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Thanks Rich!
Now to see what I can coax out of these Cali grapes I picked up from George this Fall. This week we will be hitting 60 degrees pretty much the whole week so its starting to feel like Spring. We got 5 inches of snow on Sunday morning but it was all melted off by late afternoon. Nice to have the moisture. We will take any and all we can get. I am hoping for an early Spring with no late killing frost like last year!
 
Yeah we had snow Saturday and yesterday it was 57, today 60 and in the 60s most of the week. I did not appreciate the snow on top of the ice as I did a flip onto my head and just about knocked myself unconscious. I crawled on my hands and knees over to a level spot and staggered to my feet. I have had a headache for 2 days now..................... Today I was able to prune a few rows of vines. It felt great being able to get out and do something even if I felt drunk while doing it!
 
Dang! You may have rung your bell for sure! (mild concussion). You need some of those Yaktrax for ice!
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Rich, I'll second the suggestion -- those yak-trax are so easy to put on and pull off they are just the ticket for those icy days! And while they may be $15-18 bucks -- as you are lying on the cold snow, pulling yourself along, you'll think they are cheaper than the CT scan....
 
2012 Blends!

I have figured out the blends for bottling my 2012 wines made from fresh grapes via California. This is a small family run vineyard located in Acampo, CA which lies within the Lodi AVA. I made 12 gallons of Cabernet, 12 gallons of Syrah, 12 gallons of Petit Syrah, and 12 gallons of Old Vine Zinfandel.

I came up with 7 different blends based off of commercial blends spotted out in the wild. CA wineries are much more secretive for some reason about their blends whereas WA State wineries are an open book. If you do some digging you can generally find the information you need, you just have to dig.

2012 Blends

Pistolas de Duelo (Dueling Pistols)

50% Zin
50% Syrah


El Peso Pesado (The Heavyweight)

76% Cab Sauv
14% Syrah
10% Zin

Machete (Machete LOL)

65% Cab Sauv
15% Syrah
15% Petit Sirah
5% Zin

El Prisionero (The Prisoner)

46% Zin
27% Cab Sauv
18% Syrah
9% Petit Sirah

Saldo (Balance)

85% Zin
9% Syrah
6% Petit Sirah

El Alcaide (The Warden)

80% Syrah
20% Cab Sauv

Las Sobras (The Leftovers)

61% Petit Sirah
23% Syrah
12% Cab Sauv
4% Zin
 
Let's get ready to rumble!

2012's are blended. bottled and labeled just in time for 2014's to arrive next week it looks like. Here is a pic of the now motorized crusher! Seems to work well but have not tried it under load. It has a variable speed control. The motor came out of a treadmill so it hopefully will stand up to the load. I will have the old hand crank on standby if it acts up!

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Thanks Rich! Busy time of year. I am picking my Marquette this week. Corot Noir and Noirete are only about 18 Brix so will hold off on them for a while. Good thing I have an extra refrigerator will some cold storage room.

You must be getting close as well. Good luck with your harvest!
 
Crush 2014!

Looooong day. Started at 8:30AM picking up the grapes in Denver, then loading 900lbs into my Brutes and then driving them back home 430 miles offloading them and then crushing and sulfiting them and letting them sit overnight outdoors. Tomorrow will attack the chemistry and pitch yeast in the afternoon. Newly automated crusher kicked ASK! :)

I am pooped!

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Each year I switch it up just a bit.

2012 I made:

2 Carboys Cab Sauvignon
2 Carboys Petit Syrah
2 Carboys Old Vine Zin
2 Carboys Syrah

2013 I made:

2 Carboys Cab Sauvignon
2 Carboys Merlot
2 Carboys Old Vine Zin
2 Carboys Sangiovese

2014 will make:

3 Carboys Cab Sauvignon
2 Carboys Merlot
2 Carboys Old Vine Zin
1 Carboy Syrah

Everything will go into blends!
 
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Just curious, out of the 8 carboys ... how many different finished wine types? How big is each blend in bottles? I'm thinking next year I may try something similar on a smaller scale.
 
On the 2012's I took one carboy of the Petit Syrah and turned it into a Port. It has not been bottled yet but getting close, maybe this Winter. I didn't adjust the brix on that one and let it ferment out to almost 16% ABV I ended up with about 7.5 gallons after fortifying and adding in 2 cans of Alexanders Zinfandel Concentrate for backsweetening. No Sorbate as they went through MLF but the 19% ABV will keep anything from starting back up.

That leaves 7 carboys and I blended up 7 different wines. I listed the blends and ratios about two pages back on this thread. Each is a totally different wine. I always end up with leftovers and I throw them into a blend. The blends can be crazy but both years I have done this that blend of "leftovers" has made an amazing wine.

So I end up with 31 bottles per blend. Its work for sure but I think it produces a better wine. It also allows you to take a wine with a not so great pH and bring it down into something much better as far as aging etc. I tend to have some wines end up in the 3.8 range and when blended with a 3.5 range you get a nice ~3.65 range wine.
 
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I ended up adjusting chemistry from 10:00AM until about 8:00PM. Being a chemist by trade I tend to keep trying to "dial it in" just a little better……. So lots of pH testing, lots of adding acidulated water to get the brix down from 27.5 to 24 then lots of TA testing and retesting of pH. pH always slides back up after a few hours. Lots of buffering due to Potassium leaching out of the grape/skins slowly over the day after you crush. So I hit them all with some acid and water. Work my way through all 8 brutes. Then go back to the first one. Recheck pH, and do an initial TA, add another dose of acid, recheck pH, recheck TA. Sometimes another dose of acid is required sometimes not. It takes about 5 mins to let the pH meter stabilize after you have rinsed it off in order to really get a good stable reading. Slow process but it works well.

I was too tired to pitch yeast after that so let them sit in the winery over night and I will pitch yeast tonight. That process is slow in itself doing it one at a time and having to wait. Takes about 30min per Brute to pitch yeast so 4 hour process. Checked all Brutes this AM and all are quiet so sulfite is doing its job.

Have to come back to work just to rest up from the weekend! :)
 
For the yeast, I take a half dozen pint jars and start them all within minutes. When they are ready you just add them one at a time to the fermenter. Goes much quicker.
 
I have been thinking I should swtiching from Serial to Parallel processing for sometime. My brain and keeping track of all the different yeast(s) I use for each varietal has me worried about keep them all straight!
 
Just use a bit of tape to ID each jar with the varietal and yeast and maybe the ID of the fermenter. When ready, you know where it goes and what to write down. You should see my winery right now if you think those few brutes is confusing.:)
 

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