Vintage 2019

[CDrew]

Today I vacuum racked the Syrah into a 15.5 gallon Sanke keg, sulfited and added 2 winestix, a medium and medium+. I'm shooting on the low end on purpose, to avoid the overoaking of last year. The Syrah itself is excellent. It really tastes like it will be a very good wine in time. It's already good but lots expected tannin. Great color. Inky, dark, almost like a Petite Sirah.

Which means I have 1.5 gallons of Syrah left with no long term home. So here is the plan. I'll rack the Mourvedre in another few weeks. I have 11 gallons that is very nice and I trust. I'll add the syrah to that, and enough Primitivo to make up 15.5 gallons. I'm going to call it a PSM blend since I don't have any Grenache. It will be about 2/3 Mourvedre and 1/6 Syrah and 1/6 Primitivo. It should be good.

The Primitivo is going to sit another week or two. I have 23 gallons, so enough to fill a 15.5 keg, blend up the Mourvedre and still likely will have a 5 gallon carboy. That's about 50 gallons of wine, so already downsizing from last year when by accident I made 70 gallons even though aiming for 60.

I want everything put to bed by mid November so I can forget about wine making until spring (February).



And that leaves the 10 gallons of Mourvedre I don't trust or like the color of.

Just shooting from the hip I'm going to guess the RP15 had a different effect on the skins and there are more particulates in that batch. I'll put 2 bits on the color will be the same once the wine settles a little.

You know I checked today and it still doesn't look right. Thin, odd color kind of an oxidized purple. Tastes just ok. Funky smell is gone. When I rack in 2-3 weeks if it still seems suspect, and every indication says it will, I'm dumping it to avoid working on it over the next year. Harsh I know, but I'm not looking to make wine I don't want to drink.

 

[Chuck E]

And that leaves the 10 gallons of Mourvedre I don't trust or like the color of.

You know I checked today and it still doesn't look right. Thin, odd color kind of an oxidized purple. Tastes just ok. Funky smell is gone. When I rack in 2-3 weeks if it still seems suspect, and every indication says it will, I'm dumping it to avoid working on it over the next year. Harsh I know, but I'm not looking to make wine I don't want to drink.

You still have no idea of the cause?

 

[mainshipfred]

You know I checked today and it still doesn't look right. Thin, odd color kind of an oxidized purple. Tastes just ok. Funky smell is gone. When I rack in 2-3 weeks if it still seems suspect, and every indication says it will, I'm dumping it to avoid working on it over the next year. Harsh I know, but I'm not looking to make wine I don't want to drink.[/QUOTE]

So are you giving up on RP 15?

 

[CDrew]

So are you giving up on RP 15?

As in permanently? Likely not. There were other variables this year, like the yeast was a year old, grapes from a new source etc. But if and when I use it again, it will be in a small lot, like 5 gallons out of 20. I have this nagging feeling that maybe my year old RP15 was not really alive, and what I got was a natural fermentation. Don't know, it looked like it was working when hydrated, but not with the vigor of the Avante. It didn't smell bad while fermenting, just different, even my wife commented. There are still many other yeasts to try, though. Plus, I want to continue to use the Avante as a workhorse, but they have other red wine yeasts that sound interesting and are H2S preventing. I will likely go back and revisit D21 which was really great for me in 2018.

 

[Johnd]

You know I checked today and it still doesn't look right. Thin, odd color kind of an oxidized purple. Tastes just ok. Funky smell is gone. When I rack in 2-3 weeks if it still seems suspect, and every indication says it will, I'm dumping it to avoid working on it over the next year. Harsh I know, but I'm not looking to make wine I don't want to drink.

At least give it a chance before dumping. Many a below average wine has matured into a winner.

 

[CDrew]

At least give it a chance before dumping. Many a below average wine has matured into a winner.

I will, and I hate to dump it too. I did a taste tonight and it tastes fine. But the color is wrong. It's too dark for a Rose, and too light for a real wine. It's dirty purple. Strange for sure. Still not sure what I'll do.

But I did find out that in 3 days, I can get 300 pounds of Tempranillo with perfect numbers for $1.00 per pound. This is way more than usual, but we can pick it up already picked and crushed. It has likely a 75% chance of working out. I've never made a Tempranillo but it does make a nice food wine so I think I'm game. Will post up if it happens.

