Category: Vineyard
Barbera: Post MLF Update
Malo-lactic fermentation has completed, and I decided to do some testing. The pH is still high, about 4.1, and the TA measures .52% (5g/l), expressed as tartaric. The TA isn’t bad, but the wine tastes very tart at this point. I think I need to do a cold stabilization (CS) to drop the k-bitartrate, but…
Crush 2011!
We harvested this last weekend. The birds were causing damage and the fruit flies attacked the damaged fruit, giving sour rot a foothold in the clusters. Rather than lose all the fruit, I harvested a little early. The sugar was only up to 22.5 Brix for the average, but the berries tasted great, so we…
Barbera almost ready for harvest
Here’s some shots of the grapes from this past weekend. The sugar is about 16-18 Brix and the seeds haven’t turned completely brown yet. The acidity is still a bit high also, but they should be ready soon. The birds already thing they’re yummy.
Veraison!
I just noticed the first signs of purple are showing on a few clusters. This means the birds will soon take notice and will start having a picnick. Well, we can’t have that, so tomorrow we put on the bird netting that I bought last year (on special). I will try to take some photos…
Year 3 in the Vineyard
The vines are looking good this year and I can see lots of little clusters. I have one vine that’s showing red leaves, which may be due to a phosphorous deficiency.
Pruning Barbera, 2011
Pruning for year three in the backyard vineyard.
Winter in the vineyard
Winter is here in the desert. This means the vines have finally gone dormant and I can rest a bit. Actually, it means I can get out there and put up the cross-arms and an extra set of catch-wires for next season. I’ll also add some compost and get the soil ready. Then, I can…
Chano’s Canopy Notes
I uploaded these for a friend, Chano Aguayo. He runs a vineyard in Sonoma and wanted to share some photo’s with the folks on Winepress.Us and other amateurs. These are photo’s showing different views to help clarify the canopy requirements for shade, dappled light and airflow. I included Chano’s comments with each photo. Click on…
2010 Wine Press
I racked off the two different wines this weekend; here’s the results: Tempranillo – 13.5 gallon Carignane – 14 gal The skins, seeds, etc, all went into the compost heap. We mixed a little straw in with it to keep the smell down ;-). The Carignane has somewhat of a funky smell. It’s not bad,…
Adventure Harvesting Grapes in Mexico
My friend, Ken, and I headed down to Mexico to pick up some grapes from a vineyard he knew about down there. He has a beach house in Kino Bay and was very familiar with the area. Crush season is always hectic, as you just get one variety going in the fermenter, when the next…
2010 Vineyard Photos
This is the second year for the vineyard. I’m very pleased with the way things have turned out so far. The few clusters I harvested have given me an idea on how much I can expect per vine (11-12 lbs) and what kind of acid and sugar levels I might get (24 Brix, 3.7pH, .8TA).…
2010 Crush Preparation.
I’m getting everything ready for this year’s crush. I did some work on the old press. The old press pan and basket were in sad shape, so I replaced them. I bought a new basket off e-bay and made a press pan out of a 3″ deep stainless steel pan that I took to a…
2009 Wines
I have three different wines aging currently; Mourvedre, Tempranillo, and Zinfandel. The Mourvedre was made from grapes grown by Bob Johnson at Colibri Vineyards. These were plump berries with good flavor and very few blemishes. I extended maceration on this, pressing after 14 days. I used a combination of D80 and Syrah yeasts, in two…