Mosti Mondiale MM All Juice Castel Del Papa

[dfwwino]

This evening, I started a Mosti Mondiale All Juice Castel del Papa kit that my friends and I purchased. Castel del Papa is the MM name for a Chateauneuf-du-Pape style of wine. The three primary grapes of CNP are Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre. To let everyonesee how simple kit winemaking can be, I've documented the step by step process of the first day of winemaking. Here's the kit:

Edited by: dfwwino

 

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Here's the kit just after I removed the top:

 

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Above the juice were two bags: one with oak chips, the other with the ingrediants, i.e., yeast, bentonite, sulfites, potassium sorbate and other finings.

 

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Here, I've removed the individual ingrediants from the bag and set them beside the oak chips:

Edited by: dfwwino

 

[dfwwino]

Here's the six gallons of grape juice (unfermented) in the bucket, ready to be siphoned into a 7.9 gallon fermenter once the cap is removed.

 

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Here's are the step by step instructions included in the kit:

 

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The first step is to prepare the bentonite finings to be added to the must:

 

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In a sanitized pyrex measuring cup with 250 ml water, I pour the bentonite finings:

 

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Below, are the bentonite finings added to the water. See how they look like clay noodles. DO NOT STIR. Allow the finings to soak for 30 minutes.

 

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While the bentonite finings soaked, I siphoned and poured the bag of grape juice into a sanitized 7.9 gallon plastic fermenter:

 

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Below are the bentonite finings after soaking for 30 minutes:

 

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Next, stir the bentonite well with a whisk. (Here, I used a sanitized beater because I couldn't find my whisk):

 

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I then poured the bentonite finings into the must:

Edited by: dfwwino

 

[dfwwino]

After adding the bentonite, I assembled my power drill and sanitized drill stirrer to mix the bentonite in the must and aerate the must for a couple of minutes:

 

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The winemaker mixing the bentonite and must. Notice this is a shoeless operation:

 

[dfwwino]

Once the must was stirred, I took a sample of the must and took my trusty hydrometer to measure the starting gravity of the must. The SG was 1.086, which means there is enough sugar in the must to produce 12% alcohol when completely fermented. I will not get into the explanation of hydrometers and specific gravity, other than to state it is how we measure the sugar content of must prefermentation and how we determine how fermentation is progressing to completion. The specific gravity will drop down as the yeast eats the sugar and produces alcohol.

Edited by: dfwwino

 

[dfwwino]

While testing the SG, I boiled some water, poured it into a sanitized cup and placeda sanitized thermometer in it. Once the heat lowered to between 104 degrees F and 109 degrees F, I was ready to rehydrate the yeast. Rehydrating allows thedry yeast to expand and hydrate before being pitched into the must.

Edited by: dfwwino

 

[dfwwino]

I have opened the package of EC-1118 Lavlin yeast and am pouring it into the 105 degree F cup of water to rehydrate.

 

[dfwwino]

Here is the cup of water and yeast just after I poured it in. DO NOT STIR. Cover and let it sit for 15 minutes to rehydrate.

 

[dfwwino]

After 15 minutes, I took a sanitized spoon and gently stirred the yeast in the cup. I then poured the cup of yeast into the grape juice must. Do not mix the yeast in the must at this point, but give it time to acclimate asa yeast slurry inits new environment of juice. By the way, this step is called "pitching the yeast."

Edited by: dfwwino