Fall 2023 Experiments

[winemaker81]

This is the Vidal Juice after 2 weeks in the fridge. I'll be testing pH over the weekend.

Note that the sludge bottle is over half cleared. I'll be able to pour off most of the wine, netting another bottle's worth.

 

[winemaker81]

At punch down this afternoon I checked SG on all 6 fermenters:

0.996 -- Cabernet Franc, 4 lugs, Avante yeast
0.995 -- Cabernet Franc, 4 lugs, Bravo yeast

This is expected, so I'm happy.

1.010 -- Merlot, 1 lug, Bravo yeast
1.012 -- Merlot, 3 lugs, Avante yeast

I opened the windows in the cellar twice to cool down the room, to slow down fermentation in the buckets. It looks like it hit the Merlot in smaller batches. Nothing fatal.

1.011 -- Cabernet Sauvignon, 4 lugs, Bravo yeast
1.020 -- Cabernet Sauvignon, 4 lugs, Bravo yeast

Wow. This was a total surprise.

We are pressing tomorrow morning. Color on all wines is strong (used Color Pro), so that is not a concern. We'll see what the CS SG looks like tomorrow at pressing time.

I'd like to delay pressing to Tuesday, but this is an illustration that free time affects winemaking. I can't get everyone together on Tuesday, so tomorrow is it.

Oddly enough, I'm not concerned.

 

[winemaker81]

We pressed this morning, starting by pumping as much wine out of a CF Brute as possible. We have to carry the Brute around the house, up hill, to the driveway where we press, so reducing weight by pumping out wine is good.

Part way through the second Brute of CF, the pump stopped working. I need to open it up to see what's wrong, and hope it's fixable. But that didn't help us today.

We brute forced things (muscle power) and my back is currently saying bad words to me. But we succeeded! Here's an action photo of CF in the press:



Seeing wine spurting out of the press is exciting! It makes all the work worthwhile!

We pressed each 4 lug batch enough to get about 9 US gallons from it, dropping the pomace into Brutes. The goal is to have 18 gallons of raw wine for the Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, to ensure we have plenty of wine for barrel topup. We did the same with the 4 lug batch of Merlot to be consistent.

Following pressing, we have two Brute with the pomace from 4 lugs CS, 4 lugs CF, and 2 lugs Merlot. Into each we added 2 tsp nutrient and poured a 23 liter bucket of Sangiovese. An hour later the caps were tight, so fermentation is proceeding.



Red wine makes a great stain for wood!

 

[winemaker81]

The SG for the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot were much better yesterday, both at 1.004. I didn't want to press, but the stars were lined up (as was the free time and helpers), so we did it. I used the minimum dosage of Color Pro and got great extraction from the grapes, so pressing early didn't affect the color. If anything, using a max dose extracted too much color, as I'd get staining in carboys and bottles.

We started the juice buckets, each in the pomace from 10 lugs. I'm expecting to gross 15-20 gallons, depending on how much wine was left in the pomace. I have a basket press, so we pressed the first run to gross 9 gallons from each fermenter of 4 lugs.

But I have a problem -- every secondary container I have, excepting the new barrel, is full. The only thing not full is a 12 liter carboy, but the Vidal Juice that is cold stabilizing in the fridge in 4 liter jugs will go into that, so I'll have three 4 liter jugs free. Unless someone significantly changes physics between now and Saturday (when we press the bucket + pomace wine), 15-20 gallons of wine won't fit into the jugs ...

The CS and Merlot are finishing fermentation, and while the CF is complete, it's settling. I prefer to let wines settle 2-3 weeks before putting in barrel, so there's less sediment in the barrel.

My space is limited, with the barrels in a corner. I have to drain both so we can pull the rack out to extract the bottom barrel, and if we drain 'em, we might as well bottle 'em.

Plus my pump died.

It never rains, but it pours!

My current thought? Fix the pump if it's fixable.

Drain & bottle the barrels, and put the CF in the bottom barrel, probably the new barrel, as it's not neutral and the CF can probably handle it best. Put holding solution in the top barrel until the CS is ready for barrel.

Bottling the barrels will not only free up the barrels, but will also free up two 19 liter and one 12 liter carboys. The CF is currently in four 19 liter carboys (~16 liters/carboy) so moving this to barrel will free up 3 of them.

Friday evening and Saturday morning will be hectic! After that, winemaking goes back to being a non-exciting hobby ...

