Yesterday my Chilean Malbec and Viognier juices were delivered. I set the sealed buckets in the kitchen to come to room temp overnight and added the yeast about 10 minutes ago.
23 and 22 Brix, respectively. AND, to my surprise, they had already begun to ferment. I know that's not ideal, but don't know what else to do. Hopefully the two yeast strains will do some nice work.
I'm really looking forward to these. The grapes I've purchased from this supplier have been much better than my old supplier. I'm hoping the juices are just as good.
I'll know in a week.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Fun way to get into Winemaking
Yesterday the wife and I were doing some shopping and stopped for a coffee. Right next door there was a place called Vintner's Circle. We spent about 20 minutes chatting with the owners Stan and Joanne and I was impressed.
Here's how it works: You pick a style of wine from an array of available kits. You pour the juice in the primary fermenter, add any ingredients suggested, the yeast, and let the wine ferment. About a week later (and my timetable may be wrong) you'll return to put it into a secondary fermenter (awesome carboy cozy included!!!) On your next trip you'll stir up the wine to release CO2 and add your clarifiers. About a week or more later you'll go back to bottle the wine.
The prices are fair...it's a business so he has to make money. You'll end up getting close to 30 bottles, and spend about $10 a bottle. That includes your kit, the bottles, personalized labels and the use of their equipment.
For that price, how is the wine? The wines I tasted there (made on the premises from the available kits) were better than anything I've made at home from grapes. I would pay $10 or more for a bottle of these wines in a store. They were really, really good.
Here's the lowdown: If you like wine and would like to try it out; this is for you. If you want to make your own wine but don't want to invest in all the equipment at first; this is for you. If you'd love the idea of showing up on a friends' deck with a bottle of wine, oh and it just happens to be one you made, and it just happens to be delicious; this is for you.
Blog note: I know I keep saying I'm going to post more often. I'm not promising anything, but I have a few wine things going on, and have recently started making beer. I expect I'll have more blogging material.
It's nice out...grab a glass and head to the porch. You'll be happy you did.
Here's how it works: You pick a style of wine from an array of available kits. You pour the juice in the primary fermenter, add any ingredients suggested, the yeast, and let the wine ferment. About a week later (and my timetable may be wrong) you'll return to put it into a secondary fermenter (awesome carboy cozy included!!!) On your next trip you'll stir up the wine to release CO2 and add your clarifiers. About a week or more later you'll go back to bottle the wine.
The prices are fair...it's a business so he has to make money. You'll end up getting close to 30 bottles, and spend about $10 a bottle. That includes your kit, the bottles, personalized labels and the use of their equipment.
For that price, how is the wine? The wines I tasted there (made on the premises from the available kits) were better than anything I've made at home from grapes. I would pay $10 or more for a bottle of these wines in a store. They were really, really good.
Here's the lowdown: If you like wine and would like to try it out; this is for you. If you want to make your own wine but don't want to invest in all the equipment at first; this is for you. If you'd love the idea of showing up on a friends' deck with a bottle of wine, oh and it just happens to be one you made, and it just happens to be delicious; this is for you.
Blog note: I know I keep saying I'm going to post more often. I'm not promising anything, but I have a few wine things going on, and have recently started making beer. I expect I'll have more blogging material.
It's nice out...grab a glass and head to the porch. You'll be happy you did.
Monday, September 21, 2009
2009 Gowden Winery Gewurztraminer
There's some concern in my cellar today...
Pressed my Gewurztraminer this afternoon. It was cold pressed, just like yesterday's Riesling, and 108 lbs of juice easily gave up 7 gallons of juice. I saved some must for testing and put campden tablets in.
Sugar content was very good, 1.9 or 23 brix.
My acid was way, way low...coming out at 2.0. I have to figure out the amount of acid to add back to the must, but I'm not happy that the acid is THAT low. 4 or 5, I can expect that. This is just wrong.
I rechecked the Riesling and it was still around 6.1. The pinot...more concern: 2.8.
For the record, I'm lousy in math and chemistry, so it's a crapshoot from here on out.
This can go either way.
Pressed my Gewurztraminer this afternoon. It was cold pressed, just like yesterday's Riesling, and 108 lbs of juice easily gave up 7 gallons of juice. I saved some must for testing and put campden tablets in.
Sugar content was very good, 1.9 or 23 brix.
My acid was way, way low...coming out at 2.0. I have to figure out the amount of acid to add back to the must, but I'm not happy that the acid is THAT low. 4 or 5, I can expect that. This is just wrong.
I rechecked the Riesling and it was still around 6.1. The pinot...more concern: 2.8.
For the record, I'm lousy in math and chemistry, so it's a crapshoot from here on out.
This can go either way.
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