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Well folks, Last weekend was crush for me.
Here is what I made....
My "brunello" (blend of san gio, merlot, and petit sarah)
Cabernet (with 18 percent merlot)
Reserve Red (cab, merlot, and petit sarah blend to be barrel aged)
Montepulchiano
petit verdot port
johannisberg riesling
I ended up getting a great deal on a brand new 225 liter barrel ($449.99). The thing is simply beautiful.
Crush for me is a big deal (I am sure that it is a big deal for most of the good folks on this site), and in true Hungarian style I go overboard!
Thursday 9/19
Have a large portion of family down south (Va, Ga, and Fl). Most arrived thursday evening.
Friday 9/20
Took the day off work. Rented truck and picked up the grapes. Pressure washed all equipment and set up everything in advance of crush. Had crush day eve dinner of pizza. Took time meet and cover the plan for the next day. Gave uncle Charlie the all-too-important job of "winery watchdog" where he was to make sure that all crushed grapes coming into the winery go into the correct primary fermenter. Put my brother in charge of the truck and sorters, while I would man the press and direct all of the various activities.
Got to be around midnight.
Saturday 9/20
3am: Being too excited to sleep, woke up at 3am, made some coffee and just sat in the quiet to get mentally prepared for the upcoming busy day. I think I know how a general feels just before a battle.
4am: Began setting up all equipment and hitting everything with a good dose of k-meta. Prepared the press for "whole cluster" pressing of the Riesling.
6am: set up the breakfast table with the large coffee urn, bagels, muffins, etc.
7am: It begins. Brother arrives and we get started by setting the crusher/destemmer up against the back end of the rented truck..
Note: The truck I rent is 24 footer. You may think that this would be WAY too big, but it serves as an extra room where people can sort through grapes and then dump them off the back into the crusher/destemmer. The truck has plenty of room for a crew of 8 grape sorters. Also, since I pick the grapes up the day before crush, I can just roll down the door and not worry about any animals getting at the grapes overnight.
9am: More people have arrived. The head count is now large enough where I need to stop sorting grapes and start directing people. In all around 40 people have attended.
10am: My pal from Riverhorse Brewery arrives with 5 sixtals of beer. Ran two different types of beer (Pumpkin Ale and IPA). I have always said "to make a great wine, you start with a great beer".
11am: The grape sorters have finally reached the riesling grapes that were loaded (incorrectly) in amongst the red grapes. Began manning the press as the riesling grapes are delivered to the winery. We press whole clusters under low pressure and add grapes on top as we progress. This process takes time.
1pm: Lunch! Forced everyone to stop work and eat. The food must have been good and the troops must have been working hard because it got very quiet. I had spent an entire weekend (two weeks ago) cooking meatballs, sausage and peppers, and lasagna. Other folks brought food also (Perogies, Chilli, pulled pork, Ribs). In taking stock, everything is progressing at a great rate. We have about 1.5 hours of work left.
2pm: Work starts up again. I Grabbed a couple of the youngsters that are sitting around gabbing and had them set up a tent with chairs and tables for the “after crush” festivities.
3pm: Final push. Last of the riesling goes into the press. Once the last of the red grapes gets crushed, we began the process of breaking down the equipment and washing out the truck. People gathered under the tent for a much deserved glass of wine. This is where the work ends and the party begins.
4pm: Work is done!
I had started the tradition of the grape stomp. When sorting through the grapes, any “orphan” grapes (the handful that roll around at the bottom of each crate) were dumped into a small tub. The tradition is to have these grapes stomped under foot by an unlucky someone. I let my niece, who stomped them last year, pick the next victim. She chose my nephew Taylor. He was a good sport and the folks had a great laugh. The group had a lot of fun coming up with a name for this particular small batch of wine. The laughter grew as each suggestion was yelled out. We settled on “Taylor’s Toe-jam”. Of course this will be fermented on its own.
Once that tradition was met, I gathered everyone for a group photo.
My wife begins setting up for dinner.
Corks start flying out of bottles at a nice rapid pace.
5:30pm: Dinner – A more modest meal. Had leftovers from lunch and a number of things that were held in reserve just for dinner. My brother made the required Hungarian food (Chicken Paprikas and Lecho).
6:30pm: People begin to gather at the tent again. My sister-in-law and bother-in law begin playing some of their blue-grass music and most join in song. Passed out cigars to those that wanted them. Sun is beginning to set so we begin to light candles.
8:00pm Rain! Boy did it pour. Rather than give up the party, we all squeezed into the center of the tent. The party continues.
1:00am Party winds down and I finally get to bed for some much needed sleep!
Spend most of Sunday and Monday cleaning up after crush. The place was not in too bad a shape considering that we had over 40 people attend.
A couple of final notes…
- We had “humpers” that carried the grapes from the crusher to the winery (70 pounds at a time). Most of this was done by my 110lb niece and her friend. She may look small, but you do not want to be on her bad side!
- I must have been told about a dozen times that this year’s crush was one of the best and that it was so much more relaxed. I had my doubts due to events that occurred over the year. I must say that I was surprised on how great it was. There was no drama and although we were drinking wine afterwards, noone was really drunk. Everyone simply had a good time.
- An impromptu gang singing of “American Pie” sounds much better after a couple of glasses of wine.
- For the first time in 7 years, my entire family made it to crush. We had a bit of a falling out and this year saw us re-united. I made it a point to tell my mother that I loved her. She cried.
Punch-downs this week. Pressing will be on Saturday.
