Looking good there Rick!
I am guessing your CO2 cylinder is low pressure (~80psi) ? No regulator!
I am guessing your CO2 cylinder is low pressure (~80psi) ? No regulator!
Hill House Vineyard
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AlFulchino
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looking good man.....
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You have quite the selection there Rick. I bet it feels good to have most of it in now. I have barely begun picking my own
rrawhide
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morn',
Well Al, by now you have caught up on all your sleep and rearing to go again.
Rich, sounds like you had a fine harvest too.
And us, we still have 5 varieties to go - negrara; nebbiolo; barbera; charbono and forestera. They all were brix 20-21 yesterday. SO, still have some time to go. Since we had a cool spell they slowed way down. But warm again this week. We either have to pick by Thursday or they wait until the 7th of October. YES FATHER AL, I leave on the 1st until the 6th for a High Sierra fishing trip for trout!!! The grapes are all netted and are resting nicely. Hopefully, if we do not pick, they will be at 24-26 brix when we return. This is where we would like them to be anyway. This fishing trip is an annual men's trip from church. I have to go since I invited another (for his first time) and I am driving too. This is about 6 hours away and will be on the June Lake Loop out of Bishop, Ca. Yes, dear, I will take pictures too!!!
The earlier wine is all done with fermentation and is or will be racked into secondaries or carboys today. I still need to test the TA again but the ph's are all 3.25-3.68 so should be ok. I will post pictures later on these.
Hope all that are growing their own grapes are having a good time and a good harvest too!!! Especially Mike, after doing his destem/crush by hand - part of the learning curve. Next year, equipment for sure. But, remember, he is just a kid - so this is all easy for him!!!!
later
rrawhide
Well Al, by now you have caught up on all your sleep and rearing to go again.
Rich, sounds like you had a fine harvest too.
And us, we still have 5 varieties to go - negrara; nebbiolo; barbera; charbono and forestera. They all were brix 20-21 yesterday. SO, still have some time to go. Since we had a cool spell they slowed way down. But warm again this week. We either have to pick by Thursday or they wait until the 7th of October. YES FATHER AL, I leave on the 1st until the 6th for a High Sierra fishing trip for trout!!! The grapes are all netted and are resting nicely. Hopefully, if we do not pick, they will be at 24-26 brix when we return. This is where we would like them to be anyway. This fishing trip is an annual men's trip from church. I have to go since I invited another (for his first time) and I am driving too. This is about 6 hours away and will be on the June Lake Loop out of Bishop, Ca. Yes, dear, I will take pictures too!!!
The earlier wine is all done with fermentation and is or will be racked into secondaries or carboys today. I still need to test the TA again but the ph's are all 3.25-3.68 so should be ok. I will post pictures later on these.
Hope all that are growing their own grapes are having a good time and a good harvest too!!! Especially Mike, after doing his destem/crush by hand - part of the learning curve. Next year, equipment for sure. But, remember, he is just a kid - so this is all easy for him!!!!
later
rrawhide
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So how was the fishing trip? We want pictures!
Yea,
Its been awful quiet from the West coast branch this week!
Its been awful quiet from the West coast branch this week!
rrawhide
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Hi ya'll
We are back!!! Did a lot of fishing but not a lot of catching. A large cold front came in the 2 nd day and that took care of that. We had a wonderful time - 13 christian men from 3 different churches. Did a lot of sightseeing and quite a bit of fishing. I think that there were only 6-7 fish caught total These were all rainbow trout in the 12-13" size. Lots of great fellowship and food. We have a retired CHP officer that loves to cook and he does a wonderful job - chicken catchatori (sp) ; prime rib; ortega chilis; rib steaks; and spagetti and great breakfasts too. Bought a new Canon camera and took lots of pictures that I will post when i figure how to load on my computer. This is a Canon SX20i and wow am i impressed.
Picked 500# this morning 400 of Barbera and 100 of Charbono.Crushed and sulfited and yeast innoculant added today for preperation of yeast tomorrow.
Forestera gone so no more whites to pick. Maybe will check the Emerald Riesling again - it is 25 brix right now. Will try to let it go to 35 Brix or so and pick a couple hundred pounds for a late harvest sweet wine. Depends is there is any left at that sweetness.
I have to check but it seems that we have now picked 3500#. Still have the negrara and nebbiolo left to pick. Since we had quite a bit of rain while I was gone the brix dropped to 18-20. There is about 25 vines of each and will let go another week and see what happens.
Have to start the racking pretty soon. A rule of thumb here is 3-3-3 3 days - 3 weeks and 3 months and then rest. Have lots to rack and add oak to.
In the 4 Seas barrel I added 1# of American Oak Xoakers. These are the 24mm round spheres so you just dump them in. 4 C's blend Charbono - Carmine - Centurian and Carnelian. Hope that it turns out.
Later
rrawhide
We are back!!! Did a lot of fishing but not a lot of catching. A large cold front came in the 2 nd day and that took care of that. We had a wonderful time - 13 christian men from 3 different churches. Did a lot of sightseeing and quite a bit of fishing. I think that there were only 6-7 fish caught total These were all rainbow trout in the 12-13" size. Lots of great fellowship and food. We have a retired CHP officer that loves to cook and he does a wonderful job - chicken catchatori (sp) ; prime rib; ortega chilis; rib steaks; and spagetti and great breakfasts too. Bought a new Canon camera and took lots of pictures that I will post when i figure how to load on my computer. This is a Canon SX20i and wow am i impressed.
