WineXpert Great Day in Winemaking--Long Story

[cbwenger]

i told George I would share this story, as its always fun to laugh about these things... Wednesday i got two wines in the mail

!!! i only have 1 fermenter, so the Corvino Creshendo goes in (the other waits by its side, i notice it has a moldy box

, so i change boxes, throw the other one out... take off for a couple days over the weekend to return home and check on my precious

... i find ants crawling around the floor, start checking for the source, and here there was a small leak in the juice kit siiting beside the fermentor... so i have to throw this juice out, since there were about 50 ant critters inside the bag

, this was very hard to do, in fact i could not pour it out, i had to put it back in the box and set it there for the trash man to take when i was sleeping early this morning (less painful)... so now i'm nervous that the ants without there favorite juice, might get into my fermentor of Corvino (i had a mesh filter held down by three coffee mugs to keep bugs out, but after seeing how the got in the juice, i'm not taking any chances)... so i go to put an airlock in the fermentor, and as i am doing this, the rubber washer pops off and falls into the juice!!!!

, and because its a Creshendo, i don't have enough room for the airlock to fit snug and not be in contact with the juice (so there would be no airflow).... so i decide to auto siphon with the mesh filter into a carboy because the hydrometer read .998 after 5 days.... well since i'm racking 2 days early to protect from my ant enemies, the siphon kept catching some air/carbondioxide from the fermenting yeast, and so i would lose my siphon every 10-15 seconds

, so i keep pumping, and pumping, and all of a sudden, my mesh filter falls off in the fermenter

... so now i get oak and skins in my auto siphon, (not fun cleaning up), and so i still have half a carboy to fill up... now i "somewhat listen to George", where he mentions, with a creshendo kit, use a funnel and filter to get all the juice out, and KEEP A BUCKET NEAR BY!!!! so i put the funnel on top of the carboy, and the nose doesn't fit in snug, and i half half a fermenter filled with wine to dump in this funnel, all by myself

, so i just don't want to spill it, so i am slowly pouring with one hand, holding the funnel with the other, and admiring how good a job i am doing getting all the juice in the carboy

.... all of a sudden, i see the filter float up to the top of the funnel, and in my bewilderment, i feel the juice splashing on the floor from the overflow of the full carboy

(why didn't i listen to George and have that bucket nearby!!!!)..... so i kicked a few things, beat up my dog, and threw the cat out the window!!!! just kidding i ahve no pets, goodthing, too!!! i'm still laughing about, because i don't know what else to do, besides keep cleaning up the mess (after 2 hours of cleaningi went to bed)and that doesn't include the half hour i spent going through all the seeds, skins, and oak looking for the daggone rubber washer (which i did find!!!)... stupid is as stupid does i guess!!! so thats my great winemaking experience of the night.... could anything else have gone wrong???? can i write this as an article for winemmaker magazine!!!! Edited by: cbwenger

 

[Hi In The Pines]

You know, I have not even done my first batch...But Im thinking that if that is what has happened, then it can only get better. At least you didnt have to throw out the batch.

 

[smurfe]

Almost makes me leery to doa Crushendo.

I have heard more than one story like this.

My dilemma is I can't decide which one to try. I have been sitting here for over a week now trying to make up my mind.


Smurfe

 

[PolishWineP]

I'm sorry to laugh, but that's what I'm doing! You poor thing!

When at first you don't succeed...

 

[cbwenger]

i still can't stop laughing.... smurfe, don't let that discourage you at all... i have done them before and there is not much difference from a regular kit... i was just upset at the ants, losing another kit, and rushing around, so my head wasn't into it, i didn't plan on racking last night, so it was late, had to sanitize everything at the last minute... just stupidity on my part.... but in 2 months when i bottle, i guarantee it will be worth it, because it smells phenomenal... big believer in the creshendo's, especially if you like reds, i think they're the best kits you can get

 

[cbwenger]

also, you can always try more than one and compare... price wise you will never beat what George just did, and plus i found out you get an extra discount if you order 2 kits at once... i wanted to go w/ the Pinot next, but George might have convinced me into the d'Oc!!! made the syrah, and it was easy and worked out great, smell great, but i stashed it away till christmas!!!

 

[Hippie]

Oh my goodness!!!


The great wine caper!


The only thang better would be if the 3 Stooges were running around slapping each other!

 

[Bill B]

My hats off to your patience. My first Crushendo was a Corvina and I kind of ran into the same thing.. I used a7 gal fermenter with a lid and airlock. I usually use a straining bag but on this kit I didn't. When It was time to rack I could only get about 2/3 of the must out, the rest was grape skins, oak, so I used a straining bag inserted in a funnel inserted into a 6.5 gal carboy. I added a little at a time till I got just about all the juice. The small filter screen they give you to attach aver the racking cain works ok for a while, then it more of a pain than its worth. After all is said and done, the wine cleared nicely and is now bottled. The wine is fantastic early, but if you can wait 6 Mo. to a year then you will have in my opinion one of the best wine out there.


Bill

 

[rgecaprock]

Funny story, Corey!!! Glad you all are discussing the Crushendo. I'm planning that for my next kit hopefully this month. I'll have the experienced ones to go to.





Ramona

 

[Underboss]

Wow cbwenger,


Sounds like you really had a tough time with the Crushendo. I have not made one of these kits yet but I am starting the Syrah I got from George tomorrow (Wed). I'm glad you posted your story here so that maybe it will help me avoid the same issues. I have heard about the trouble these kits can be but I have also heard that they are worth the extra effort. Thanks again for the post.Edited by: Underboss

 

[cbwenger]

always glad to share, and bill, good to know this will turn out as expected (if i didn't screw it up too bad!!)... o yeah, Glenvall, i only needed two stooges (i'd fill in for curly, since i lost more of the little hair i had left!!!)

 

[geocorn]

FYI.


Tim Vandergrift showed us the first racking of a crushendo when I was at the retailers conference last month. It went perfect. Rumor has it that he tried the same thing last month and did not go "quite as well".


The Crushendo's are more work on the first racking, but the results are well worth the trials and tribulations.

 

[Hippie]

I ain't skeered, I just need time!

 

[Maineiak]

This story sure skeered me!

I think I will stay with my very basic kits to keep myself out of that kind of trouble. I could see myself going to great lengths to save my wine too!

 

[cbwenger]

don't let my bafoonery skeer you away... my first kit was a creshendo, and it went smoothly, just had a bad night, and first time i tried the funnel... believe me, if you like red wines, it is definately worth it!!!!!