Here is what I made....
My "brunello" (blend of san gio, merlot, and petit sarah)
Cabernet (with 18 percent merlot)
Reserve Red (cab, merlot, and petit sarah blend to be barrel aged)
Montepulchiano
petit verdot port
johannisberg riesling
I ended up getting a great deal on a brand new 225 liter barrel ($449.99). The thing is simply beautiful.
Crush for me is a big deal (I am sure that it is a big deal for most of the good folks on this site), and in true Hungarian style I go overboard!
Thursday 9/19
Have a large portion of family down south (Va, Ga, and Fl). Most arrived thursday evening.
Friday 9/20
Took the day off work. Rented truck and picked up the grapes. Pressure washed all equipment and set up everything in advance of crush. Had crush day eve dinner of pizza. Took time meet and cover the plan for the next day. Gave uncle Charlie the all-too-important job of "winery watchdog" where he was to make sure that all crushed grapes coming into the winery go into the correct primary fermenter. Put my brother in charge of the truck and sorters, while I would man the press and direct all of the various activities.
Got to be around midnight.
Saturday 9/20
3am: Being too excited to sleep, woke up at 3am, made some coffee and just sat in the quiet to get mentally prepared for the upcoming busy day. I think I know how a general feels just before a battle.
4am: Began setting up all equipment and hitting everything with a good dose of k-meta. Prepared the press for "whole cluster" pressing of the Riesling.
6am: set up the breakfast table with the large coffee urn, bagels, muffins, etc.
7am: It begins. Brother arrives and we get started by setting the crusher/destemmer up against the back end of the rented truck..
Note: The truck I rent is 24 footer. You may think that this would be WAY too big, but it serves as an extra room where people can sort through grapes and then dump them off the back into the crusher/destemmer. The truck has plenty of room for a crew of 8 grape sorters. Also, since I pick the grapes up the day before crush, I can just roll down the door and not worry about any animals getting at the grapes overnight.
9am: More people have arrived. The head count is now large enough where I need to stop sorting grapes and start directing people. In all around 40 people have attended.
10am: My pal from Riverhorse Brewery arrives with 5 sixtals of beer. Ran two different types of beer (Pumpkin Ale and IPA). I have always said "to make a great wine, you start with a great beer".
11am: The grape sorters have finally reached the riesling grapes that were loaded (incorrectly) in amongst the red grapes. Began manning the press as the riesling grapes are delivered to the winery. We press whole clusters under low pressure and add grapes on top as we progress. This process takes time.
1pm: Lunch! Forced everyone to stop work and eat. The food must have been good and the troops must have been working hard because it got very quiet. I had spent an entire weekend (two weeks ago) cooking meatballs, sausage and peppers, and lasagna. Other folks brought food also (Perogies, Chilli, pulled pork, Ribs). In taking stock, everything is progressing at a great rate. We have about 1.5 hours of work left.
2pm: Work starts up again. I Grabbed a couple of the youngsters that are sitting around gabbing and had them set up a tent with chairs and tables for the “after crush” festivities.
3pm: Final push. Last of the riesling goes into the press. Once the last of the red grapes gets crushed, we began the process of breaking down the equipment and washing out the truck. People gathered under the tent for a much deserved glass of wine. This is where the work ends and the party begins.
4pm: Work is done!
I had started the tradition of the grape stomp. When sorting through the grapes, any “orphan” grapes (the handful that roll around at the bottom of each crate) were dumped into a small tub. The tradition is to have these grapes stomped under foot by an unlucky someone. I let my niece, who stomped them last year, pick the next victim. She chose my nephew Taylor. He was a good sport and the folks had a great laugh. The group had a lot of fun coming up with a name for this particular small batch of wine. The laughter grew as each suggestion was yelled out. We settled on “Taylor’s Toe-jam”. Of course this will be fermented on its own.
Once that tradition was met, I gathered everyone for a group photo.
My wife begins setting up for dinner.
Corks start flying out of bottles at a nice rapid pace.
5:30pm: Dinner – A more modest meal. Had leftovers from lunch and a number of things that were held in reserve just for dinner. My brother made the required Hungarian food (Chicken Paprikas and Lecho).
6:30pm: People begin to gather at the tent again. My sister-in-law and bother-in law begin playing some of their blue-grass music and most join in song. Passed out cigars to those that wanted them. Sun is beginning to set so we begin to light candles.
8:00pm Rain! Boy did it pour. Rather than give up the party, we all squeezed into the center of the tent. The party continues.
1:00am Party winds down and I finally get to bed for some much needed sleep!
Spend most of Sunday and Monday cleaning up after crush. The place was not in too bad a shape considering that we had over 40 people attend.
A couple of final notes…
- We had “humpers” that carried the grapes from the crusher to the winery (70 pounds at a time). Most of this was done by my 110lb niece and her friend. She may look small, but you do not want to be on her bad side!
- I must have been told about a dozen times that this year’s crush was one of the best and that it was so much more relaxed. I had my doubts due to events that occurred over the year. I must say that I was surprised on how great it was. There was no drama and although we were drinking wine afterwards, noone was really drunk. Everyone simply had a good time.
- An impromptu gang singing of “American Pie” sounds much better after a couple of glasses of wine.
- For the first time in 7 years, my entire family made it to crush. We had a bit of a falling out and this year saw us re-united. I made it a point to tell my mother that I loved her. She cried.
Punch-downs this week. Pressing will be on Saturday.
