Chilean Grapes / Juice

I thought about it. What surprised me, was how affordable they were, depite the long shipping,

But, alas, by the time I established a lead with MDCrush, they were out of my flavor. (cab)

I'm semi-temped for next year.

I am getting some Malbec from MdCrush but I think they are coming from Argentina. The should be here the end of the month or first of May. If they are good, I may ramp up my production next year. April - May is a good time for me to bottle some of my local wines so I will have carboys empty :)

I'm getting a pail of Chardonnay from Chile in mid May; we will see. The grapes were too pricey, over $1/#. If i knew they were premium grapes that would be one thing, i just have no visibility to that.

Joe

Joe, the going rate for locally grown here in Central Maryland is already over $1.00 per pound. I started off paying about $.75 several years ago but now the cheapest is $1.00 per pound with most charging over that.

The Central valley California grapes sold through S&S in Baltimore sell for slightly less but it is way too high brix for me.

Of course, if I had to total my cost for growing my own last year - $1.00 would be a bargain. Spring freeze was disastrous for me. Of course, there are some that think that because you grow your own that they are "free" ha ha ha.

Paul, Joe,

Would you please share your quality assessment of your Chilean/ Argentinean varietals? I, too, was tempted to get these grapes this year but have no idea about their quality.

Thanks, RD

This is my first year to try them.

The grapes looked good and the chemistries are good. Time will tell about the wine.

See my post under Argentina Malbec.

Thanks, Paul. Your info was very helpful.

RD

I picked up a Chardonnay and Malbec from Chile.

The SG was around 1.089 on both, pH around 3.0 and TA was unusually low for the pH, 3.5 and 3.2 as tartaric. I calibrated the meter and checked the normailty of the NAOH so the numbers are right. The juice was a little flabby so i added around 50 grams of tartaric to both. Time will tell. It's going now.

Joe

Thanks, Joe.

RD