This one is gonna be fun. Replicating our old Massa Family Red from grapes. Already lots of people looking forward to it. Especially my brothers.
There wasn’t 1 definitive recipe they used- except when from juice: it was always 2muscat buckets and 1 Alicante per demijohn. But for grapes it varied a lot I recently learned. The 3 main grapes- Muscat Alicante and Zinfandel.
Now this is “old style”. No additions. The much debated Natural ferment. I’ll likely cheat here and there but nothing crazy. I know I’ll be adding sulphites later. And I may feed a touch of nutrients as well.
But that’s it. A completely stress free batch. No adjustments. Enzymes would likely add time to aging. Which would nullify another nice aspect, that this is supposed to be an early drinker. Even w/ no MLf- unless the wine gods say so that is.
Just crush em (minimal sorting) and let it go. Get it to glass. Rack a few times and bottle. Maybe some barrel time. Drinking before next summer. Here we go!
There wasn’t 1 definitive recipe they used- except when from juice: it was always 2muscat buckets and 1 Alicante per demijohn. But for grapes it varied a lot I recently learned. The 3 main grapes- Muscat Alicante and Zinfandel.
Now this is “old style”. No additions. The much debated Natural ferment. I’ll likely cheat here and there but nothing crazy. I know I’ll be adding sulphites later. And I may feed a touch of nutrients as well.
But that’s it. A completely stress free batch. No adjustments. Enzymes would likely add time to aging. Which would nullify another nice aspect, that this is supposed to be an early drinker. Even w/ no MLf- unless the wine gods say so that is.
Just crush em (minimal sorting) and let it go. Get it to glass. Rack a few times and bottle. Maybe some barrel time. Drinking before next summer. Here we go!
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