 

[VinesnBines]

I have seven empty carboys. Though it will be easier for you to start bottling. That’s how I freed up a bunch. I like my 50 liter kegs for bulk. I have a couple spare -for now.

You need an addition to the wine space.

 

[winemaker81]

I had a bunch of empty carboys all through the spring and summer. The overlap between the 2022 and 2023 wines is my problem.

You need an addition to the wine space.

Yeah, I noticed. Not in the picture are 2 carboys of Merlot ... plus two 32 gallon Brutes full of fermenting wine ...

Maybe I need to reduce production, just a bit?

Capacity planning is critical ... and we have plenty of secondary storage ... other than the overlap between the 2022 and 2023 wines ... which I left out of my planning. Live-n-learn!

Note that my current situation is far from insurmountable. We will be fine and have a solution, even if it means more labor in the short term. I'm posting this as an illustration for others regarding good planning.

 

[VinesnBines]

Yeah, I have 250 liters of 2023 to get to the cellar. Poor planning on my part. I thought I would keep it warmer until after MLF finished. As it turns out the cellar is just as warm as the main house. Mistakes are the best lessons.

 

[winemaker81]

Good Judgment comes from Experience.

Experience comes from Bad Judgment.



I have a LOT of Good Judgment, just not enough for all situations ... but what I have, I earned it honestly.

 

[winemaker81]

I read the trouble shooting guide for my pump. One potential problem is the self-priming feature not working, and the solution is to fill the input tube with liquid. I tried that with water, and the pump works fine! WHEW!!!

One caution is to run water through the pump for a minute or two before putting it away to clean it. I ran 3 gallons through it, and the first bit was bright pink, so it definitely needed cleaning.

 

[winemaker81]

My son & I both have today as a holiday, so we're bottling the barrels. I started this morning by racking the Vidal Juice. It filled a 12 liter carboy with one 750 ml bottle left over. Sludge went into a 1.5 liter bottle and is in the fridge. I hope to get another 750 ml from it.

I completely forgot I added pectic enzyme to the one jug, until I read my notes when updating them. This container has more sediment in it, so I'll add pectic enzyme to both the Juice and the Orange.




I calibrated the pH meter and checked it -- 3.20. This surprised me, as the original pH was 3.24, yet the wine dropped a lot of crystals and the acidic taste is much reduced.

This is a good reminder that pH and TA are not always in sync, e.g., typically one goes up and the other goes down, but it's not true in all situations.

I poured two 2 oz glasses, and added 1/4 tsp table sugar to one. That makes a huge difference in the perceived acid. When my son arrives, I'll have him taste the samples.

We are not doing anything about acid today. I plan to bulk age 3 months, to probably mid-February. The cellar will be chilly for several months, so more acid may drop, although I'm not expecting it. I may add a small amount of potassium bicarbonate to drop the acid, but fully expect to backsweeten.

The wine looks great in the glass!

 

[winemaker81]

We bottled the 2022 barrels, Grenache and Tempranillo, along with a glass aged Rhone blend (Mourvèdre, Petite Sirah, Syrah).

In the past folks have asked about how to conduct bench testing, so I explained in this post how we decided on the blends we bottled.

My intention for the 2022's was to make 2 wines out of the 3 batches. I didn't want a bunch of different blends.

In the end, we bottled 3 cases each of the Grenache and Tempranillo, and bottled the Grenache/Rhone and Tempranillo/Rhone in addition. Plus we had wine left over so I bottled half a case of a 50/50 Grenache/Rhone blend.

Tomorrow we press the Sangiovese buckets + pomace wines.

 

[Obbnw]

The SG for the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot were much better yesterday, both at 1.004. I didn't want to press, but the stars were lined up (as was the free time and helpers), so we did it. I used the minimum dosage of Color Pro and got great extraction from the grapes, so pressing early didn't affect the color. If anything, using a max dose extracted too much color, as I'd get staining in carboys and bottles.

We started the juice buckets, each in the pomace from 10 lugs. I'm expecting to gross 15-20 gallons, depending on how much wine was left in the pomace. I have a basket press, so we pressed the first run to gross 9 gallons from each fermenter of 4 lugs.

