2018 Grape Season Underway

[mainshipfred]

With the recent favorable reports on the SA harvest I upped my CS order to 6 lugs plus the bucket. Think I'm going to keep the bucket frozen and ferment the grapes then add the skins to the bucket. Would be nice if there were 3 weeks between SA and Chili. Not sure I have enough fermenting vessels if not. Thank goodness for the freezer.

 

[pgentile]

Sounds like a plan Fred. I called Gino Pinto's this morning they think the Pinotage will be in early next week possibly monday. SA Cab grapes are supposed to be in closer to the Chilean grapes in April. Last year I picked up my SA cab and Chilean grapes at the same time, not sure if they came in at the same or not.

 

[Ajmassa]

Would be nice if there were 3 weeks between SA and Chili. Not sure I have enough fermenting vessels if not. Thank goodness for the freezer.

Just go with the flow man. I try to let the batch dictate my equipment instead of vice versa.
My plans just so happen to land in basically the only volume fermentor I do not own-20gal. I need 2. Perfect excuse!
And I found em for only $20 each on Amazon- white with smooth sides. Good to go

 

[mainshipfred]

Just go with the flow man. I try to let the batch dictate my equipment instead of vice versa.
My plans just so happen to land in basically the only volume fermentor I do not own-20gal. I need 2. Perfect excuse!
And I found em for only $20 each on Amazon- white with smooth sides. Good to go

Don't see 20's for under $28. But I have been only needing 6 gallon buckets since I split everything up and use at least 2 different yeasts sometimes 3. A bit of a pain but it's what I've been trying.

 

[jburtner]

That’s a really good idea. Ie; if you’re doing a two bucket batch use a different yeast for each and blend after fermentation for added complexity. I’ve been using that approach very effectively on some other non-wine ferments.

Cheers!
-johann

 

[Ajmassa]

Don't see 20's for under $28. But I have been only needing 6 gallon buckets since I split everything up and use at least 2 different yeasts sometimes 3. A bit of a pain but it's what I've been trying.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002O8LDV6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Unless your partial to Brute brand. I have another size from this company. Legit can- and same food safe codes as the brutes.

 

[mainshipfred]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002O8LDV6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Unless your partial to Brute brand. I have another size from this company. Legit can- and same food safe codes as the brutes.

Thanks, not partial to anything as long as it works.

 

[mainshipfred]

That’s a really good idea. Ie; if you’re doing a two bucket batch use a different yeast for each and blend after fermentation for added complexity. I’ve been using that approach very effectively on some other non-wine ferments.



Cheers!
-johann

I even split one bucket batches

 

[Boatboy24]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002O8LDV6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Unless your partial to Brute brand. I have another size from this company. Legit can- and same food safe codes as the brutes.

Made in USA too. Nice find

 

[Ajmassa]

That’s a really good idea. Ie; if you’re doing a two bucket batch use a different yeast for each and blend after fermentation for added complexity. I’ve been using that approach very effectively on some other non-wine ferments.

Hmm buckets hadn’t crossed my mind. I wonder how 6 gal of juice would do with >200lbs worth of malbec skins? I’d think pretty dang good.
After I started looking into it I was quick to learn this ‘split and blend’ approach is actually quite common. Im also going different additions across the board- not just yeast.
Yeast - d254 & d80 OR rc212 & renaissance Andante (non h2s and also removes about 30% malic acid on its own)
Mlb- vp41 & ch16
Tannin- will choose 2 from Booster rouge/opti-red/noblesse/ft rouge
Maybe some oak chips in one and not the other
Then different oak while aging.
Will be interesting to see how they differ and compare to themselves as solo and then blended.

 

[pgentile]

As of today no South African grapes in yet, maybe before the weekend they said. Saturday would be perfect for pickup, but we know things usually don't work out that conveniently.

 

[TemperanceOwl]

Hi folks. What's the word on Chilean grapes and pails? I've been watching Collinwood's and juicegrape.com's websites for 2018 pricing and delivery and haven't seen anything posted yet. I don't live close to any distributors (as far as I know) so I'll need to buy from someplace that will ship it to Tennessee.
This will be my first attempt at fresh grapes instead of fresh fruit or kits, so I haven't dealt with ordering them before.

 

[jburtner]

Hi Temp, I just put down deposit on six pails from juicegrape.com shipping to Nashville. Where in TN are you? They do have pricing and availability but I had to email them a couple times.

Cheers!
-johann

 

[TemperanceOwl]

Thanks, Johann. I'm in Johnson City. I just emailed juice grape.com. I thought I emailed them a few days ago but found my note stuck in the outbox tonight.
Did they tell you when they'll ship?

 

[jburtner]

They said mid to late May shipping depending on harvest, etc. 50% deposit now then balance to ship. They also worked up an order of enzymes, fermaid o nutrient, yeast, mlb, oak dust, and opti malo to cover the grape order with additives. I already have kmeta and tannins in stock.

Not cheap but will yield maybe 100 bottles of small batch wine for about $8 and change per 750ml.

I think I’ll do less quantity in the fall but also cali grapes and maybe some pnw grapes.

Cheers!
-johann

Edit: Here's an update from their website-
http://www.juicegrape.com/tracker/articles/Spring_Harvest_Arrival_Updates
--------
The Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Viognier, and Sauvignon Blanc are being Harvested. Check out our video HERE. The red grapes will start to harvest at the end of March. We should see the Pinot Noir and Merlot harvest first, arriving around the first week in May, with the Carmenere, Cabernet, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, Malbec, and Syrah starting to harvest a week later. You should see the later red varieties start to arrive around May 15th.
--------

 

[Ajmassa]

Reserved my grapes this morning. Kept it simple as I’m pretty much crowbarring this batch into my schedule.

(x12) lugs of Chilean Malbec

Should be ready to rock n roll in the fall though.
They said should start to see SA grapes trickling in next week.
——- also to add to an earlier post on fermenter prices. Restaurant Equippers Warehouse - open to public - NSF containers
10gal - $7.99
20gal- $12.99
32gal- $16.99
Plus commercial grade strainers and “punchdown” (potato masher) for dirt cheap. If you’ve got one close by it is definitely worth a stop

 

[jburtner]

FYI - those yellow mop buckets in the pic above (sterilized and not used for anything else) work great for pressing juice. Just put a paint strainer bag into the squeezer part and wedge it over a brute can. Scoop your fermented must into it and squeeze.....

empty the bag into a separate container.

Roll your sleeves up and prepare to get a little messy on crush day. Keep a spray bottle of kmeta around and stay sterile!

Cheers and good luck to all!
-johann

 

[pgentile]

Go the call today, picking up Pinotage grapes this afternoon. Guess I'm going to have a friday night crush.

 

[mainshipfred]

Go the call today, picking up Pinotage grapes this afternoon. Guess I'm going to have a friday night crush.

Have fun, I'm kind of jealous.

 

[Ajmassa]

Go the call today, picking up Pinotage grapes this afternoon. Guess I'm going to have a friday night crush.

either I was lied to or truck showed up right after I spoke with them.

FYI - those yellow mop buckets in the pic above (sterilized and not used for anything else) work great for pressing juice.

I actually looked into that a couple years ago. It really is kinda perfect. Couldn’t do it tho—for vanity reasons lol. To quote the great GnR guitarist Slash, “it’s not just how good of a guitar player you are, it’s how cool you look while doing it!”