Syrah/Primitivo Big Day

[CDrew]

Slight update...

The 60 gallons in kegs and Intellitanks remained undisturbed.

I had a 6.5 gallon leftover carboy of 50%Petite Sirah and 50% Primitivo. It had been sitting with an oak Winestix since early January. I also had a 5 gallon leftover of Syrah also with a Winestix. Both needed to be racked with sulfite added and oak removed. I used a bit (<250 ml of the 50/50) to top off the Syrah carboy to eliminate headspace, and had about 500ml left over to drink tonight.

Some comments:
-The 50/50 blend is really nice at this point. It's clear, no filtering will be needed. Great dark but appropriate color. Ended up with 6 gallons of the blended wine.
-Also recovered the stopper from the carboy where it popped inside. That was an effort.
-The Syrah is outstanding, even if I made it. Really clear, really dark, appropriate tannin, great fruit flavor. This one is a long term winner I think. Good thing since this 5 gallons makes 20 total!
-There was still a lot of CO2 in both-maybe since the temps have been about 60F since fermentation. The vacuum racking seemed to help. It's warming a bit, so maybe that will help too.
-Not going to do any winemaking until I bottle all the 2018s in July when I get back from Alaska. Might do some wine drinking though!


In other news, a buddy gave me a working Schuco medical vacuum pump with variable vacuum. Looks 80s vintage, I'll try and post a pic. It came out of a hospital during an upgrade but it looks hardly used.

>>>Pending pics<<<

 

[CDrew]

Going to be cutting things very, very close. No wine has been bottled yet as I've either been working or out of town since April. August is the same story. September is shaping up the same too. So that means the first week of October ALL the 2018 is getting bottled, which will be right in the middle of the 2019 grape harvest.

I am considering buying an Enolmatic. Any advice there? I have the all in one vacuum set up and 2 vacuum pumps, but I think I need something faster so the bottling(70 gallons) can all happen in 1 day. I also have the Ferrari wine spiller, I mean bottler, and a Buon Vino bottler which seems like a better constructed version of the Ferrari, but it leaks after it shuts "off". I may use it though.

But I'd love to hear some real world experience with the Enolmatic.

 

[Chuck E]

The pics are not the greatest but the best I could do with the bad lighting.


View attachment 53208 View attachment 53209 View attachment 53210

On your kegs, did you remove the Sanke valve components for the sanitary fittings as shown?

 

[CDrew]

Yes, the valve part of the keg must be removed first. Then you'll need a few gaskets and fittings to make it all work. I wrote up what's needed in an old post. Let me see if I can find it. If I do, I'll come back and edit.

On your kegs, did you remove the Sanke valve components for the sanitary fittings as shown?

Here you go:
@MAJ don't know if you already figured this out. But the top of the Sanke keg is compatible with 2 inch tri-clamp fittings. You need a tri clamp gasket that is flat on one side to make the transition. Those are a bit hard to find, but an inexpensive source is here:
https://www.brewershardware.com/F1GASSIL.html?category_id=253

I have a bunch of 1.5 inch tri-clamp fittings and so to transition from 2 inch to 1.5 inch I used this fitting:
https://www.brewershardware.com/Tri-Clover-Compatible-2x1_5-Cap-Style-Reducer-TCCAPRED20X15.html

And of course, you will also need a 2 inch clamp.

Once you have that, you can get silicone stoppers to fit, though you would need to figure out a way to flow in your inert gas, and then quickly stopper it up before much air mixing occurred.

And if you wanted to get really fancy, something like this could be used:
https://www.brewershardware.com/American-Sanke-Keg-Fermentor-Kit-without-Thermowell.html

Just me, but I think the tri-clamp sanitary fittings are the way to go even for us home winemakers. It seems like overkill at first, but once you start using them, their modular nature is quite useful. There are also a couple of other useful parts that you can get from Catalyst Mfg and MoreWine that allows vacuum racking or pressurized pumping with inert gas or co2. And longer term there are a huge number of fittings that will allow you to do anything you want in your winery using all sanitary fittings. The 3/8 or 1/2 hose barb fittings are particularly useful.