But I have a problem -- every secondary container I have, excepting the new barrel, is full. The only thing not full is a 12 liter carboy, but the Vidal Juice that is cold stabilizing in the fridge in 4 liter jugs will go into that, so I'll have three 4 liter jugs free. Unless someone significantly changes physics between now and Saturday (when we press the bucket + pomace wine), 15-20 gallons of wine won't fit into the jugs ...

The CS and Merlot are finishing fermentation, and while the CF is complete, it's settling. I prefer to let wines settle 2-3 weeks before putting in barrel, so there's less sediment in the barrel.

My space is limited, with the barrels in a corner. I have to drain both so we can pull the rack out to extract the bottom barrel, and if we drain 'em, we might as well bottle 'em.

Plus my pump died.

It never rains, but it pours!

My current thought? Fix the pump if it's fixable.

Drain & bottle the barrels, and put the CF in the bottom barrel, probably the new barrel, as it's not neutral and the CF can probably handle it best. Put holding solution in the top barrel until the CS is ready for barrel.

Bottling the barrels will not only free up the barrels, but will also free up two 19 liter and one 12 liter carboys. The CF is currently in four 19 liter carboys (~16 liters/carboy) so moving this to barrel will free up 3 of them.

Friday evening and Saturday morning will be hectic! After that, winemaking goes back to being a non-exciting hobby ...

View attachment 107205

That giant round container on the counter looks heavy and awkward to move, are you a powerlifter ; )

When I first started, the local supply store only had one 5 gallon carboy and a bunch of 3 gallon carboys. I reluctantly bought the 3 gallon ones even though I really wanted 5 gallon ones. Now I'm so glad I have them, the 5 gallon ones are just so much harder to move around. I can't imagine trying to move that beast on the counter. Your round carboys look cool, is the green one at the end the same size as the clear one?

 

[winemaker81]

That giant round container on the counter looks heavy and awkward to move, are you a powerlifter ; )

It's 125 lbs full. My son and I lift Brutes with 144 lbs of grapes in them -- the weight is not a problem for the two of us lifting together.

Hanging onto it? THAT is a different question and you nailed it. Demijohns are VERY awkward and slippery. A few years ago we lifted that demijohn from the floor to the counter and nearly dropped it, as it's hard to hang onto. That is among the dumbest things I've done in winemaking. He and I agreed that wherever it is when it's filled, it's staying there. We rack or pump the wine out and move it only when empty.

The ~55 liter barrels are 150 lbs full, and we can pick them up, but we don't. That's what the pump is for!

Your round carboys look cool, is the green one at the end the same size as the clear one?

The big one is 54 liters, 14.25 US gallons, while the small one is 25 liters, 6.6 US gallons.

The big one is actually a space saver, as it holds almost as much as three 19 liter carboys. The small one is not space efficient, as it holds only a bit more than a 23 liter carboy but takes up more space. But it's handy as it holds a bit more than a 23 liter carboy. Current the 25 is full of a cyser metheglin AKA a spiced mead (cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg) backsweetened with frozen apple juice concentrate.

At this time I can pick up a full 23 liter carboy without strain ... but like most people (well, the ones who are still breathing), I'm not getting any younger and it's not as easy as it was 10 years ago. Right now I use a pump for large batches, but in the future I see using the pump more and more often.

If it's in the budget, consider the AiO pump. I purchased a regular pump as the AiO doesn't handle all my needs, but I'm seeing one in my future. Everyone who has one raves about it.

 

[Obbnw]

It's 125 lbs full. My son and I lift Brutes with 144 lbs of grapes in them -- the weight is not a problem for the two of us lifting together.

Hanging onto it? THAT is a different question and you nailed it. Demijohns are VERY awkward and slippery. A few years ago we lifted that demijohn from the floor to the counter and nearly dropped it, as it's hard to hang onto. That is among the dumbest things I've done in winemaking. He and I agreed that wherever it is when it's filled, it's staying there. We rack or pump the wine out and move it only when empty.

The ~55 liter barrels are 150 lbs full, and we can pick them up, but we don't. That's what the pump is for!


The big one is 54 liters, 14.25 US gallons, while the small one is 25 liters, 6.6 US gallons.

The big one is actually a space saver, as it holds almost as much as three 19 liter carboys. The small one is not space efficient, as it holds only a bit more than a 23 liter carboy but takes up more space. But it's handy as it holds a bit more than a 23 liter carboy. Current the 25 is full of a cyser metheglin AKA a spiced mead (cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg) backsweetened with frozen apple juice concentrate.

