2010 Amador Gold Barbera
Last year this wine turn out very well. Blended 5 gallons with 1/2 gallon each of the Lanza Caberent and Iron Oaks Russian River Merlot. However, the early candy fruit barbera nose receded after about 6-8 months of aging replaced by deeper darker fruit. Not sure which I prefer yet.
Preliminary Plan:
72lbs.
Crush – 100% Whole Berries
Additives:Color Pro 2 - 4 mL
Opti-Red or Booster Rouge 6 - 8 g
Tannins 5 g
[*]Yeast: BRL-97[*]Oak: 35 Cubes Hungarian Medium T
2010 California Vinemount Pinot Gris
Clean, crisp, fruity.
Preliminary Plan:
Pinot Gris – 6 gal. Juice
Additives:Booster Blanc or Opti-White 10 - 12 g [*]Yeast: R-2[*]Treatment: Cold Stabilization[*]Bulk Aging: 6 months in carboy
Thoughts:
Pinot Gris is for my wife. Straight up fruit, plain and simple.
2010 Italian Mosto Imperatore Pinot Blanc
I'm not quite sure how I want this wine.
Preliminary Plan:
Pinot Blanc – 6 gal. Juice
Additives:Booster Blanc or Opti-White 10 - 12 g [*]Yeast: CY3079[*]Treatment: MLF?/Surlie?/Cold Stabilization[*]Bulk Aging: 6-12 months in carboy
Thoughts:
The only Pinot Blanc I've ever made was from a kit and I treated that wine to oak and surlie. It was an outstanding wine but I am thinking I might prefer to use this as a blender to add some fattness
2010 Suisun Valley Lanza Vineyards Syrah
I've had a rocky relationship with Syrah. Some seasons great, other times trying. Most successes, for me, come with blending but I'm still searching for that singular wine.
Preliminary Plan:
72 lbs
Crush – 100% Whole Berries
Additives:Color Pro 2 - 4 mL
Opti-Red or Booster Rouge 6 - 8 g
Tannins 5 g
[*]Yeast: Syrah[*]Oak: 30 Cubes Hungarian Medium Toast
Thoughts:
The Lanza Syrah from last year was blended into various Rhone style ble
2010 Suisun Valley Lanza Vineyards Petite Sirah
The Lanza Petite Sirah is one of my favorite wines to make. The fruit is always beautiful and the wines distinctive and powerful.
Preliminary Plan:
108 lbs
Crush –100% Whole Berries
Additives:Color Pro 3 - 5 mL
Opti-Red or Booster Rouge 10 - 12 g
Tannins 8 g
[*]Yeast: RP15[*]Oak: 80 Cubes American Medium Toast
Thoughts:
I still have 4 gallons of the 2008 Lanza Petite in bulk having blended away 5 gallons into other wines. It
This year I'm going to try to blog about all of my wines for the Fall California season. If it works out well I'll continue into the Spring South American season and so on. There will be a separate post on each wine so people can read their interest. Please feel free to comment.
2010 California Lodi Gold Chardonnay (#2 - Naked)
The target style for this wine will be fruit forward, un-oaked chardonnay.
Preliminary Plan:
Chardonnay – 6 gal. Juice
Additives:Opti-White 10 - 12 g [*]Ye
This year I'm going to try to blog about all of my wines for the Fall California season. If it works out well I'll continue into the Spring South American season and so on. There will be a separate post on each wine so people can read their interest. Please feel free to comment.
2010 California Lodi Gold Chardonnay (#1 - Oaked)
The target style for this wine will be restrained oaked chardonnay.
Preliminary Plan:
Chardonnay – 6 gal. Juice
Additives:Booster Blanc 10 - 12 g
Oak:
Without starting a ideological war I'd like to comment a bit on the appropriateness of additives in winemaking as the topic often comes up just prior and during crush season.
Every winemaker has a philosophy about the wine making process. Some are strict non-interventionists. Some draw a line at certain things. Others say bring it on. I'm probably somewhere in the middle. However, it is important to recognize that winemaking, like most human endeavors, is a manipulative process from beginnin
FWIW, here is my basic wine plan for fall 2010. What's not mentioned is that many of these wines will ultimately be blended together but I have only a vague idea about the blends and need to wait to see how each wine develops. I'll try to address that in a later post.
Red Wines
Suisun Cabernet Sauvignon – 72 lbs.
