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FINALLY, finally, finally.... my California Syrah has arrived. It actually arrived on the 13th, but I've been in Florida for much of the last 10 days so I had the supplier store them in his freezer until I got back home.
This is the longest I have ever waited for grapes. Any longer and I would've had to put 2013 down as the vintage date. The one consolation is that 2012 has been declared one of those once-in-a-decade outstanding vintages for California grapes. I'm excited to get started!
I've just put on a black cherry port style wine using a Youngs kit ,
Yep,I have one of those on the go and it's looking good,just checked my ferments all ok it seems,been thinking of what to start after Christmas ,going to get a few more dj,s,and get a few more on the go,happy Xmas every one.KP.
Just finished posting at my blog, as I've mixed up my first batch of "Christmas Pudding Mead". I haven't "stolen anyones thunder", as I thought it good manners to explain that all I'm actually doing is to follow the crimbo pud wine as closely as I can, but where the recipe says to use sugar, I'm using honey.
I couldn't believe my luck, while digging out the ingredients though. I thought I was gonna have to use K1-V1116 as I don't normally have any Gervin yeasts, but "bugger oi dewn ded" on searching through my stocks what do I find staring up at me ? A pack of Gervin GV4...... I've got no recollection of buying it, but I must have.
I couldn't find any white grape juice, so had to make do with red and I didn't have any bentonite either, but as that's got to be in there for assisting the eventual clearing, I'll worry about that later.
I do hope this comes out as good as everyone says it does, as I'm gonna see if I can pick up some more cheap crimbo puds when the supermarkets put them out as "knock downs"......
And yes, I can see the parallels between the first stages of this recipe and a bucket of puke too
Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
And yes, I can see the parallels between the first stages of this recipe and a bucket of puke too
Lol...
I haven't tried the recipe myself - mostly because Christmas pudding is something you just don't find in the states. But I remember tasting someone else's (I don't think it was Bob's. Karl's maybe?). The flavor was quite good, though I can see where some might find the color to be a little off-putting.
In my own winery, my syrah/shiraz is just reaching peak. So far it's been on the skins for 7 days now. I've been trying to keep the temperature down a bit on this wine, as I favor more restrained syrahs with the fresh fruit attributes you get from fermenting at lower temps.
Not much going on here. Everything is just sitting there, clearing, malolactic-ing or just ageing (like me). Work is taking all my time (which is why I haven't posted for ages), so nothing much will happen for a few weeks.
Pete the Instructor
It looks like Phil Donahue throwing up into a tuba
Tidy up in my winery today! Fed up of tripping over stuff. I can now see the floor and bottles are on racks and in boxes. Next is to sort out the boxes of 'bits' and drawers of stuff.
Did a spot of bottling today. 1 gallon each of GF11 Sangiovese and GF11 second run Chianti. My stocks took a hammering over Christmas so I need to get a few more bottling sessions under way.
Have transferred all my 2012 wines to the uninsulated shed for a spot of cold stabilisation. Hoping for some sub-zero temperatures this week. Am very relieved as I was worried that no cold weather would be forthcoming.
Simon "I can certainly see that you know your wine. Most of the guests who stay here wouldn't know the difference between Bordeaux and Claret." - Basil Fawlty
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