South African Grapes - Harford Vineyard (MD)

[ceeaton]

... even though I have to drive about an hour each way the quality is worth it.

Where in York are you that it took an hour to get down there? I think I got there in an hour and a quarter and I live North of East Berlin.

I do love their customer service. They really cater to the home winemaker. They know that if they treat you right you'll be back. I tried them because @heatherd and @Boatboy24 gave such raving reviews, and they were spot on with those reviews.

Be curious how your Pinotage turns out, keep us in the loop!

 

[balassley]

I placed an order for 100ish pounds of Chilean Syrah. Can't wait! Bought a WineEasy recently and am eager to try it out.

 

[balassley]

Jim, you posted this in Late 2013 when you were prepping for your 1st crush:

My plan:

1) Have the grapes crushed/destemmed
~I assume I'll need 2-3 five or six gallon buckets to hold the must
~I'll give the buckets a spritz of Meta before leaving and seal them with lids, so they'll sanitize on the trip up.
2) Add sulfite to the must
~I'll probably do this right at the winery, before I start the 2 hour drive home. How much should I be adding?
3) Measure TA/SG/pH when I get home and adjust as needed
~I have tartaric acid and some K Carbonate on the way
4) After 24 hours or so, based on temp, pitch yeast
~I'm going to use D80 and D254 on this, since I'll have at least 2 buckets

I'm curious... Is there anything you'd do differently? I'm now prepping for my 1st crush and would appreciate any advice you might have, especially what additives to have on hand. Appreciate it.

 

[Boatboy24]

Jim, you posted this in Late 2013 when you were prepping for your 1st crush:

My plan:

1) Have the grapes crushed/destemmed
~I assume I'll need 2-3 five or six gallon buckets to hold the must
~I'll give the buckets a spritz of Meta before leaving and seal them with lids, so they'll sanitize on the trip up.
2) Add sulfite to the must
~I'll probably do this right at the winery, before I start the 2 hour drive home. How much should I be adding?
3) Measure TA/SG/pH when I get home and adjust as needed
~I have tartaric acid and some K Carbonate on the way
4) After 24 hours or so, based on temp, pitch yeast
~I'm going to use D80 and D254 on this, since I'll have at least 2 buckets

I'm curious... Is there anything you'd do differently? I'm now prepping for my 1st crush and would appreciate any advice you might have, especially what additives to have on hand. Appreciate it.

I put an ounce or two of Meta in the bucket and seal the lid, dumping it out when I get up there. I don't add sulfite to the must until I get home. I do make sure I have tartaric acid on hand. I've only needed potassium carbonate once. And that was post fermentation.

 

[heatherd]

Jim, you posted this in Late 2013 when you were prepping for your 1st crush:

My plan:

1) Have the grapes crushed/destemmed
~I assume I'll need 2-3 five or six gallon buckets to hold the must
~I'll give the buckets a spritz of Meta before leaving and seal them with lids, so they'll sanitize on the trip up.
2) Add sulfite to the must
~I'll probably do this right at the winery, before I start the 2 hour drive home. How much should I be adding?
3) Measure TA/SG/pH when I get home and adjust as needed
~I have tartaric acid and some K Carbonate on the way
4) After 24 hours or so, based on temp, pitch yeast
~I'm going to use D80 and D254 on this, since I'll have at least 2 buckets

I'm curious... Is there anything you'd do differently? I'm now prepping for my 1st crush and would appreciate any advice you might have, especially what additives to have on hand. Appreciate it.

I would use pectic enzyme as well, and then wait 24 hours for yeast.

 

[Brian]

Where in York are you that it took an hour to get down there? I think I got there in an hour and a quarter and I live North of East Berlin.

I do love their customer service. They really cater to the home winemaker. They know that if they treat you right you'll be back. I tried them because @heatherd and @Boatboy24 gave such raving reviews, and they were spot on with those reviews.

Be curious how your Pinotage turns out, keep us in the loop!

I actually live just SE of East Berlin in Thomasville so it took about an hour. I brought the grapes home on Sun and put them in my 20 gallon fermentation bucket and tested the Brix it was 25 so that is awesome checked the PH it was a bit high so I added some acid, SO2, Yeast energizer, and nutrient, peptic enzime and let sit over night.. I also added some French oak. I pitched the yeast on Monday night, (chose red star Pasteur red) and it is doing its thing. It is about 60-65 in my downstairs area so it will ferment slow which is what I heard should be done with Pinotage. So I will let you know how it goes..

 

[ceeaton]

I actually live just SE of East Berlin in Thomasville so it took about an hour. I brought the grapes home on Sun and put them in my 20 gallon fermentation bucket and tested the Brix it was 25 so that is awesome checked the PH it was a bit high so I added some acid, SO2, Yeast energizer, and nutrient, peptic enzime and let sit over night.. I also added some French oak. I pitched the yeast on Monday night, (chose red star Pasteur red) and it is doing its thing. It is about 60-65 in my downstairs area so it will ferment slow which is what I heard should be done with Pinotage. So I will let you know how it goes..

Wow, you are pretty close to me. I live at Lake Meade. Could get into your neck of the woods in about 25 minutes (takes me 5 just to get out of the Lake).

Yes, keep me apprised. I'd love to sample at some point and could bring down a few of anything you want to try. I've never had a Pinotage and heard it is an acquired taste and would love to try it. I have a young Dornfelder that is a not too often seen grape that is rather interesting. Still a little herbaceous in character but a nice deep dark red wine.

I actually just tipped the carboy a bit that has a Merlot/Cab Sauv/Malbec blend I did last Spring from Harford's Chilean grapes/juice bucket. I have already bottled 1/2 the batch and added Tannin Complex and Tannin Extra Riche to the 1/2 I still have in the carboy. Just such an incredible difference between the two. Both are very drinkable for being less than a year old.

Hopefully we can cross paths and share some wine at some point!

 

[Brian]

Absolutely Craig! We will need to get together and compare notes. I drive Rt234 to Carlisle every day so I pass right by. It takes me about 15 min to get to the intersection by the church so we are not far at all. It is a pretty busy weekend this weekend but if you want PM me and we can possibly work something out and have a chat.