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  • Crash course needed!

    Hi all. You may remember from my occasional posts that I have been winemaking 'au naturel' the last few years, but with a disappointing batch this year have decided to start adding stuff. So here’s my plan, and I’d be really grateful if anyone wants to reply with ‘this man’s a genius’ or ‘you’re gonna do WHAT!!’ I have 25 crates of Montepulciano d'abruzzo trundling their way to me from bella Italia, which should net about 130 litres/29 gallons. Weed out leaves and mouldy bits, then crush and ferment on skins and stalks. (how do you de-stalk?) I have 6 sachets of Lalvin EC-1118 that hasn't been refrigerated (they were kept in a drawer in a cool garage, but it did get hot this summer...) which works out at about 1g per gallon, right? Not sure if I need to bother with nutrient ?? Will add 22 campden tablets (=1/2 to 1 tablet per gal) but not sure at what point in proceedings to add them? I use a hydrometer and control temperature by keeping my barrel nice and cosy, but have never tested pH – is that strictly necessary? Sorry to sound like a headless chicken, but this a steep learning curve in a limited time, and I don’t want to cck it up!
    Richard

  • #2
    Originally posted by Richm View Post
    Hi all. You may remember from my occasional posts that I have been winemaking 'au naturel' the last few years, but with a disappointing batch this year have decided to start adding stuff. So here’s my plan, and I’d be really grateful if anyone wants to reply with ‘this man’s a genius’ or ‘you’re gonna do WHAT!!’ I have 25 crates of Montepulciano d'abruzzo trundling their way to me from bella Italia, which should net about 130 litres/29 gallons. Weed out leaves and mouldy bits, then crush and ferment on skins and stalks. (how do you de-stalk?) I have 6 sachets of Lalvin EC-1118 that hasn't been refrigerated (they were kept in a drawer in a cool garage, but it did get hot this summer...) which works out at about 1g per gallon, right? Not sure if I need to bother with nutrient ?? Will add 22 campden tablets (=1/2 to 1 tablet per gal) but not sure at what point in proceedings to add them? I use a hydrometer and control temperature by keeping my barrel nice and cosy, but have never tested pH – is that strictly necessary? Sorry to sound like a headless chicken, but this a steep learning curve in a limited time, and I don’t want to cck it up!
    Richard
    Make a yeast starter first, if it's not viable, get some more.

    Yeast nutrient is always a good idea IMO

    Sulphite? Well, if you're starting fermentation straight away you might not need to. Depends what shape your grapes are in when you get em wether you want to sulphite to kill/limit spoilage organisms.

    Chuck some rohapect in (if I've spelt that right) I have this year, supposed to help with colour and flavour.

    Ph measuring has never been my forte, sorry
    With Grape flavour comes grape responsibility

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    • #3
      See here

      N.G.W.B.J.
      Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
      Wine, mead and beer maker

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      • #4
        Fermenting on the stalks will make the wine very green and astringent, get rid of at least 90% of the stems

        You can do this simply by stretching chicken wire across a wooden frame over a fermenting bin and dragging the grapes across it

        type "destemming grapes without a destemmer" into youtube or google

        might seem like a lot of work but the increase in the quality of the wine will mean that you will never leave stalks in again it will make a MASSIVE difference to the quality of the finished wine

        regards
        bob
        N.G.W.B.J.
        Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
        Wine, mead and beer maker

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        • #5
          here you go

          This year, I will make some test batches of wine. I need to get some practice making wine on my own. Because crusher/destemmers are expensive ($400 and up), ...
          N.G.W.B.J.
          Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
          Wine, mead and beer maker

          Comment


          • #6
            and here

            The harvest in Pupillin, Arbois in Jura region. Filmed on October 2nd, 2012.
            N.G.W.B.J.
            Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
            Wine, mead and beer maker

            Comment


            • #7
              You can also use a milk crate to sieve the must.
              Gluten free, caffeine free, dairy free, fat free – you gotta love this red wine diet!

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              • #8
                Thanks for all your great advice. The grapes arrived too soon to rig up a de-stemming system, and as I was borrowing a crusher had to do them that evening. All went well, starting SG 1087 (bit lower than last year's 1093). Drew off a demi-john of juice and added a sachet of Lalvin EC-1118 and put it in the airing cupboard. Added 9g of sodium metabisuphite to the main barrel of must. Following morning realized I forgot to rehydrate the yeast with warm water, so did another one. Both got going though so needn't have worried. Then set about raking out the stems by hand and 'squeeging' the skins off through my fingers, a very tedious and inefficient process, especially as they tend to sink below the cap. Got five crates out and they were still green and springy, so hopefully I will have reduced the astringency a bit. Will definitely rig up something like the American fella in his garage on the youtube clip for next year. Some of my montepulciano bunches are really tight so I don't think the other method would work, (the French guy with the inclined wooden contraption with holes in it, in the other clip). My grapes had also been in transit for several days, whereas his were fresh off the vine, so not sure they would ping off the stems quite so readily. 36 hours after crushing I added my yeast starters and remaining 4 sachets of (rehydrated) yeast. I had bought some yeast nutirient but didn't bother adding it in the end, seeing as how the starters had got going so quickly.Wrapped up my barrel in cardboard to insulate it, although the weather is great at the moment and the must is at 18°C. Last night it smelled and sounded very active.
                Next question is when to rack off into carboys, when it's down to 1000 or a bit before? Have never done a MLF before, and last year I racked off at 1025 and it kind of hibernated, still at 1006 when I came to bottle it eight months later.
                Last edited by Richm; 27-09-2013, 11:32 AM.

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                • #9
                  You could of course (next year) come to grapefest and use my crusher destemmer!

                  We can also get montepulciano grapes, (as well as many others) might be worth comparison of prices as I think your supplier likely buys from the same guy we do, might cut out the middle man?

                  regards
                  Bob
                  N.G.W.B.J.
                  Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
                  Wine, mead and beer maker

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                  • #10
                    Will you press the skins?


                    I intend to wait till the skins sink this year (tried last year but bottled it!!!!)


                    regards
                    bob
                    N.G.W.B.J.
                    Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
                    Wine, mead and beer maker

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Crusher-destemmer? Sounds intriguing Bob, got any photos? We get our grapes from Tony Di Maria in Coventry. http://www.adimaria.co.uk/
                      £8.50 per crate. He imports Italian produce for the restaurant trade. I will be pressing the skins, although these grapes always produce a rich dark wine, and as I'm hankering after quality rather than quantity I'm wondering whether it's worth the hassle.
                      Rich

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                      • #12
                        Ask the "is it worth the hassle" question of the boys and girls who have attended (in the 2013 threead perhaps)

                        crusher-destemmer.jpg

                        Crusher de-stemmer in action (this is the actual machine)

                        you will also find pics of events here

                        Log in to Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family and people you know.

                        regards
                        Bob
                        N.G.W.B.J.
                        Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
                        Wine, mead and beer maker

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