(Click the Flickr link to see all the photos from the harvest and crush.)
After an evening talking outside by the fire, drinking 2005 Grout Cellars Meritage, Sunday morning Joe and I got up early and hit the road.
We had to make a brief stop at the rest stop on 280. It was a little weird. At 6:30 AM there must have been 30 cars there. Only two guys in the bathroom shaving, go figure.
A quick stop to buy picking knives and by around 8:30 we reached the first vineyard and started picking. It was a cool, beautiful morning and the picking was great fun. We left with two bins filled with grapes.
Continue reading 2007 Harvest & Crush
I re-calibrated the pH meter and did my best with the titratable acid test. I might send the G&M Syrah in to Vinquiry to double check the pH. The Syrah is so much darker than the other two.
- Cabernet, Syrah, Merlot
“Gardner’s Block” Merlot
200 lbs
Brix: 25.00
pH: 3.65
TA: 0.82%
Potential alcohol: 14.75%
“Gardner’s Block” Cabernet
160 lbs
Brix: [...]
9/21
Here are the real results from Vinquiry:
pH – 3.70 – Autotitrator
Titratable Acidity – 0.592 g/100mL – Autotitrator
Free SO2 – None detected – Segmented Flow
Total SO2 – None detected – Segmented Flow
Volatile Acidity – 0.080 g/100mL – Segmented Flow
Malic Acid – 3 mg/100mL – Enzymatic
Now I just need to figure out what this all means!
I am most surprised at the complete lack of SO2. Gotta fix that soon. I don’t know what amount of Malic acid defines a complete ML fermentation. Watch this space for more info.
Continue reading Vinquiry Lab Results 2006 Merlot (Update)
I pulled off 300 ml to send to Vinquiry today. After racking I took the left-overs and ran my own lab tests on it. Here are my numbers, they seem a little weird.
TA = .65%
pH = 3.66
SO2 = 45 +
The acid should be higher considering the pH and SO2 seems high as well. Now we get [...]
This morning I racked the 2006 “Gardner’s Block” Merlot from the beer keg into three carboys. The last carboy is a little short so I am settling out the sludge with the hopes of topping off. I opened a half gallon bottle of the same wine to use for topping but it was yucky so I pored it out. This bottle was the last of the pressing and full of solids. No great loss. I tasted it this morning and was surprised at the acidity and tannins even considering its youth. One sec, I’ll taste it again right now. Continue reading Racked 2006 Merlot
Chuck’s parents were in town so we pulled a barrel samples of the 2006 Other Vineyard Merlot and Cabernet and PMR Cabernet. The first two were well balanced and close to accessible, they both have a the subtle raison flavor found in the 2005 Merlot that is overpowering to some, loved by others.
The PMR Cabernet was [...]
Added ML cultures to all but the topping wine. Anyoen reading this have an opinion on when to [...]
Racked the 2006 “Gardner’s Block” Merlot into one very full beer keg. We used nitrogen gas to push the wine out of the cornelius kegs, but the tank ran out. The next day I upgraded to a 40 cubic [...]
Monday night I picked up a bladder press from Fermentation Frenzy and we started pressing around 7:00 or so. The pressing system worked very well. I put my old stainless homebrew lauter tun under the press to collect the wine. The false bottom was intended to filter out any large solids, but there was really nothing [...]
We tested the sugar levels with a hydrometer today from samples pulled last night.
Other Merlot: 1ºB
Other Cabernet: 0ºB
PMR Cabernet: 5ºB
These numbers confirm our speculations from tasting and observations of the caps.
The wines taste great, even better after a morning exposed to air. Good tannic structure on the cabs and nice fresh fruit in the Merlot. Chuck [...]
