We picked these in the vineyards of Erie PA at Presque Isle Winery.
Picking Chancellor Grapes at Presque Isle Winery (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5GkF8_efww#)
Crushing Chancellor Grapes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sIGzFcFG8Y#)
Pictures (http://cid-8ad74b74b344340e.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Wine%202009)
Wayne, nics videos. Is that your family/grapes or are you showing same ones as you got?
John,
That is me and my wife, picking and sorting grapes from this year, out at a winery/vineyard in erie called Presque Isle winery. I hope I answered your question as I'm not sure I was tracking with you.
Anyway, Those grapes are in full-on fermentation right now. Here I am this morning punching the cap down.
Punching the Cap Down (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixCcps6LZuA#)
I will be getting my full load of grapes on friday or saturday. that will be California Cabernet Sauvignon. Its been a cool/wet year and so the harvest is late.
Ok, just picked up my main load of California Cabernet Sauvignon grapes...
Here is me and my buddy crushing them.
Crushing 1000lbs of Cab Sauv 2009 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyC3KDs77J4#)
I am filming while holding the hose....
Nice videos Wayne. For some reason I expected naked feet and hairy legs somewhere in the videos! ;)
You have a ton of carboys there. You must make wine all winter.
Hey Wayne, looks like fun!
I'm making 6 varieties of wine this year from locally grown grapes. Are there risks to aging wine in carboys close to where I ripen cheese? Ever had any bad experiences?
Thanks,
Pam
Pam,
Is there something wrong with a dry red roquefort table wine?
:)
I have not found there to be a problem co-locating the two. I sanitize everything prior to Grape fermentation. That is, I mop everything with a Starsan solution. I apply this to just about everything: Vats, Carboys, floors, walls, tools.
Then during the aging of my wine, the wine is 14% alcohol with 45ppm of free SO2. So, its pretty hostile to yeast and random bateria. My goal is to keep my wine in a biologically stabile state. Besides, its almost always air tight. (except during racking). My main concern during long term aging is Oxidation. So, I cap all my wines with a generous blanket of argon. After a year, I add sulfate (making it very unpleasent for bad things to grow) and bottle. Assuming a good tight seal with the cork, (and no cork defects) You could age your wine in the mustiest of cheese caves and it should not be a problem.
Hmmmm... Dry red roquefort? Have to give that some thought!
I'm trying to keep my SO2 levels to about 30ppm. I'm also racking less these days than I used too. Only racked my 2008 reds right before bottling. Just bottled the Syrah and Zinfandel and was pretty happy with them.
I guess I'll just try to be extra prudent with cleaning. Still haven't come up with the perfect cheese-aging set-up yet.
Pam
My Cabernet:
Punching down my 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Grapes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8ZsQsK9LdE#)
I'm impressed sweetie! That's one a heck of a batch of wine. Do you have wooden barrels too?
Lookin' good!
Crush Season / Fermentation Season 2009 is over....
Whew.. Lotta work this year.
Final tally:
67gallons of California Cab
15gallons of Pa Chancellor
Wow. That is a serious operation. Do you make that much every year?
Around this much, yes
Wayne, where do you get those straps for your carboys? Do they make moving them easier?
Pam
The straps are a life/back saver.
I get mine from leeners.com (http://leeners.com/equipment-fermenter-carboys.html) only because they are local for me. I can drive there.
But you can get them anywhere (http://www.homebrewing.com/equipment/the-carboy-brew-hauler.php). Trade name "Brew Hauler"
I look at these as a safety issue. 6.5gallons of smooth glass, when full, and your hands are invariably wet, is inherently an unsafe situation.
Having these handles on the glass is a godsend.
Plus it allows two folks to lift the full carboys.
Thanks. I've never seen them at my wine-supply store.
I nearly dropped one the other day. What a mess that would have made!
oh the humanity.....
Slightly unrelated, I read today about a guy who was racking (siphoning) all his 2009 wine, from one container to another, and was distracted by some home contractors, and when he returned, his racking hose had slipped out of the secondary container and all his wine was all over the floor.
....
I think i would cry.
I just purchased some straps from The Beverage People, still waiting for it to arrive. I was racking some mead yesterday and swatted at some flies hanging around, and lost a bit too. Most frustrating.
How is your wine coming along Wayne?
Right now its all still resting on the gross lees, and malolactic fermentation is well underway.
I will be racking it all next weekend off the lees and hopefully in 2 weeks MLF will be finished and I will sulfite.
All the numbers look good. pH is 3.45, TA is 7.2 g/L
S02 is only about 7 ppm
The color is a deep ruby. Its dark as ink. I am happy with this vintage.
It looks like someone will be having a good time. My blueberry comes out a really lovely color. I will be making more of that in a couple of weeks waiting to transfer the 2-5 gallons to 1 gallons to age. I have had a 1 gallon batch turn to vinegar, not to happy about that.
Wayne my dearly departed Italian grandma would have been proud of you!