A-OK!
I didn’t check the 1 gallon jug; I can see that it is still bubbling away. I’ll check it in a few days.
No H2S…everybody happy. But it is time to get the carboys topped up. The ferment is going to slow soon, and O2 will start being a problem. I picke dup a 6 gal Better Bottle carboy from BevPeople. So much easier top handle. First the measurements
Racking:
Now everything is topped off with very little room for air. Now I can let the ferment finish, then move to the farm for the winter.
Got a bit of the funk H2S back. Not much, but a little.
I will try 1g/gal more of the DAP; this is corresponding to a very low nutrient grape. See BevPeoples catalog.
Overall, garage is smelling quite nice. No bad odors. I can tell if something is going bad just by walking near the carboys now.
All is happy in the cellar!
All is well this morning. The H2S smells are gone. It smells like clean fermenting juice again. I guess the DAP did the trick. That is the first time I have used the stuff.
Also, I discovered the Fermaid K I am using is a year old. I am going to dump it and start with a fresh batch, although I have no idea if it goes bad.
Ferment is really going now.
I am think I need to rack off the lees, whatever little there is. I shoudln’t need any more Fermaid K. I will let it sit until tomorrow night, then rack it. Actually, I think I’ll add some DAP (diammonium phosphate). Nitrogen is what it is to the yeast
Yes, I can smell a slight H2S poroblem. I don’t know what the &^&$^& I am doing wrong. So, I will add 1g/gal of Fermaid K. It solved the same problem last year, although the problem is showing up earlier in the ferment than last year.
Measurements:
These numbers look great. The ferment is cruising along nice and slowly. Gotta keep adding ice, twice a day.
Nice nose; fruit, citrus ; so much grapefruit! I wish I could somehow retain this grapefruit, but each time I get it during the ferment, and each time it dissipates, and only traces are left in the wine.
Fermentation is going pretty strong now. No bad smells. It’s got the fruity, citrusy, yeasty nose.
I checked the sugars tonight.
Sugars: 22 brix.
So it is off to a nice gentle start! Taste was just like the nose: citrus, fruit, yeast. Nothing bad.
I have kept the water bath at 60F. Tonight I am pushing it down to 55F.
7AM: Iced down the juice again. It was sitting right at 60F.
10PM:
I decided to try whole cluster pressing in an attempt to get a fruitier light wine. So no need to rent a crusher; just a press.
I drove to the vineyard in Healdsburg:
Got there at 8 AM. I met with the grower and we started picking. We dropped a lot of fruit, on the growers advice, because of mildew problems. I couldn’t really see it, but I dropped fruit that didn’t look good. Filled up 3 20 gallon tubs. Assuming 5 lbs/ gallon, that is 300 lbs, although I don’t think it was really that much. Here are two of the tubs:
After picking, drove to BevPeople and picked up a #35 basket press. Went home, cleaned up and got organized, and started pressing:
I pressed into a 23 L, 25L and ~2/3 of a 3 gallon carboy. So that is 6.1+6.6+2.5 = ~15 gallons. Not a lot for 300 lbs, so I probably didn’t have 300 lbs. Also, the whole clsuter pressing was difficult. When I checked the grape cake, there will still whole grapes. I stirred up the cake a few times and repressed. I’ll have to decide if I want to do this gains without a crusher. It is way easier with crushed grapes.
I finished the pressing and put the carboys in a cold water bath for an overnight settling. I want the temperature around 55F for start of fermentation.
The I did the numbers:
Damn good numbers! This should make a nice crisp dry SB, perfect for global warming and the summer of 2010.
Next, time to sulphite, to 50 ppm, using 10 % potassium metabisulphite solution:
All done for the day!
If I have done some work on the SB, I haven’t written it.
Now I need some carboys for the ’09 SB. What am I gonna do? I took out some ’08 to get the numbers…can I bottle it?
Still high acids. This is a crisp wine. The finish is quite sour. I wonder how it will do when it is chilled? I don’t want to bottle yet; maybe I can do something to “fix” the wine. So, I bottled 1 case; just enough to clear the 6 gallon carboy. The rest went into a 3 gal carboy. Now I have two 3 gallon carboys. I will see what I can do with these. If nothing..then just bottle and drink it. It is a vey fruity wine with a very strong fruit nose.
Found some grapes…Dry Creek Sauvignon Blanc, found on craigslist…heres the ad:
I currently have up to ~14 tons of Dry Creek Sauvignon Blanc ready to pick.
This is available in any quantity up to 14 tons at a price of $0.75 per pound.
These grapes are currently measuring 22° to 24° Brix.
These are also available for late harvest for those of you interested in making dessert win!!!
Please contact Ken at (707)480-4300 for price an availability.
THIS MUST SELL!!! CALL TO COME BY AND L@@K AT THE FRUIT!!!
I am only buying 300 lbs…what would I do with 15 tons?
One carboy has been moved to the basement at the farm. I tried the wine in the carboy in the garage, and the wood was overpowering. Yikes! Get it out. I racked into another carboy. After racking, I tried it again, and it was much better. I must have used the thielf right near the staves or something. Anyways, now it is off the oak. The flavor was pretty good, nice and full of fruit, with moderate to strong tannins. Maybe still a little closed. I wonder if it getting enough O2. Next racking I will splash a little.
Need to get out to the farm to rack the other carboy. I am out of carboys at ths point. I may have to buy another. This is what happens when you don’t get last years bottles!