Fresh Juice - mlf needed?

This year I hope to be making wine from fresh juice (6 gal pails from Lodi, CA). I have done kits, etc but never fresh juice. I did a search of this site and got a lot of good info but I'm still unsure about a few things.

I was under the impression that Lodi, CA juices were fairly low in acid. If this is the case would mlf normally be done to these musts (or is a adjustment with calcium carbonate and possibly using 71-B yeast be enough)? What would you recommend? I was planning on doing a Merlot and a Cab.

I will not be able to pick up the juice when they first arrive. I live in Nebraska and will be travelling to the east coast in late October. Can these fresh juice pails be kept refrigerated (at my son's house in Maryland) for a month or so in his extra refrigerator without a problem?

Thanks in advance.

Reply to
Wino-Nouveau
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MLF should go well enough as long as the pH is above 3.3. Maybe slowly in the 3.3-3.4 range, but it will go.

I'd surmise these low-acid grapes might already be plenty high pH. MLF favors high pH, but so does spoilage. I'd think twice about increasing the pH with calcium carbonate on these grapes. Just my opinion, of course.

If this was my juice, in order to not get a flabby wine, I'd be adding tartaric acid to get the TA up to 0.6-ish just before fermentation. Then I'd choose the yeast that gives the flavor profile I like (rather than settling for one that eats malic acid). And I'd do a normal MLF at the end of primary fermentation.

Would you keep any fresh fruit in a fridge for a month? Hmmm...... Even if they were sterile when shipped, that's asking a lot, IMHO.

Gene

Reply to
gene

If this is actually fresh juice from Lodi and not one of the brands (ie: Regina or Lodi Gold) then yes you can do MLF. Make sure to get a actual pH and TA. Some just take the pH and use Tartaric to get the pH down.

If this is one of the brands Regina or Lodi Gold then I wouldn't do a MLF on them. The Regina is balanced with Citric acid and tartaric tends to make it way to tart. I had a Lodi Gold from last year that had a pH near 4.0.

They should be f> This year I hope to be making wine from fresh juice (6 gal pails from

Reply to
Marty Phee

If this is unaltered grape juice, then I can't think of why you would NOT take it through an MLF. While Lodi and other Central Valley grapes are often lower in acid then 'ideal', they still lokely contain their appropriate balance of malic acid. And unless you intend to keep these red wines compeltely refrigerated after bottling, you run the risk of MLF occurring spontaneously in the bottle unless you put them through such in the winery.

Test the wines for both pH and TA. Taste them. Make an informed decision to adjust acid if necessary. But I wouldn't forego MLF simply because acid was a little low - not in red wines such as Merlot and Cab which are unlikely to live in a refrigerator.

Someone else will have to adivse you on the refrigeration of the grape juice. Personally, I stress over the hour between picking and crush.

Reply to
Ric

Thanks Gene, Marty, and Ric !

I'm still learning a lot about this hobby and trying to move up the "quality" scale as time goes on. I read your posts every day and value your opinions very highly.

I'll try to change my plans to get there when the juice is delivered and will certainly do mlf .

Thanks again for your help and expertise. Roger

Reply to
Wino-Nouveau

MLF (on a Regina juice at least) may be problematic. Most central valley juice sold here in Pittsburgh (read all) is balanced before it gets here. The difference between Regina and some of the others is that Regina doesn't use any concentrate. Most central valley juice is low in acid, not high. it's hard to imagine someone down there picking unripe grapes. MLF is great for higher acid grapes but this is rarely high acid so I'm not sure I would do that unless it's called for.

As to keeping in a fridge it will ferment slowly if it's already started when he picks it up, that may be a good thing on the trip back to Nebraska. If this gets started in your vehicle (and that can happen) it could be a mess. I had a Seyval ferment violently on the trip from Erie to Pgh; it couldn't have taken 3 hours. it was mostly finished when I got home. It was _hot_ though. Just a heads up, I can't imagine a fermenting wine and transport being a good thing.

I have tried most of the dry yeasts and to be honest am going back to K1V for the reds and EC1118 this year because they are just so reliable at finishing a wine dry. I rarely drink anything young so the yeast used has very little influence on the finished wine.

Joe

W> Thanks Gene, Marty, and Ric !

Reply to
Joe Sallustio

Thanks Joe ... That helps.

I don't think it will be regina juice but I will check.

EC1118 has been my favorite for all my fruit wines and I noticed that all 10 kits (WE) I've made have all used EC1118 also.

Does the non-regina juices make a "better" wine than regina (due to the mlf or other reasons)?

How do these juices compare to kits (quality wise)? I like the 16L kits better than the 8L kits and have not yet made a "grape skin" kit like the Crusendo. I wanted to try these juices this year and go to real grapes next year. Would I be better off with a grape skin kit?

Thanks again to everyone for the help. Roger

Reply to
Wino-Nouveau

I find the Regina type juices around par with the 8L or cheaper 16L kits. I and a couple of my friends had a lot of problems with Lodi Gold last year. I don't think I'll do another one of those juices again, Regina or Lodi Gold. This year I'm buying from Brehm and a LHBS.

You need to find out what this juice actually is. Is it actually must or juice?

Reply to
Marty Phee

I don't have a lot of experience with others other than Alexanders and I think Regina is a little better, but not by much. I never did a kit so can't speak to that. You can add grapes or grape skins to any juice if you want to try that. You can usually get an ~40 # box of grapes from the same people who sell the juice. it's around $20 US. Joe

Reply to
Joe Sallustio

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