 

[Chuck E]

Yes, the valve part of the keg must be removed first. Then you'll need a few gaskets and fittings to make it all work. I wrote up what's needed in an old post. Let me see if I can find it. If I do, I'll come back and edit.

Thank you very much!

 

[CDrew]

Did some initial bottling of the 2018 today. I had some straggler carboys that didn't fit in the main bulk of wine and so bottled those. Net was 2 cases of Syrah and 2 cases of a Primitivo/Petite Sirah blend. Of the 2, the Syrah is the clear winner. It's really good already and I hope continues to improve. The blend is a 50% Primitivo and 50% Petite Sirah blend of basically leftovers. The Tannin of the Petite Sirah is still at the forefront, but overall, it's decent. It likely needs another year or more. But no bad tastes, so it's clean and good overall.

I did use the All-In-One vacuum bottling set up for the first time and I'm fairly impressed.

I still have 60 gallons to bottle from 2018!

 

[Boatboy24]

Did you bottle any of that Bogle Zin?

 

[CDrew]

Did you bottle any of that Bogle Zin?

No, but I used their bottles! Which are weirdly tall in this variety.

I have 2 friends that save wine bottles for me, and one of them really likes the Bogle OVZ (and I agree, it's excellent wine for the $$).

This is likely the last year I'm using recycled bottles. I like the idea of re-using vs recycling, but it's a huge hassle of removing labels, storing cases etc. I have something like 30 cases of empties in my wine room. I think next year I'm going all new bottles.

 

[CDrew]

In a weekend of backbreaking labor, I picked and started 30 gallons of 2019 Primitivo, then bottled 15 gallons of 2018 Syrah and yielded 6 cases and a magnum. So only 45 gallons of 2018 left to bottle!

And bottled about 1/2 with Normacorc "green" corks. Pretty impressed actually. And, they are not green, just green in the environmental sense. Itialian floor corker handles them just fine.

So bottling-I have tried the Ferrari filler (it's terrible, don't bother), 2 of the Buon Vino bottling devices (terribly messy leakers both), and the AIO vacuum bottler. Of the 3, the AIO is the best but slow. Any other suggestions? Are the gravity bottlers good? What about the Enolmatic? Anyway, I need something better.

 

[CDrew]

Today was a difficult day. I bottled and corked 20 cases of wine. A good problem I know but a lot of labor to rack, then bottle. I did end up getting an Enolmatic and I have to say, it does a good job as long as you're willing to fiddle with it. But it's far better than any of the other bottling options I have used. I got to the point where I could cork as fast as it filled so that saved a ton of time. But 20 cases of wine is a surprising amount of work. I did 50% of the clean up tonight, but the other 50% will have to happen tomorrow.





But that about wraps up 2018 until it's time to drink it. Right now, it tastes a bit over oaked, so I'm hoping in a year, that calms down. Just realize that the MoreWine recs on Oaking wine are on the high side of what's good and I'd shoot lower. My plan for 2019 is to use about 20-30% of 2018's oak levels.

 

[stickman]

Looks good, yea 20 cases is a fair amount of work if you did it alone. I like the engine head on the shelf, it's part of the terroir.

 

[sour_grapes]

Looks good, yea 20 cases is a fair amount of work if you did it alone. I like the engine head on the shelf, it's part of the terroir.

It would be fantastic to learn that the head is one of two from a V-12, rather than one from an I6.

 

[CDrew]

It would be fantastic to learn that the head is one of two from a V-12, rather than one from an I6.

Ha-It's an inline 6 head from a mid '80s Land Cruiser. Not exotic, but a fairly rare part to be intact and un-cracked. I have 2 trucks that have that motor, hence the spare head.

If it was 1/2 of a V-12, it would have 8.4L displacement!

 

[stickman]

Isn't more usually better for everything?????

