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You are two weeks ahead of me, pitched the yeast in my Bordeaux today. How’s it going? My initial sg was a scary 1.104, the highest of any wine I’ve started, from grapes, juice or kits.

This one never really came around. @joeswine came by to taste it for me, he agreed it was pretty terrible. I chalk it up to the pandemic supply chain issue, the juice bucket was probably funky and I should have tasted it first.. On his suggestion, I added some grape concentrate to add substance...

I make a lot of cab, but this year made a malbec cab blend (60/40) that is looking good, but I made a blend of Zinfandel Barberra (70/30) n 2020 that is quite tasty now.

Anybody else do grapes this spring from Chile? I got Cabernet and Malbec and the Cabernet were the worst in years… Malbec were OK. General yield was poor. My grapes came from Sagrada Familia area, about 200 miles south of Santiago. What were others’ experience?

FYI, Chilean grapes arrive at Gino Pintos the first week of May. Price for grapes is $31.50/18lbs. Juice buckets from $59-65.

Here in NJ, electric rates are high, almost $.20/kwh, but I can still drive my EV (VW ID.4) 15000 miles for $800. With the federal tax credit, the car cost $38K and it is a nice 5 person vehicle. VW will be coming out with the ID.6 and ID.8 soon with longer ranges and 7 passenger seating to...

Silly me, I never knew Sangria was fortified with rum, I thought it was a light drink, just wine and fruit. No wonder it’s so delicious.

Welcome fellow New Jersey winemaker. Check out the post for New Jersey Winemakers Talk in the general winemakers forum. What part of NJ?

I’m with @crushday Fall winemaking in the US means fruitflies. They come with the grapes. Do your best to keep them out, keep things clean, and use water filled s-traps after primary. But they’ll be in the primary for sure.

How many lbs in your lug? My supplier sells 18lb lugs from Chile in the Spring and 36 lb lugs from California in the fall. Either way, one lug won’t take any time to destem and crush. I think they may just roll around with the dough hook and you’ll need to be messing with it. You can crush...

I’ve only made wine from all grapes, or grapes added to a juice bucket. My supplier sells both, can’t your bucket supplier also supply grapes?

My California Zin bucket was just slightly higher last fall and I added sugar to bring it up. I usually add grapes to my buckets (36lbs/bucket), but I want the juice in the right place to start.

I picked up my South African Cabernet grapes today from Gino Pinto. They were really great - no raisins, mold or MOG - but expensive.

I’m no expert, but I would think you have 2 choices, either use the original yeast and skip the kmeta and coinnoculate with the malo, or kill the first yeast, add your yeast, let fermentation complete (which will use up the active SO2) and then do your MLF after.

Big shoutout to @joeswine who came out and tasted what I’ve got aging right now. I’ll try his suggestions for rescuing my 8 gallons of sour thin tasting cab-merlot. We tasted 4 different wines together and it was great to get another opinion and ideas from someone who has much more experience...

Well give it a go with the Wyeast and let us know how it works out. The reviews for the product are good. I didn’t have any luck with it but it was one of my first attempts and I bet I added SO2 on top of what was already in the pail. I also didn’t co-innoculate. Good luck and have fun!

@QuiQuog when you get your juice pail, check to see if it contains sulfites, it might say it right on the pail. My chilean buckets have already had sulfites in the past. Even the chilean grapes have sulfite pads in them. That’s why I skip adding more until MLF is complete. I use a chromography...

Be careful adding kmeta to kill off the initial yeast if you are planning on MLF. I have not had good luck with the Wyeast liquid MLF bacteria when I initially dosed the must with kmeta. Now when I do MLF, I initially either hold off on kmeta or use half as much as recommended. Also, you may...

Maybe @joeswine can help, he is nearby.

My friend got me an aerator for Christmas, and it helps. I also sometimes decant it and stir it up with a fork. CO2 masks all of the other measurements, so I am more careful now preparing my samples for pH and TA. A learning process for sure. I’ll have to find a winemaker to taste my wine and...