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Well, I am disappointed.
As you all know, the fall crush is a big deal. For the last 7 years or so, I have also been doing a much smaller Chilean crush limited to 300 or 350 liters.
The operative word here is "limited". I keep this mostly between my brother and myself and might allow the nieces and nephews to do just a couple of cases. This has all worked out well until this year. I do have plenty of help this Saturday to sort and crush, but I will be alone on the following Saturday to press.
Now, pressing 300 liters of grapes is really not that hard and it is definitely something that I could do myself. When you remove the social aspect of things, however, it ends up being just another chore. I guess that I would be a little angry if it were not for the fact that the plan is to press on Memorial day weekend. After all, people have lives. Still, I need to question if they want to MAKE wine or if they simply want wine. Jury is out on that one.
OK, now that I have vented my feeling of disappointment, here is my plan.
What I am making
I am doing a Chilean Cab Sav and have ordered 48 half-lugs of cab, and 8 half-lugs of merlot.
Experience tells me that nine 36-pound lugs should fill 100 liters of a tank, so 56 half lugs (18 pounds) should fill the 300 liter tanks I have waiting (and then some).
At crush, I will incrementally add 25.5 grams of kmeta (50ppm SO2) and also the first increment of yeast nutrient t (a DAP/Fermax cocktail). Some will say that this will only serve to feed the "nasties", but I like to add it a bit early to ensure that it is well dissolved throughout the must.
I also do a "pre-adjustment" on the acid if needed. I like to have .55 minimum going into fermentation / maceration and adjust with tartaric if need be.
The must will then cold soak for 24 hours to allow the SO2 to dissipate and the must to warm up.
I will then pitch 27 packets of RC212, then punch down twice daily (530am and 530pm) until press day. At each punch down, I will take brix and temp readings to be sure that everything is going right.
So the crush day plan
On the way home from work on Friday night I will pick up my brother's van and gas it up. Hit the bank to transfer funds, make up k-meta solution, then pull out all of the equipment we will need. Then sit down, enjoy a glass, and try to get some sleep.
On Saturday, It is up at 5am, shower, fill a travel mug with coffee, and head on out by 6am. It takes roughly 2.5 hours to get to Gino Pinto's and I should make it there by the time they open.
It turns out that Gino Pinto has a great price on bottles (under $11 per case) and a great price on corks (24mm X 45 mm natural corks are only $169 for a 1,000 count bag. At .16 per cork, I ordered 2 bags of them. I will see if there is any room for bottles once all of the grapes are loaded.
While I am getting the grapes, the brother will head to the winery to get things scrubbed, sanitized, and set up.
Unfortunately, according to the weather forecast, Saturday will be the 4th day of rain. Last year was an absolute mud-fest so I want to try something new. Instead of setting up 10X10 popups, we will set the crusher right over the fermentation tub and sort/crush inside the winery. It may be cramped, but at least we will be dry.
I should get back by noontime and if all goes to plan, we should have everything crushed and cleaned up by 3pm.
We shall see what the fates allow...
As you all know, the fall crush is a big deal. For the last 7 years or so, I have also been doing a much smaller Chilean crush limited to 300 or 350 liters.
The operative word here is "limited". I keep this mostly between my brother and myself and might allow the nieces and nephews to do just a couple of cases. This has all worked out well until this year. I do have plenty of help this Saturday to sort and crush, but I will be alone on the following Saturday to press.
Now, pressing 300 liters of grapes is really not that hard and it is definitely something that I could do myself. When you remove the social aspect of things, however, it ends up being just another chore. I guess that I would be a little angry if it were not for the fact that the plan is to press on Memorial day weekend. After all, people have lives. Still, I need to question if they want to MAKE wine or if they simply want wine. Jury is out on that one.
OK, now that I have vented my feeling of disappointment, here is my plan.
What I am making
I am doing a Chilean Cab Sav and have ordered 48 half-lugs of cab, and 8 half-lugs of merlot.
Experience tells me that nine 36-pound lugs should fill 100 liters of a tank, so 56 half lugs (18 pounds) should fill the 300 liter tanks I have waiting (and then some).
At crush, I will incrementally add 25.5 grams of kmeta (50ppm SO2) and also the first increment of yeast nutrient t (a DAP/Fermax cocktail). Some will say that this will only serve to feed the "nasties", but I like to add it a bit early to ensure that it is well dissolved throughout the must.
I also do a "pre-adjustment" on the acid if needed. I like to have .55 minimum going into fermentation / maceration and adjust with tartaric if need be.
The must will then cold soak for 24 hours to allow the SO2 to dissipate and the must to warm up.
I will then pitch 27 packets of RC212, then punch down twice daily (530am and 530pm) until press day. At each punch down, I will take brix and temp readings to be sure that everything is going right.
So the crush day plan
On the way home from work on Friday night I will pick up my brother's van and gas it up. Hit the bank to transfer funds, make up k-meta solution, then pull out all of the equipment we will need. Then sit down, enjoy a glass, and try to get some sleep.
On Saturday, It is up at 5am, shower, fill a travel mug with coffee, and head on out by 6am. It takes roughly 2.5 hours to get to Gino Pinto's and I should make it there by the time they open.
It turns out that Gino Pinto has a great price on bottles (under $11 per case) and a great price on corks (24mm X 45 mm natural corks are only $169 for a 1,000 count bag. At .16 per cork, I ordered 2 bags of them. I will see if there is any room for bottles once all of the grapes are loaded.
While I am getting the grapes, the brother will head to the winery to get things scrubbed, sanitized, and set up.
Unfortunately, according to the weather forecast, Saturday will be the 4th day of rain. Last year was an absolute mud-fest so I want to try something new. Instead of setting up 10X10 popups, we will set the crusher right over the fermentation tub and sort/crush inside the winery. It may be cramped, but at least we will be dry.
I should get back by noontime and if all goes to plan, we should have everything crushed and cleaned up by 3pm.
We shall see what the fates allow...