Picked 500# this morning 400 of Barbera and 100 of Charbono.Crushed and sulfited and yeast innoculant added today for preperation of yeast tomorrow.
Forestera gone so no more whites to pick. Maybe will check the Emerald Riesling again - it is 25 brix right now. Will try to let it go to 35 Brix or so and pick a couple hundred pounds for a late harvest sweet wine. Depends is there is any left at that sweetness.
I have to check but it seems that we have now picked 3500#. Still have the negrara and nebbiolo left to pick. Since we had quite a bit of rain while I was gone the brix dropped to 18-20. There is about 25 vines of each and will let go another week and see what happens.
Have to start the racking pretty soon. A rule of thumb here is 3-3-3 3 days - 3 weeks and 3 months and then rest. Have lots to rack and add oak to.
In the 4 Seas barrel I added 1# of American Oak Xoakers. These are the 24mm round spheres so you just dump them in. 4 C's blend Charbono - Carmine - Centurian and Carnelian. Hope that it turns out.
Later
rrawhide
rrawhide
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HARVEST IS OVER AND THE CRUSH IS DONE!!!!!!!!!
And here are the numbers:
4200# and 250 gallons for the 3 of us. Notbad for a hobby!!! We really selectively picked only what we wanted and with the loss from the 'critters' and what we left we probably would have doubled the harvest, at least!!! Now gotta figure what is the plan for next year!
Picked the Nebbiolo and Negrara yesterday and this was a total of 15 baskets. Brix was 25 and the Ph 3.61 and the TA .7. Not too bad. There is about 75 gallons of must in 2 barrels to befermented yet.
Here are the last pictures:
Nebbiolo
Negrara
What we had to contend with too!!
getting ready to go night night
last crush
almost last press
goodness - necter of the gods
Steve testing TA
And here are the numbers:
4200# and 250 gallons for the 3 of us. Notbad for a hobby!!! We really selectively picked only what we wanted and with the loss from the 'critters' and what we left we probably would have doubled the harvest, at least!!! Now gotta figure what is the plan for next year!
Picked the Nebbiolo and Negrara yesterday and this was a total of 15 baskets. Brix was 25 and the Ph 3.61 and the TA .7. Not too bad. There is about 75 gallons of must in 2 barrels to befermented yet.
Here are the last pictures:
Nebbiolo
Negrara
What we had to contend with too!!
getting ready to go night night
last crush
almost last press
goodness - necter of the gods
Steve testing TA
250 gallons!
That should last you a few weeks! Nice pics and congrats on the bountiful harvest!
That should last you a few weeks! Nice pics and congrats on the bountiful harvest!
rrawhide
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These would not insert into previous post so
my partner in crime Steve
John and me above and newbie Ken below - he's just newly retired and wants something to do - - hummmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and Steve's wife Joanie took all the pictures.
my partner in crime Steve
John and me above and newbie Ken below - he's just newly retired and wants something to do - - hummmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and Steve's wife Joanie took all the pictures.
AlFulchino
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nothing beats that...does it Rick! very enjoyable to see!
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Now you can do like Al does and take naps in the winery all day!
The best part of all of it is that it is fun to do. right?
The best part of all of it is that it is fun to do. right?
AlFulchino
Winemaker of 30+ years
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you gotta take naps because you have to do wine tastings out on a third party location like i did this evening where in two hrs 24 bottles were sold...that is a good outing for a fairly small store, plus as Rick will surely attest...from late winter pruning, thru bud break, weeding, spraying, hedging, etc etc etc until harvest and press...it is one long long yr...a nap or two..or as in my case...a nap each day...is mandatory 
Bottle every 5 minutes, not too shabby!
rrawhide
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All done with last pressing. Steve and I finished today.
Had a stroke of luck yesterday - went over to Paso Robles, Ca to get some Pippen apples from a friend that owns a commercial winery and has apples that he does not do a thing with so picked 6 lugs. These will be used Sunday at our churches Harvest Fair making apple cider.
Anyway, he had some neutral barrels that he did not need - that were just emptied Sept 25th...... and were cleaned and gassed and ready to go. So, being a friend, sold three of them to me for $20 each. Wow, was I surprised. They were older but just emptied and ready to go and we used them today.
Here is what we are all about now:
What are we doing? I would like an answer to this question. I think that Steve and I are nuts.
Had a stroke of luck yesterday - went over to Paso Robles, Ca to get some Pippen apples from a friend that owns a commercial winery and has apples that he does not do a thing with so picked 6 lugs. These will be used Sunday at our churches Harvest Fair making apple cider.
Anyway, he had some neutral barrels that he did not need - that were just emptied Sept 25th...... and were cleaned and gassed and ready to go. So, being a friend, sold three of them to me for $20 each. Wow, was I surprised. They were older but just emptied and ready to go and we used them today.
Here is what we are all about now:
What are we doing? I would like an answer to this question. I think that Steve and I are nuts.
