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Bryan is vinting part of my 2023 harvest of Chambourcin. My portion was fermented with Avante and Bravo together and Lalvin 31 MLB. The ph was low so the Lavlin 31 was best. Now the wine is aging in used bourbon barrels. One batch is in a 10 gallon barrel and the rest will cycle through a 15...

Off the cork subject for a second but related. If you ever need to replace or remove the brass jaws on the Italian, number the pieces and take a picture before removing. They are beast to get back together. My used corker rusted under the jaws; I think because I was using wet corks and...

I realized that I didn't update Barrel #1 - a ten gallon Midwest bourbon barrel that held maple syrup. As background, I cleaned that barrel with Barrel Oxyclean and citric acid, then fermented a cider in the barrel. The cider was racked off on November 18, the barrel was again rinsed with...

Okay. I'll fess up. I tried a pinch in a glass of my 2023 Chelois that still has a touch of bitterness. The first 3 grains did nothing. A few more grains made it less bitter but I could detect the salt. More experimentation is necessary to determine amount. Easier fix, eat the salty cheese...

Interesting. Our vineyard is roughly three miles from the now defunct US Gypsum mines at Plasterco, Virginia. Our soil has both red and yellow clay. I think the yellow is gypsum.

Gee Fred, are your family and friends inconvenienced by eating good snacks and tasting wine? Seriously, I get the need to narrow your testing options. If you need help, I'm sure we can rustle up some Guinea Pigs.

Taste testing on your own is useful but may not be entirely accurate. I was tempted to dump a 22 Marchal Foch blend but decided to have a blending/bench tasting with several family members. After pulling the samples, aerating and sitting down with a Charcuterie and a structured tasting, I was...

I also have an established vineyard (2 acres); we planted the first vines in 2019. I have not fertilized but am considering how much this year. I was advised by a local vineyard manager to use 46-0-0. Everything I read says not to fertilize before bloom. Before I do anything, I will do a...

I made a Craisin/zante current wine that is a very dry rose. For three gallons I used three pounds of Zante currents and one and a half pounds of craisins. I covered the dry fruit with boiling water and let steep for 20 minutes then added more cold water. I think the juice will work well...

Keep us posted. What is your plan?

How about the same “tea” with Everclear? You would need to calculate with Fermcalc.

Sorbate rather than kmeta? I think the first step is isolating the reason for the color loss if possible.

Get it; decided if you can use it and if not, flip it. Find friends/club that want to make wine and do a group press!

A winery near me (now closed) used to bottle Sangria and warned that it needed to be consumed within X number of weeks. (I can't remember if it was two or four weeks). If I was the winemaker, I would experiment with bottling a few bottles without sulfites and see how long the hue lasts. If it...

I've had good luck making a grapefruit juice/Sav Blanc blend by using store bought grapefruit juice to replace some or all of the reconstitution water. I used a low ABV kit for the Sav Blanc. It is a trial and error process. If you ferment together, I'd suggest to go slow on the blending to...

As promised, I checked barrels #3 (Midwest Barrel King's County Rye) and #4 (Midwest Barrel King's County Peated Whisky). I rinsed the barrels with water for 12 hours and then filled with my 2023 Chelois - filled on December 13. I pulled a sample from each, added my kmeta, added back oak cubes...

https://winemakermag.com/technique/501-measuring-residual-sugar-techniques#:~:text=The%20most%20common%20and%20simple,assess%20the%20dryness%20in%20wines. This is a free article.

Welcome aboard and welcome to the world of viticulture. I have both Marquette and Baco Noir in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. The Marquette are slammed EVERY year by frost. They break way too early despite all my efforts and practices. I am considering moving them to a less frost...

I’m not overly concerned. I would need to check for over oaking in a new barrel and cleaned to keep the barrels topped up.

And my suggestion for wood1954 is to try the Barrel Oxyfresh then run something expendable like a cider from frozen apple concentrate, through the barrel. That’s a lot less work. I expect it can be neutralized. Google it too! I expect the internet will cough up suggestions. If I have...