Decision on Fresh Italian Juice

[winemaker81]

Dave (@vinny) his the nail on the head -- the word that matters most is "fear". It's normal to have some level of fear when facing a new endeavor. IMO the secret is to control and use the fear -- put in extra dedication in doing beforehand research to ensure a good outcome on the first try.

My first times with grapes were easy -- they weren't my grapes and the guys who owned them had been doing it for years, in some cases for several generations. Sure, the first time I made wine from grapes was faced with some trepidation, but I was working with my business partner and everything went well.

My advice to everyone is to do the research, ask the questions, and then do it.

 

[CDrew]

Grapes terrify me.

So, we are making wine here. Grapes are not scary. At all. In fact, they are the essential stuff. Wine is made from grapes. Wine grapes are easy to work with and easy to make into wine. They will make wine whether you want them to or not. As Nike would say; "Just Do It". Some wines are good and some are not, but that's the challenge. If you have a bad lot, just throw it out. I did that with a bad Mourvedre in 2018. Most wines you make will be good, so just proceed and get it done.

 

[tmcfadden932]

I've been lucky in that when I moved to the Central Valley of California, I joined the Lodi Amateur Vintner's Association, LAVAwine.org. With all the contacts the club has, grapes can be had for the picking. The best red wine comes off the skins. We did a Barbera one year from a friend's vineyard and what came off the press at the very end filled a 15 stainless keg with a dark concentrated wine. We used it to top the barrels when we did the first racking. Big mistake. What was in that keg was far superior to what was in the barrels. Instead of getting 6 cases from the keg, we ended up with a little less then 3. What came out of the barrels took a Gold Medal at the State Fair the when entered.
If you crush Barbera and put it directly in the press, it will make a white wine because of it's acidic nature, as the skins need some pectic enzyme to help during a cold soak to release their color and flavor. We do this and add those skins coming off the press back into the cold soak to concentrate the flavor of the red that we are making that year.
Other Italian varietals to try if you can find them are Aglianico and Montepulciano, two red varietals that make wonderful rose' as well as a good red wine.

 

[wineview]

Should I add KMeta to a juice bucket 24 hours before adding my starter?

 

[Jovimaple]

Should I add KMeta to a juice bucket 24 hours before adding my starter?

I did for my Barbera juice bucket, primarily because I wanted to give my own yeast a better chance of overwhelming any yeast already in the must.

 

[wineview]

I did for my Barbera juice bucket, primarily because I wanted to give my own yeast a better chance of overwhelming any yeast already in the must.

I’ve done a ton of juice buckets and never added sulfites. I think I will this time around. See what the difference might be.

 

[Ohio Bob]

Never have added Kmeta to juice buckets. If the SG is 1.090, then I figure it hasn’t started at all.

 

[wineview]

Never have added Kmeta to juice buckets. If the SG is 1.090, then I figure it hasn’t started at all.

I will check SG. Thanks for the tip. Also, I was wondering if the kmeta would affect the yeast in the starter

 

[winemaker81]

I will check SG. Thanks for the tip. Also, I was wondering if the kmeta would affect the yeast in the starter

Commercial yeast is typically SO2 tolerant, which is one reason is wins over non-cultured yeast. Normal amounts of K-meta should have no effect, although folks wait 24 hours to inoculate to give the SO2 time to do it's magic on O2 and other stuff, reducing the SO2 level.