At this time I can pick up a full 23 liter carboy without strain ... but like most people (well, the ones who are still breathing), I'm not getting any younger and it's not as easy as it was 10 years ago. Right now I use a pump for large batches, but in the future I see using the pump more and more often.

If it's in the budget, consider the AiO pump. I purchased a regular pump as the AiO doesn't handle all my needs, but I'm seeing one in my future. Everyone who has one raves about it.

Thanks for the info I figured you might not try to move it when full.

My son and daughter grew up and moved away, so I move everything alone...

 

[winemaker81]

This morning we pressed the Sangiovese juice buckets + pomace wine, that was in a pair of 32 gallon Brutes.

Instead of carrying the fermenters up hill to the front yard, I backed the truck to the backdoor and we loaded everything into the truck. This reduced our workload by at least 1/3.

Pressing went quickly as we loaded a #40 press to capacity and started pressing. We completed the job with 3 cycles of the press and start to finish was 2.5 hours.

The juice buckets totaled 12 US gallons and we need 16 gallons to keep the barrel full for 12 months, so the plan was to get at least 4 gallons from the pomace from 20 lugs. I figured that would be easy.

We grossed 24 gallons of wine, so we averaged 0.6 gallons per lug. Wow. I'm rejuggling secondary containers as we have 6 to 8 gallons of wine we were not planning for. I 'spose I shouldn't complain!

 

[winemaker81]

Last night I filled the Cabernet Sauvignon barrel, leaving probably 3.5 gallons in a carboy. I figured I'd have to deal with it soon, with the plan that I have to fill the Cabernet Franc barrel this morning. I ran out of energy last night.

Friday when we cleaned barrels, I thought the new one was significantly larger than the others. My older barrels are nominally 54 liters and the new one (well, new to me!) is supposedly 56 liters.



Barrels are hard to estimate capacity, at least for me, since two barrel can have different heights and diameters, yet hold the same amount. The new one, on the left, just looks bigger, overall.

This morning when I filled it, of ~18 US gallons of CF, I have about 1-3/4 gallon left over, and some of that is sludge. If the barrel is 56 liters, that's 14.8 gallons, so I should have had roughly 3 gallons left. We will not have sufficient CF to top the barrel for the next 12 months.

That's actually not a problem, just a surprise. We intend to make two different blends, so if we top with CS or Merlot, it's no big deal. Blending will be by taste, although I like to know the ratios.

After that it was container juggling time, ensuring that all carboys are full. End result is that one 19 liter carboy is 2/3 CS and 1/3 Merlot. This will be used for barrel topup. Everything is working out.

 

[winemaker81]

There's a few reasons why I write detailed threads like this one. First, some folks find it entertaining to discuss events and see other people's winemaking efforts, and I enjoy the interactions.

Another is that it helps me with my records, as sometimes I'll find better details in this thread than in my notes, as I tend to be a bit terse at time.

Lastly, this may be helpful to others. I post my efforts, warts and all, and don't pull punches. If I screw up (and I do) I admit it. It shows that winemaking doesn't always go as planned, and there's usually a way to handle problem.

Although I've made wine a long time and have helped others with their barrels in the distant past, this is my 5th vintage with my own barrels. It's a like raising children -- things are very different between helping someone else and being fully responsible. I get questions regarding barrels, which I answer based upon research and personal experience.

I'm happy my son is taking custody of our third barrel, as it will give him that direct experience that is fueling his growth as a winemaker. My younger son is looking to move back to the Raleigh area, so ya never know, next year we may buy yet another barrel.

 

[winemaker81]

Note on the new barrel -- we left it soaking for several weeks, and when we dumped it the water was discolored by the oak. As previously mentioned, the barrel is 2 yo, but only had wine in it for ~13 months, so it's far from neutral. At this time we're thinking we'll leave the CF in it for 6 months then swap with the CS which is in a fully neutral, 14 yo barrel.

We're going to add oak cubes to the Sangiovese barrel (also 14 yo), but I'm thinking we'll add none to the CS and CF, to avoid over-oaking.

 

[robert81650]

where do you get color pro ?

 

[winemaker81]

where do you get color pro ?

This year from Grape and Granary, as they are the only ones I found that sell in home winemaker sized quantities. Prior to that Lodi Wine Labs sold it, but they only sell in large amounts, 1 kg or larger.