 

[CDrew]

Isn't more usually better for everything?????

So the modern world amazes me. My Land Cruisers, which I have driven since they were new, make 135 HP from 4.2 Liters displacement. And gets an awesome 12 mpg. Even my later Land Cruiser make 275 HP from 4.5L. THey get there, get the job done, never fail, yet burn fuel like there is an endless cheap supply.

My wife's minivan makes almost 300 HP from 3.5 Liters. It's crazy fast. The kids called it the race van. Much faster than the 350 Nova (from Grandma) I drove in high school. But, it's still a minivan.

And I'm thinking about buying an Accord daily driver that makes 285 HP from 2.0L. The world has changed.

 

[Johnd]

So the modern world amazes me. My Land Cruisers, which I have driven since they were new, make 135 HP from 4.2 Liters displacement. And gets an awesome 12 mpg. Even my later Land Cruiser make 275 HP from 4.5L. THey get there, get the job done, never fail, yet burn fuel like there is an endless cheap supply.

My wife's minivan makes almost 300 HP from 3.5 Liters. It's crazy fast. The kids called it the race van. Much faster than the 350 Nova (from Grandma) I drove in high school. But, it's still a minivan.

And I'm thinking about buying an Accord daily driver that makes 285 HP from 2.0L. The world has changed.

That’s terrible. My 6.7 L Turbodiesel F 250 generates 450 HP, is pretty quick for a crew cab 4x4, gets 20 mpg on the highway, 17 around town, it doesn’t care for minivans either.......

 

[Chuck E]

So the modern world amazes me. My Land Cruisers, which I have driven since they were new, make 135 HP from 4.2 Liters displacement. And gets an awesome 12 mpg. Even my later Land Cruiser make 275 HP from 4.5L. THey get there, get the job done, never fail, yet burn fuel like there is an endless cheap supply.

My wife's minivan makes almost 300 HP from 3.5 Liters. It's crazy fast. The kids called it the race van. Much faster than the 350 Nova (from Grandma) I drove in high school. But, it's still a minivan.

And I'm thinking about buying an Accord daily driver that makes 285 HP from 2.0L. The world has changed.

But the Land Cruiser has that "cool" factor that the mini van will never have.

 

[Chuck E]

Yes, the valve part of the keg must be removed first. Then you'll need a few gaskets and fittings to make it all work. I wrote up what's needed in an old post. Let me see if I can find it. If I do, I'll come back and edit.

Just me, but I think the tri-clamp sanitary fittings are the way to go even for us home winemakers. It seems like overkill at first, but once you start using them, their modular nature is quite useful. There are also a couple of other useful parts that you can get from Catalyst Mfg and MoreWine that allows vacuum racking or pressurized pumping with inert gas or co2. And longer term there are a huge number of fittings that will allow you to do anything you want in your winery using all sanitary fittings. The 3/8 or 1/2 hose barb fittings are particularly useful.

Here is one of my kegs set up for secondary. Thanks for the tips. These sanitary fittings are really slick.

 

[CDrew]

Here is one of my kegs set up for secondary. Thanks for the tips. These sanitary fittings are really slick.

Very nice. I have found some kegs that have already been converted to welded sanitary fittings, but they are not necessary. A standard keg can be converted so easily with the right parts that I probably would buy only a used one. Recently on the local Craig's List have been 15.5 kegs for as little as $15. Anything less than $50 is a bargain. Great vessels for storing aging wines. I am aging my 2019 Syrah and Primitivo in all stainless with some stavin oak cubes. Hoping for the best, as always.

I agree that sanitary fittings are the way to go. I plot out what I need, throw it all in the StarSan bath, then pull out what I need and build the racking apparatus. It works crazy well and every connection is a positive one. Vacuum, pressure, closed, open, always the way to go. Cool to see you set up the same. Keep the pics coming!

 

[Obbnw]

Thanks for the thread and great pictures. I am amazed by the volume of wine made.