Crush –100% Whole Berries
Additives:Color Pro 2 - 4 mL
Opti-Red or Booster Rouge 6 - 8 g
Tannins 5 g
[*]Yeast: ICV-D21[*]Oak: 35 Cubes American Medium Toast
Suis
June 25 from 6-9pm on Mariner Way and Main Street in Downtown Titusville, Fl. is planning a wonderful Bacchus Event.ABC Fine Wines, River Fruit Tropical Wines, and Henry Davis Organic Selections will all be pouring free wine samples.Enjoy Grape Stomping, Wine and Food Samples, Live Entertainment, Children's Free Fun Area, Hurricane Preparedness Stations.Jazz performances by Scotty Cockerham, and Recording Artist Erly Thornton. People interested in setting up a wine display, hosting a seminar, co
Decided to do my first IPA. It was supposed to be an IIPA, but my 5 gallon mash tun really limited my efficiency (67%). I guess I could have boiled all afternoon to get the gravity down but really didn't feel like it. At 1.066 it will make a nice upper end straight IPA.
During the course of mashing and boiling I also bottled (15) and kegged (a full 5 gallons) my Hefeweizen, as well as harvested two more batches of yeast from it. I think that will be the last from the 3333 German Wheat - it's
Summer is coming, time to get a Hefe going.
Brewed up an all grain batch Saturday, using 35% German Pils and 65% German Wheat. Sparge didn't stick, but it was slooow even with my SS braid. Guess I should get some rice hulls for the future.... Two additions of Hallertau - at 45 & 15 minutes.
Made a total of 6-3/4 gallons and canned two one-quart jars (diluted to 1.040) for future starters. This should give me a pretty solid six gallons of finished product - 2 six-packs for gifts and p
As a programmer I've spent years searching for information on the internet, blogs and boards that will answer my question(s). The one thing I have learned is that you MUST be tenacious and methodical.
This board is a wealth of winemaking knowledge & experience. I would hazard to say that any question you might have has been asked and answered (or at least opined upon) several times. If you stay long enough you will begin to see question repetition. This is not unexpected as new winemaker
Well I got a huge tax refund this year, so I am taking that as a sign that it's time to pick up where I left off last August when a leaking water heater thwarted my fall plans. After putting away the bulk of it for a new roof this spring, property taxes this fall and next year's heating fuel (did I mention it was a huge refund?) I am planning on sending a good chunk of change to M&M. In addition to the Chilean fruit (8 lugs each Pinot Noir and Cab Sauv, 3 of Chard and 2 of Cab Franc), I'm or
It's March - time to start a Marzen/Oktoberfest!
Made 6.25 gallons (at 80% brewhouse efficiency!) this afternoon. I was shooting for 6 gallons at 1.052 and ended up with 6.25 at 1.057. By the time I added my half gallon starter (I didn't feel like waiting for it to settle out), I had 6.75 gallons at 1.056. The basement is just a bit too warm. So I've got it in the garage (about 35) with a brew belt and blanket to hold it at 50. Will have to keep a close eye on it to make sure it stays around
Well, after lagering for about two months I kegged my first all grain pilsner. I did a step mash using my new steam infusion method which makes use of a pressure cooker. Once I figured out you need to really crank the valve open to get enough steam out it worked great.
So anyways, this is actually the very first pilsner of any sort that I've made and I think it's going to be pretty good. Even though my water is not the greatest for light beers (8-12 SRM is the best fit without modification a
Today I brewed up a batch of Black Pearl Porter.
I ended up having to do a thick mash and double batch sparge in order to fit 13# of grain in my 5 gallon igloo. It came out decent though - I got 72% brewhouse efficiency and put about 5.25 gallons in the primary at 1.063.
I was worried about my yeast - I did a starter on a batch of Irish Ale yeast I had harvested from my last batch of Oatmeal Stout. It never really seemed to take off, though there was some sign of life in the 12-24 hour p
Well, we all have to start somewhere...
Here's the status of the cellar ATM:
WINE
Bottled:
I've got (the remains of) seven kits bottled and in my new wine rack:
My very first kit - a Washington Reisling is down to the last bottle. I stuck in in the back to save for another year or so...
The California Trinity Red has also been a big hit, and as it was one of the earliest ones I made it got hit pretty hard early on.
Almost out of Strawberry White Zinfandel "Mist Kit" that the ladies