 

[CDrew]

Today was a big day in the garage winery. 35 gallons of wine were racked. First, the 11 good gallons of Mourvedre was racked into a 15 gallon Intellitank, and 2 gallons of Syrah ahd 2 gallons of Primitivo made up the balance. It was sulfited and put in the closet to age. I'll add oak at somepoint when I decide what I want to do. Likely Stavin cubes at the 25% level.

The "other" Mourvedre was not used and the plan is to discard about 10 gallons. It just isn't good and doesn't taste like it will ever be anything. So it's out.

Then, the Primitivo was racked into a stainless keg. I ended up with 15.5 gallons and a 5 gallon carboy, exactly. And a glass I will drink tonight. I cheated and tasted a bit, and it is dynamite. It's going to be fantastic in time. It's good now. A tiny bit of oak and this 20.5 gallons will not go to waste!

Clean up was a chore but I was done by 11am.

But that's not all..........!

 

[CDrew]

I mentioned the Tempranillo before. Today it happened! A buddy and I were each getting 300 pounds of Tempranillo here at the tail end of the season. Brix 25, pH 3.6, TA a bit lower than I would have expected at 4.2. Really nice fruit and we went to the winery to collect. But, we had to wait. They were still picking and when the grapes came in on a fork lift, there was almost 1000 pounds. Beautiful grapes. So we took the lot. They didn't even charge us. Crazy town. It's been sulfited, and EX-V added. I'll pitch the yeast before bed tonight but I'm not sure it's going to stay in the 44 gallon x2 fermentor that it's in.

So back in business for 2019! So in two years, anyone from the forum can stop by and I'll send you home with a bottle or two of wine. This is clearly more than I can ever use, but it's a good problem.

 

[CDrew]

Cleaned up and time for a glass of new wine. This is the 2019 Primitivo.

 

[CDrew]

So this Tempranillo after fermentation will go into anther Keg and what ever else I need. Kegs are light tight and so don't need to be in the dark. I have enough though that I may need to look for another on Craig's list which seems to have an inexhaustible supply.

 

[GreenEnvy22]

350lbs of muscat, 300 or so of Dornfelder, and 200lbs of riesling are all in progress from the last month. Still hoping to get 200lbs of syrah this week, and that will be it for grape wines. Have 50-60lbs of apples from our tree I plan on making into cider.
Then next batch of beer is getting started, a red rye, from grains.

 

[Chuck E]

I mentioned the Tempranillo before. Today it happened! A buddy and I were each getting 300 pounds of Tempranillo here at the tail end of the season. Brix 25, pH 3.6, TA a bit lower than I would have expected at 4.2. Really nice fruit and we went to the winery to collect. But, we had to wait. They were still picking and when the grapes came in on a fork lift, there was almost 1000 pounds. Beautiful grapes. So we took the lot. They didn't even charge us. Crazy town. It's been sulfited, and EX-V added. I'll pitch the yeast before bed tonight but I'm not sure it's going to stay in the 44 gallon x2 fermentor that it's in.

So back in business for 2019! So in two years, anyone from the forum can stop by and I'll send you home with a bottle or two of wine. This is clearly more than I can ever use, but it's a good problem.

What kind of sanitary fitting is on the Intellitank? Looks like a "T" and a 90 degree 1/2" tube barb... You use this for racking INTO the tank?

 

[CDrew]

What kind of sanitary fitting is on the Intellitank? Looks like a "T" and a 90 degree 1/2" tube barb... You use this for racking INTO the tank?

There are a bunch of ways to set it up, but I'm using a "ported spout" so the spout has a side port and I apply vacuum there via a 1/2 hose barb. The 90 degree is the top of a 1/2 inch racking cane(also with sanitary fittings), because I was trying to rack to the bottom of the tank, so it would not stir as much oxygen into the wine. You can also apply pressure to the side port and with the racking cane push wine out of the tank. It's funny but that side port 3/4 sanitary fitting does not seem to be made in 3/8 hose barb, which for vacuum would be more convenient, so there's an adapter in the line to get to 1/2 inch. Sometimes I use a 3/4 to 1.5 adapter and then a 1.5 to 3/8 hose barb. I posted a picture of that earlier in the thread.

