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Racking and Attempted Bottling

A few weeks ago (when was it Chuck?) Joe, Chuck and I got together for a day of barrel cleaning, racking of the 2007 Syrah, and bottling of our 2006 Cabernets. Things didn’t go as planned. All of it could have been prevented by a little work done a few days ahead. Here is what [...]

Pressing

Well this took a long time to post. Our pressing day was fun, long and almost didn’t happen. The first problem was that the press was awfully small for our volumes, the second problem was that the press bleed valve would not close on the bladder press. We also believe that the pressure gauge [...]

2006 Cabernet May Recover

I spoke with our winemaker friend about the 5 gallons of Cabernet we lost to acetobacter infection. One of his solutions was to save it until next year’s crush and throw it into the must when it at it’s peak fermentation (15 B). In his words,

The yeast of the new fermentation will [...]

Fermentation Chart Update

The Cabernet is still winning, with Merlot second and Syrah a distant third.

 

Chuck Was Right…

I transfered the “Gardner’s Block” Cabernet into one of the large, white fermenters. Its cap was almost to the top of the smaller one and I had to constantly punch it down to keep the skins on the juice.

Sorry, Chuck, I should have listened to you.

2007 Fermentation Status

Things are roiling away, lots of CO2 and great smells. I am tracking temperature and Brix. The Cabernet continues to be the most vigorous. Click on the thumbnail to see a confusing chart. I am going to try to improve it as time permits. We should see temperatures go up correlated to sugar dropping, then [...]

More SO2

While checking my pants pockets before laundering I discovered a 5g packet of SO2.  Oops, that was supposed to go into the 2007 Syrah must with the other 5g packet.  So I added it.

I also added 2 grams of EPMS (Effervescent Potassium Metabisulfite) (1g of true SO2) to the 2006 PMR and 2006 “Gardner’s Block” [...]

2006 Cabernet Vinquiry Lab Results

2006 PMR Cabernet

 

 

pH

3.79

 

Titratable Acidity

0.695

g/100mL

Free SO2

0

 

Total SO2

0

 

Glucose + Fructose

163

mg/100mL

Malic Acid

10

mg/100mL

Volatile Acidity

0.106

g/100mL

 

 

 

2006 “Gardner’s Block” Cabernet

 

 

pH

3.84

 

Titratable Acidity

0.624

g/100mL

Free SO2

0

 

Total [...]

2007 Harvest & Crush

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2007 Initial Harvest Numbers

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 [...]