure this year but want to play around with the 21s and 22s. A...

It has been my understanding K-meta is most affective at a pH of 2.0. I started with 2 grams of K-meta and 4 grams of citric and added citric until I got to a pH of +/-2.0. It turns out one part K-meta to 4 parts citric gets you to around 2.0. I've been using 2:3 for years for no scientific...

I just had to dump a 30 liter barrel of PV due to having acetobacter present. Somehow the stopper was loose. I have a heavy does of K-meta/citric solution in it now but I'm a little concerned that will take care of it. I can't seem to find anything conclusive as to how to treat an infected barrel.

Rich @rsportsman I noticed you have recently made a few posts concerning the Vinmetrica. I can get different pH readings depending on how I use the probe. This has always puzzled me and several time I contacted tech support but maybe I never explained my issue properly. This is typical but I...

Picked up 500 lbs of Cab Franc today that I'll be sharing with @Cynewulf and @ceeaton. Couldn't be any fresher, I was loading my brutes as they were picking the grapes. It will be interesting to share our notes since we are going to have 3 different approaches. They should have hug longer but...

From the original post here is a brief summary. Around this time last year I made a peach wine. Fermented it dry and instead of using K-Sorbate and simple sugar to back sweeten it I used Wine Conditioner which is supposed to have sorbate. It was bottled around February and in June I had a cork...

I have a source for 500 lbs of Virginia Cab Franc. I'm taking 300 so there will be 200 lbs left. I have to commit to the full 500 lbs so if anyone is interested please let me know. The price is $2,42.38/ton or $1.27/lb + tax.

I made a batch of peach wine using only perfectly ripe peaches and no water. I knew Wine Conditioner had K-sorbate in it but didn't know if additional amounts would be required. After several bench trials I found the sweetness I thought was right and it turned out to be 1.006 SG. I can't...

While trying to do a bench trial for some tannin additions I came across this article from Scott Labs I found interesting. By making a certain ppm solution it tells you how much to add to a bottle of wine...

I've always wondered about the shelf life of K-meta powder. Everything I read says one year though it's also mentioned to throw it out after 3 years. My thoughts have always been if it's sealed what could go wrong with it. However this may not be the case. While recently adjusting the sulfites...

There doesn't appear to be much interest in Southern Hemisphere grapes this year. I just received pricing from Gino's, the half lug prices are $35 for S Africa and $28 for Chilean. I made so much in 20 and 21 I'm running out of room and time but hate missing this harvest and time is running out...

Commercial bladder presses use air instead of water to fill their bladders. I was thinking of doing the same. My thoughts are I can regulate a set pressure without having to constantly monitor the pressure and adding more water once the skins relax. I realize if not careful the air pressure...

6 entries, 6 medals, no golds but in general pretty happy with the results. 5 silver and 1 bronze. The bronze was for the Tannat and the consistent issue with all the judges was the high tannins which you might expect in a 2 year old Tannat, perhaps a little aging might help.

I been test my fermentation progress using the refractometer but this morning I wanted a little more accurate measurement so I checked the SG. I have a finish and 2 triple scale hydrometers and in the wine I tested out of 3 fermenters the SG averaged 1.005 on all of them. But, the refractometer...

Zemplen Barrels aka KK International, the company I get our barrels from, is having their 2nd Hungarian Wine Tour May 6 - 15 2022. My only affiliation with them is they are who I get our barrels from. It's open to anyone not only their vendors. I'm sharing this because I think it's a very good...

I make 400 to 500 bottles a year and in a heavy year might drink 100 bottles of mine and commercial wine so probably 50 to 60 bottles of mine. My 18's are almost gone and might have 120 bottles of the 19's left with the 20's still aging. The rest gets given away. What percentage do you think you...

Just picked up about 40 - 24 count new cases of 375 ml green bottles. Mostly Bordeaux but some Burgundy. The best part for me is they were free. The best part for you if your in Northern VA is I have no use for all of them. Let me know if you want some, free of course.

This question was asked on another site and I was surprised of the responses.