Search results

I’m so confused with the volumes of my Speidel tanks. On January 6th, I started some Sauvignon Blanc from 7 frozen buckets of 100% juice from Yakima, Washington. Each bucket contains 5.25 gallons of juice. I had 7 buckets, which simple math says is 36.75 gallons. But, let’s just call it 36...

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Praying you have a wonderful Christmas today!! Enjoy your family and...

Good morning, Winemakers! I thought I would pass on the experience I recently had with CH16 malolactic bacteria. For you who use CH16, you know that the smallest package (1.5 g) of bacteria is enough for 66 gallons of finished wine. Of course, this quantity represents more than we need for...

This season I'll be journaling my winemaking experience for three white varieties from Red Mountain AVA in Washington state. On Friday afternoon, October 6th, I'll be headed out. I work until noon on Friday this week. This should get me to the vineyard approximately 3:30pm. I'll be back on...

Let's have the definitive conversation on our winemaking nemesis - the FRUIT FLY! Looking at this picture turns my stomach... (below) How detrimental are these little guys to our work in the winery? How about the vineyard? Lot's of vineyards have half eaten, busted, split or otherwise...

I'm getting my first whole white grapes, Rousaane, Marsanne and Viognier, in a couple of weeks. I've made white wine many times but only from pressed juice and wine kits. Questions: 1. Do I destem, crush, add some maceration time (how much?), and press (1 bar like I would a post ferment red...

This will be my fourth vintage of making an off-dry Riesling. My process for the first three attempts has been this: 1. Allow the wine to ferment dry 2. Store in bulk and let time clear and degas for 6 months 3. Rack, add sorbate, back sweeten (simple syrup) to taste and store in bulk for...

Here’s the label I designed for my buttery 2023 Chardonnay that I’m calling Phat Elvis. The cap will be bright orange hand dipped wax. ***no intended disrespect for the “king”, so no hate mail please.***

I thought I would start an open discussion on when to introduce bacteria for the malolactic fermentation (MLF) when fermenting wine from fresh or frozen grapes. Note: MLF is not suggested for kit winemaking. Personally, I have a tremendous success adding the bacteria during alcoholic...

Today is Thanksgiving. Most people think of being thankful as a reaction to circumstances and situations. But actually, being thankful should come as the choice of recognizing there are reasons to be thankful, even in the toughest of events. It's EASY for me to be thankful for this site and...

I wrote this a few years ago after meeting a lonely fisherman on a chilly Thanksgiving morning on the central coast of California near Monterey Bay. As you know, this week is Thanksgiving. I'm with my family. My children are here. We're drinking wine, sharing stories and having a grand time...

Tomorrow morning I'll be driving to Benton City, WA to pick up a macro bin of Carménère. The AVA is Red Mountain, one of most prestigious growing areas in the Columbia Valley in Washington State. These grapes are a replacement for a bin of Mourvedre that I missed out on a few months ago. The...

I'm picking up 300 pounds of Roussanne tomorrow and attempting to make a "Orange Wine". “Orange Wine” is simply a white wine that is fermented on the skins and has seen a rise in popularity the last several years. It's considered a "hipster" wine. The time the juice spends on the skins can be...

I'll be traveling to North Central California (10 hour drive) in a couple days to pick up my order of grapes. On this run I'm getting these varieties: 1. Cab Franc (macro bin) 2. Petite Sirah (macro bin) 3. Mourvèdre (macro bin) My plan on the Cab Franc is to pull 10% as a Saignée. This will...

I racked wine today and I have some results from an experiment started last fall (2021). I started two batches of Pinot Noir (frozen) from Chehalem Hills, Oregon. I had seven 5 gallon buckets. One bucket I fermented alone and mixed the other six. The yeast for the one solo was Prelude for 4...

I was noticing a wine kit volume discrepancy between Winexpert and RJS 8L kits today. See the images below: WE lists 8L as 2.11 gallons of must - which is the actual volume of eight liters. RJS list 8L as 3.17 gallons of must. I thought maybe the difference might be the flavor pack added for...

I decided to do another spring ferment this year. Rattlesnake Hills Malbec Drum (Brix: 24.6, pH:3.36, TA: .54), Bravo Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel Drum (Brix: 23.6, pH:3.75, TA: .75), Avante Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel Drum (Brix: 23.6, pH:3.75, TA: .75), Avante Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 12...

I’ve been looking into making balsamic vinegar. In essence, BV is made from reduced grape juice aged for a period of years. Most of the stuff you purchase at a general grocery store hasn’t been aged for 12 years or more. Likely just 12 to 36 months. Since a wine kit essentially has reduced...

Tomorrow I will start a test to compare the development of Cabernet Franc aged in a 2nd season 56L French Oak barrel and Cabernet Franc aged in a 60L Speidel plastic tank with four French Oak medium toast WineStix. Both wines are from the same ferment. Because of the size of barrel, I expect...

I’m going to replace my $13 pH meter this week. I wonder about accuracy with my current unit even though I have test indicating solutions I use to calibrate before use. The two I’m looking at are both at Amazon. Hanna instruments HI98103 - $29 and a recognizable name: Hanna Instruments...