general help with wine from grapes

[Busabill]

Hello fellow winemakers! So this is my first time making wine from actual grapes! I'm very excited to get started I just kicked 100 pounds of Cabernet and 100 pounds of Zinfandel and I'm ready to go it has SAT overnight with potassium metabisulfite in the buckets. My problem is I cannot find it anywhere on this site just a good list of step by step directions for making wine from grapes. I've done a lot of research and read a lot of articles on different sites and sometimes they don't jive. Does anyone have a good list of steps or do you know where one is? The specific gravity was 1.020 getting started. Thanks for any advice or help you may have for doing this for the first time. I'm very excited as I've only done kits in the past but again I'm not sure what to do with the pH balance or acid testing or how long to ferment and do I do a second fermentation? Just general steps. Thank you! Cheers!

 

[Bartman]

I hope you're ready from some learning by doing, because there are some things you simply have to experience to fully understand.
You're ready for the second step (assuming you have crushed and de-stemmed your grape): pitching the yeast. With cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel, I would use RC 212 yeast, but several should work fine. Hope you have some yeast on hand...
I presume you misread your S.G. because 1.020 is where it should be when nearly finished fermenting. Others will tell you that you need to measure acid levels and pH, but my philosophy is if the fruit is evenly dark-colored, sweet and not tart, you are probably good to go.
Fermenting will take 1-2 weeks, during which time you will be punching down the "cap" of grape skins, 1x-2x per day, to keep them in contact with the juice.
After it has fermented to 1.000 or so, you press the skins to squeeze the juice out. A few options for pressing fruit are available, but I won't go into that here.
Once pressed, you are basically where you would be with a kit when you are ready to rack to a carboy and start aging it (typically with some oak in one form or another).
Age it at least a year (IMHO) before bottling.

 

[Poni]

The morewine guide to red wine making. Google that and you're sett!

 

[Busabill]

Bartman thanks for the reply and easy steps. I have wondered that about the pH balance and acidity because the fruit is very nice and ripe and evenly sweet and dark colored. And you're right I misspoke about the specific gravity level. There was a little over 1. 100 I think it is 1.020. Thanks again! So don't worry about any secondary fermentation? Or MLF fermentation? I seem to read a lot about that.

 

[Busabill]

I mean 1.120 jeez!

 

[ibglowin]

Thats a little potent. If left to ferment without adjusting that wine will end up at 16.8% ABV and it may stall out as the yeast you use may not be able to handle that much alcohol.

You really should read the More Wine Manual

 

[ceeaton]

So let's say it was a little potent. Would the best course of action be to check the pH and TA and add water that is adjusted to reduce the Brix and adjust the acid at the same time?

 

[Busabill]

Okay guys so I'm finally home so I can look at my data sheet. The SG for the Cabernet was 1.104 and the SG for the Zinfandel was 1.102. So that should yield possibly around 14% ABV correct? Is that better? I guess that's why we write stuff down!

 

[ibglowin]

Much better than 16.8. To be able to do this right with out making a WAG you need a pH meter, TA kit and a refractometer. You add acidulated water so you don't water down the acid levels but in some cases you might have too much acid and can get away with just plain water. This is where you HAVE to have some equipment if your going to do it right. Its much easier to use a refractometer for initial readings when the brix is high and must is thick. After that you switch to a hydrometer once it gets closer to finishing out.

 

[Busabill]

Thank you Mike! I definitely need those tools. For now I have managed the brix is 24-25 and I think the pH was 3.6 and I pitched the east and I'm off to the races. Batman you are right that Manual is awesome! Thanks everyone!

 

[Busabill]

Okay so for those following this post I am on my 6th day of primary fermentation and it is a tale of 2 cities, er grapes. For the Zinfandel the SG is .998 which would make the corresponding brix -.2, it tastes pleasantly tart and fairly bold. For the Cabernet on the other hand SG is 1.010 which would make the corresponding brix 2.5 I suppose, it tastes much milder and still a little sweet and fruity with a hint of sulfur. Could the zinfandel be finished in the primary? On day 6? And do I need to adjust the hydrometer reading based on alcohol level now? What would you guys do? For sure the cab is not finished, and also the temperature has been between 72 and 77 in the room they're in. To recap they both started out at a brix of about 25 and a SG of 1.103. Thanks for your comments and insights as again this is my first adventure with the real grades and trying to check myself along the way. Also my question about MLF, should I do one? I've read a lot of conflicting stuff about it. Is it an automatic? Thanks and cheers.

 

[Busabill]

Obviously did not mean to say grades meant to say grapes. And some more info I've been turning the must twice a day. Cheers everyone.

 

[sour_grapes]

Could the zinfandel be finished in the primary? On day 6?

Sure, the Zin could be finished primary in 6 days. This is not especially fast, IMHO.

I have not done fresh grapes, but I believe from reading here that most would press the Zin at this point.

And do I need to adjust the hydrometer reading based on alcohol level now?

I don't know what you mean by this. The hydrometer is giving you the specific gravity. Yes, the alcohol, water, and sugar are all playing a role, but what would you "adjust," and to what end? It is likely that your final SG for both wines will be in the range of 0.990 to 0.996, most likely 0.992 or so.

 

[Busabill]

Hi Paulx the more wine guide said that alcohol will skew a hydrometer reading of brix and that true 0 Brix (dry) will be more like -2 on the hydrometer.

 

[ibglowin]

Yes, I have 3 Primaries of Zinfandel that are almost all slush today (day 5) and I will press them all tomorrow morning. DAY 6........

Could the zinfandel be finished in the primary? On day 6?