GrapeFest 2009

[Her Lushness]

Both reds pressed last Friday, and racked today to get rid of the sediment, leaving me with 5 gallons of each.

The Merlot is still bubbling away intermittently, but I think the Cili has stopped; but I'll see in the morning what's happening with it.

I also pressed the wine kit second run as it was at 1.020, and thats still bubbling away nicely.

I'm planning on adding some oak in the next few days to the Merlot, and am still undecided about the Cili; what's everyone else doing?

[lockwood1956]

No descisions made on Oak as yet.....waiting to "taste" and see

[goldseal]

well, I would say as a gut feeling, take a liter out of it, add a sprinkle (pinch) of nutrient and see what happens. I call this "feeding the fish" in winemaking. If it takes off, you know what to expect in your **gulp** 12 gallons of wine....

I added about 1/8tsp to a topup bottle. Nothing yet.

However ....

I am making some port from a gallon of Ciliegiolo. I added 3oz of sugar to it this morning, and it fired up again almost immediately, and is fermenting quite strongly.

I'm puzzled why the remainder of the Cilie is still around 0.997 - 8, regardless of which DJ or carboy it is in, or whatpart of the primary fermenter it came from (free-run juice, skins, whatever). The port DJ suggests that the yeast ran out of fuel at 0.997, but I can't see how.

I think I'll try sneaking some of it into the Dining room, which is a couple of degrees warmer than the garage.

[lockwood1956]

Have you calibrated your Hydrometer Pete?

[lockwood1956]

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=885

[goldseal]

I gave it a quick check. Time to pull the Emergency Reserve Hydrometer out and try that

[goldseal]

Both are within 0.01 of each other - different makes too.

[Rich]

I've got our Ciliegiolo sitting on the kitchen window sill (10 gallons worth) both at about 0.995/6 ish still sounds like they are fermenting, or they could be just releasing gas. They are wrapped in foil to protect from light, and towels to prevent too much sun heating them up.

The Merlot is still fermenting, it was made with RC212 which may explain the slightly slower ferement times. But, they are in the dark in the garage, with a heater belt on to keep the temp up a bit for the mlf to go right.

[Richard S]

I slightly over filled my 25l carboy and now my winery is sort of Merlot coloured, I wasn't expecting such a viggerous fermentation after pressing as it looked a little lifeless.

[Rich]

oops

[danpug]

Anybody else tried their Ciliegiolo yet?

[goldseal]

I tried mine the other week. I have about 12 gallons of it sitting in my garage in carboys and DJs.

So far, so good. Although I didn't get nearly enough colour extraction as I did last year, I seem to have a clean-tasting fruity red. I haven't oaked it too much to preserve that fruitiness. I would even go as far as to say it would be drinkable now (although I won't be doing so).

It will probably stay in the carboys until early September - I'll need them for GF 2010

Did you have some too?

[danpug]

Yes i made about 30 gallons. I too didn't get an awful lot of colour extraction from it but i've drank a couple of bottles in the last couple of days and i'm very happy with it. it should get better yet too. Plenty of cherry aroma and a nice fruity taste. I haven't oaked any of mine, what level did you use? I may play with a gallon and see how it turns out.

[goldseal]

I used 100g of American medium toast in one 5 gal carboy, and 100g of French medium toast in the other. Both went in mid-Oct, and the it is still in there.

The oakiness is not really noticable, and there isn't a great deal of difference between the two batches. I'll probably rack it off the oak in the next couple of weeks.

If we get Ciliegiolo in 2010 I'll probably remove about 30 - 50% of the juice for rosé, and hope to concentrate the flavour and colour. In 2008 i made Grenache, Sangiovese and Ciliegiolo, and the Ciliegiolo was the best of the bunch.

[danpug]

I think i'll just leave it as is as i'm very happy with it. Those grapes definitely make a good drink!