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First crush

No, not talking about remembrances of puppy love ---- rather, it's that time of year for grapes. Anyone else already crushing?

We crushed a small lot of Sauvignon Blanc last Saturday. The numbers on the grapes were 'right on'; 24 Brix, 3.08 pH, .76 TA. The primary is bubbling along very nicely in the cool room right now. and we're cleaning up and getting ready for the Marsanne - which looks like it will be ready to go this weekend. As usual, acids will be a little low by the time the sugars get to target, but the fruit is in great condition.

The Syrah won't be ready for probably another month - but one vineyard up here (lower elevation) has already harvested at 25 Brix. Incredibly early.

Anyone else crushing already - or about to?

Reply to
Ric
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Anticipating. Except I'm going to be out of town from Sept 11-18 and getting very nervous about when the grapes will show up... I do NOT want to miss out this year again.

Reply to
purduephotog

Almost 2 months ago now here in south Texas. :^) My very first attempt using wild Mustang grapes. I have to say it was a blast and I am looking forward to next year. I am on the coast near Corpus Christi. There are few vineyards down here. :^) I also have two 1-gallon batches of prickly pear,

1 in primary and 1 in secondary. I have to say I am hooked already and am wondering how far I would have to travel to get some domestic grapes to try out.

Quixote

Reply to
Quixote

Only about 60,000 gallons this past week lolol... Oh.. you mean my home winemaking Grapes aren't ready for my taste here yet in Sonoma County... maybe next week.

Gene

Reply to
gene

Does that mean you're making Champagne? :)

gene wrote:> Only about 60,000 gallons this past week lolol...

Reply to
purduephotog

good guess

... but in this case it's with grapes from the east side of the San Francisco Bay. Those grapes are just right for the picking to make Chardonnay wine.

Gene

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Reply to
gene

I just checked the Cab fruit I will be doing this year and it is still around 20 brix so it will probably be a few weeks yet here in Calistoga. This is my first barrel this year, and I'm really excited about it. We have a group of us here that are sharing a hand cranked stemmer/crusher and a verticle press. Going to be primary fermenting in a MacroBin, then transferring to the barrel. Unless someone has a used SS tank they want to sell me cheap :-) I'm paying around $1.50/lb picked for my 1/2 ton + here, not sure if that is a decent price or not, but since this isn't a large commercial vineyard I should be able to get early in the day fruit.

Reply to
EnoNut

My Syrah is around the same here in the Sierra foothills; just under 21. Acid is holding well. The whites are all in; SB 10 days ago, and the Marsanne came in this last Saturday. Numbers were pretty good; 22.4 Brix;

3.3 pH; TA at .6

I also primary reds in Macrobins (they're great, aren't they!), and am using

15.5 gal. SS tanks for secondary / aging - not doing enough volume yet to go to the big oak barrels, and don't trust the control of the small barrels.

I'm paying about $.50 for the 500 lbs of Zinfandel that I am buying, but I have to pick it - so $1.50 doesn't seem unreasonable.

Reply to
Ric

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