Re: weak cabernet

Your grapes from the Central Valley are normally short of color due to over-cropping. What I did was add 20% chambourcin in a 2001 batch. It lent color, body and some acidity. The wine turned out great. Tim

One thing you did not mention was the time on skin during primary. I leave mine for 20+ days and have been very happy with color and body yield. I have been using Lodi Region grapes.

Ray

thanks for the info guys. Ray... time on skins is 6-7 days. what process do you use to obtain 20 days?

we have a chance to get grape from Oak Groove, in Lodi. have to order soon. has anyone used their grapes, thanks

dan

On 9/13 I added Montrachet yeast and nutrient to 6 cans Concord juice, about

4 cups sugar and enough water to total 2 gallons. 24 hours earlier I had added 2 Campden tablets and 2 tsps pectic enzyme to the must. My initial SG was 1.100. I got some foam and stirred twice daily. Today, the 17th my SG is closer to 1.000 and I have almost zero foam. When I stir the foam froths up. Does this SG sound too low? I'm wondering if I should rack into a secondary now. I appreciate any advice. Susan

I followed the suggestions from several sources including Cox's "From Vines to Wines". I use a primary with a pretty good seal on it. I punch the cap down a couple of times a day until the cap starts falling and then just seal it up and leave it for 20 - 25 days total. Then press.

I used Lodi grapes from Wild Rose Vineyards three years ago and made some outstanding wine. But I have not been able to get a response from them since. They do still have a web site but do not answer the phone or emails. Their site says "Please Check back with us around March 1, 2001." A bit out of date.

Last year I got grapes from A1 in Lodi. The wine I made was mediocre at best.

This year I have planned to drive up to the Maryland area and pick grapes with a friend but they are having a really bad year. I will go anyway as I value time with an old wine making buddy more than the grapes themselves.

Ray

3-4 days from 1.100 to 1.000 is about right for Concord juice at 75-80F must temperatures. You can slow down the ferment by lowering the temperature, if you wish to do so in future.

Montrechet is a very heavy foamer, and will often "explode" with foam (overflowing a 2/3 full primary) after about 18 hours. But by the time the SG is down to 1.000, there will be very little foam. Frothing up when you stir it is also quite normal, as long as the yeast are still active.

Yes, now would be a good time to move into a secondary --- UNLESS you are sugar feeding, in which case you want to leave some headroom, because it will foam up again when the sugar is added.

When you transfer the contents to a secondary, you want to transfer the sediment as well, because that is where most of the yeast are. If you rack it off the sediment now, it may not ferment to dryness. So, rather than syphoning, pour or ladle it through a funnel into the secondary --- SLOWLY, so it doesn't foam up and overflow the secondary. Or rack most of it with a syphon, leaving some juice at the bottom, and then stir that up a bit to get the sediment in solution and pour or ladel the remainder into the carboy.

Now would also be a good time to add oak chips, if you intend to.

thanks for the help, I am a complete novice. This recipe was for a one gallon Concord dessert wine. I doubled it and now wonder if there will be any of the sweetness I initially sought by using this recipe. I realize I can sweeten later so perhaps I will go that route. -Susan

The problem with using recipes (besides the various typos and inadvertant omissions) are that not all juices are the same. Sugar content can vary immensely.

If you started with an SG of 1.100, and used a Montrechet yeast, it is reasonable to expect it to ferment to dryness. For a sweet wine, you would want to use more sugar initially (I don't know exactly how much more offhand, as I always try to ferment to dryness), or a yeast with low alcohol tolerance such as Cote de Blanc. The recipe may have been originally written 50 years ago, when most yeast weren't as alcohol-tolerant as today.

If the wine is at 1.000 now, it won't be very sweet. Let it ferment to dryness, and add some sort of sweetener. It's not a good idea to add sugar, unless you can sterile filter the wine, or it may begin to ferment again. Yet, people do add sugar, and put up with the occasional bottle exploding. Your choice.

Just to add some spice to this discussion here is the opposite suggestion.

Is the SG too low? No it is fine.

I would rack to secondary, boil is some sugar syrup to invert it, and then feed the yeasties until they go into terminal alcoholic bliss. You are trying to make a sweet dessert wine and high alcohol is a good thing. I would bring us the syrup to bring the SG back up to 1.010. Then watch it and every time it drops below 1.05, bring it back up. Continue this until the yeast enter nirvana and all fermentation stops. Then allow to clear and sorbate it.

Good luck.

Ray

Or... You could let it finish fermenting when it wants without adding any more sugar now. Let it clear out, sulphite and sorbate it and then add sugar syrup and bottle.