Ravings of an Amateur Foodie

Bottling Day

lujate — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 19:34:02 +0000

I bottled the first of my two ill-fated Sauvignon Blanc batches today. I attached a bottling wand to my bottling bucket with a short piece of hose. It worked well and I didn’t have to mess with valve while I was working.

Is it just me, or is just bottled wine a beautiful thing?

New pail of Sauvignon Blanc

lujate — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 01:01:01 +0000

Well I received a new pail of frozen sauvignon blanc yesterday. Tonight it was thawed so I started prepping it. I did all my tests and made all the adjustments, stirring them in gently with my drill stirrer. A few hours later, it had separated and I had about 60% solids with the juice sitting on top. This is a new producer for me and I am unhappy. With fresh grapes, I would rack off the sediment but In this case that would cost me most of my juice.

I guess I will try it and see what happens.

Starting my Ugly Duckling vidal

lujate — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 17:57:18 +0000

I pulled my vidal blanc out of the freezer the night before last. Last night it still had an ice chunk, so I had to wait until this morning to start.

After racking off the sludge, the SG was 1.071 and the pH 3.1. I started chaptilizing with the goal of 1.095. I ran out of sugar at 1.087. I decided to go with that as opposed to dropping everything and going to the store. At that point, the pH was 3.2, and I can live with that. I pitched the yeast I had picked out before the vineyard debacle because I did not have a suitable alternative.

I’m hoping the ugly duckling juice will turn into a swan.

It’s that time of year again!

lujate — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:58:27 +0000

It seems like forever since I had anything to ferment. I did the last of last season’s frozen must late in the spring. The urge to ferment something flared up and subsided.

I was pleasantly surprised by an unexpected call regarding grapes. While processing the grapes, we knew something was not right. The grapes seemed to be the wrong variety and not quite ripe. An email to the vineyard confirmed both. They had inadvertently picked the wrong grapes (vidal blanc) that were not yet ready. They comped the grapes with their sincerest apologies.

I had to go out of town, so I threw the juice into the freezer. I am going to thaw the juice and siphon off the solids and recheck the numbers. Preliminary numbers indicated low sugar and high acid. I expect to have to add sugar and reduce the acid.

Not holding out a lot of hope for this juice, but I am going to give out a go.

Need a bigger fermenter

lujate — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 12:36:47 +0000

Earlier this week, I started the 5gl pail of Cab that I intend to blend with the Merlot I started last week. I was up at 0430 this morning and punched down the cap. After breakfast, about 0645, I punched down the cap again, stirred it with my drill attachment and took the SG (1.016). I was walking thru the kitchen about 45 minutes later and noticed the lid on the fermenter was ajar (I just set it on top to keep stuff from falling in the must). I mentally kicked myself for not putting the lid on properly and went to right it. The problem was the cap was high enough that It had started to lift the lid. I never would have thought that a 5gl batch could lift the lid on a 7.9gl.fermenter.

Merlot

lujate — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 14:06:47 +0000

The lucky variety was Merlot. Last weekend, I went to the freezer and pulled out a pail of frozen must. I had both a Cab and a Merlot that I intend to blend. I pulled the first pail and it happened to be Merlot.

By Tuesday, it was warm enough to pitch the yeast, Lalvin RC212. I was unpleasantly surprised when I checked the numbers. The label said 21.5° brix and 3.45 pH. I tested it at 19.5° and 3.76. I guess-timated there would be 3gl of juice and added the appropriate amount of sugar and tartaric. Numbers at pitching were 22.25° and 3.45.

I have been punching down the cap 2-3 times daily. Last night the SG was at 1.010, and this morning it had fallen to 1.000.

Time to press. I ended up with 3gl of free run and almost 1.5gl of press run. Despite filing the first two containers more than I like, it just would not fit.

Empty Nest

lujate — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 16:03:15 +0000

For the first time since I picked up this habit 1 1/2 years ago, I have no wine in production. I bottled the remnants of last year’s Chardonel this past weekend. Since then…nothing.

I have 1 pail each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the freezer that I picked up last winter. I’m going to the freezer now and whichever pail comes out first is the winner.

DIY Wine Rack

lujate — Sat, 28 May 2011 13:02:37 +0000

My budding wine collection is getting to the point that it can no longer be stored in wine boxes and bottles stacked in the closet. A quick look at wine rack prices told me this had to be a DIY project. I kicked around some ideas with a winemaking buddy, and he came up with this idea based on an old VHS tape rack.

The frame is made from 1x lumber and the shelves are heavy 3/8 dowels from a craft project a few years back. The dowels are level but that should still be sufficient to keep the corks wet. Every shelf has a stop board at the back to keep the bottles from going back too far. They are probably not necessary since it will be against a wall, but they do provide rigidity to the frame. It is sized to fit in the back of a closet. With 14 shelves and 5 slots per shelf, total capacity is 70 bottles.

Refrigerator Cold Stabilization

lujate — Sat, 14 May 2011 20:55:25 +0000

My latest batch is another 5gl of Windsor Oaks Sauvignon Blanc. It is almost ready to bottle, but I need to cold stabilize it. The best I can come up with to put it in fridge. I can get about 28°F in there. Not the greatest, but should be better than nothing.

Next week I get to try out my new corker!

To Label, Or Not To Label?

lujate — Mon, 02 May 2011 12:57:38 +0000

This past weekend, I put labels and capsules on three 1gl batches that I bottled some time back while my pc was down. As I was doing this, I thought, “what’s the point?” The vast majority of these bottles will go nowhere and be seen by no one but me. Why should I waste the time and money to put on the labels and capsules, and then the time to scrape them off? I think I will just mark the bottles with a china marker and save the labels and capsules for the few bottles I give away.