View attachment 56695

During yesterday's racking, I had a lot of fittings in use, and it seems like it takes 10 minutes to get ready for the job, and 2 minutes to do it. One thing I added to the racking cane on the input side after that picture, was a ball valve to shut off flow exactly when I wanted to. That isn't shown.

I use the same technique with different fittings to rack into and out of the kegs, I'll post pictures next time it's in use.

The sanitary fittings are great. I can't say enough good things. But if you go that route, get twice as many clamps and gaskets as you think you'll need. I think through what I'm going to do with them, then gather up the fittings and toss them in a small bucket of StarSan. Then as I need them, I pull out the fittings/gaskets and assemble. But that thinking ahead is almost the hardest part because there is nothing worse than being in the middle of something complicated and needing a piece you forgot to get earlier.

This goes through it pretty well:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0..._s_Manual.compressed.pdf?18171772484100971021

 

[Chuck E]

There are a bunch of ways to set it up, but I'm using a "ported spout" so the spout has a side port and I apply vacuum there via a 1/2 hose barb. The 90 degree is the top of a 1/2 inch racking cane(also with sanitary fittings), because I was trying to rack to the bottom of the tank, so it would not stir as much oxygen into the wine. You can also apply pressure to the side port and with the racking cane push wine out of the tank. It's funny but that side port 3/4 sanitary fitting does not seem to be made in 3/8 hose barb, which for vacuum would be more convenient, so there's an adapter in the line to get to 1/2 inch. Sometimes I use a 3/4 to 1.5 adapter and then a 1.5 to 3/8 hose barb. I posted a picture of that earlier in the thread.

View attachment 56695

Thank you for the picture. It truly is better than a thousand words.

 

[CDrew]

Thank you for the picture. It truly is better than a thousand words.

Since you are using Sanke kegs, here is an equivlent system to vacuum into kegs. It uses an additional T fitting for a side port.

https://www.winemakingtalk.com/attachments/3f545342-9c86-4049-b3bd-e6475755b24b-jpeg.53206/

 

[jburtner]

Nice kit!

-johann

 

[Chuck E]

Since you are using Sanke kegs, here is an equivlent system to vacuum into kegs. It uses an additional T fitting for a side port.

https://www.winemakingtalk.com/attachments/3f545342-9c86-4049-b3bd-e6475755b24b-jpeg.53206/

Understood. Thank you for the pic.

 

[buzi]

Tell me you played the lotto too, you luck dog!

 

[CDrew]

I was a bit worried this morning when I checked on things and nothing was happening. The yeast was pitched at 9pm and at 0630 when I left for work, not only was it cold in the garage (37F) but nothing was happening in the fermenters. Nothing. I was scrolling through what I may have done wrong!

But, when I got home tonight after another 12 hours has gone by and it's considerably warmer (71F), all is well. Nice cap, vigorous fermentation, perfect. The cooler ferment may save me, because there isn't much room for the cap to form. I'm estimating 30 gallons of must, X2 in two 40 gallon fermenters. Anyway, I fed it with Fermaid K, added some FT Rouge. The color is already beautiful from the EX-V. I'm going to run a space heater in the garage tonight and try to hold 70F. We're going to get to the exothermic part of fermentation soon, so maybe no heat will be needed after tonight.

Happy with this one so far. But it's going to be a lot of wine, estimating 40 gallons in the end.

So I need to comment on the EX-V. It's been working 24 hours and the amount used is TINY. About 2.25 grams in each 30 gallons. But in 24 hours, the must is more liquified(you can feel it with the punch down tool), the color is amazing and it's instantly obvious that good things have happened.

Just after punch down:

 

[Chuck E]

So I need to comment on the EX-V. It's been working 24 hours and the amount used is TINY. About 2.25 grams in each 30 gallons. But in 24 hours, the must is more liquified(you can feel it with the punch down tool), the color is amazing and it's instantly obvious that good things have happened.]

Yes sir, I am sold on the EX-V! I probably used too much last month, but it will be a staple in my toolbox.