Successful Red Blends
On Wine Making Talk, a common question regards what wines to use in making blends, and in what proportions. Granted, each batch of wine is different so there’s no formula, but having a list...
Category: Blog
My blog on wines, beers, and making both.
Wine 2020 – Update #01
Wine 2020 is underway! Last Saturday my grapes arrived — as I intended I purchased 16 lugs weighing 36 lbs each, a total of 576 lbs of grapes. Red Wine My mixture is: 8...
Winemaking 101 – Episode 8 – What Is Wine?
I participate on Wine Making Talk, a wine maker’s forum. My time is mixed between general discussions and helping others — especially newbies — with the wine making process, problems, and general advice. For...
Winemaking 101 – Episode 7 – When Things Go Wrong
Things sometimes go wrong in wine making, meaning the final product is not what was intended. Typical problems result from an undesired yeast or bacteria growing in the wine, or oxidation from too much...
Fall 2020 Wine Making Plans
I made 3 different wines from fresh grapes last year (2019) — Malbec, Merlot, and Zinfandel. I purchased five 36 lb lugs of each, a total of 15 lugs (540 lbs of grapes). If...
Winemaking 101 – Episode 6 C – 2019 second run, continued
Renewed Fermentation When I racked the barrel on 03/28/2020, I discovered the specific gravity had dropped from 1.000 to 0.992. This is good, as the lower SG indicates that all sugar is consumed and...
Winemaking 101 – Episode 6 B – 2019 second run, continued
The Wine Making Process Continues! (Slowly) After a few weeks, the wine dropped sediment as expected. It’s typical to drop a lot of sediment in the first few weeks — this includes yeast cells,...
Winemaking 101 – Episode 6 A – the 2019 second run wine!
I decided before I ordered the 2019 grapes that I was going to make a second run. As I stated in Episode 5, there’s no reason to not make a second run. Starting the...
Winemaking 101 – Episode 5 – What is a second run wine?
Most people have no idea what a “second run wine” is, so this is a good place for an explanation. A “second run” or “false” wine is a wine make from the left-over pomace...
Winemaking 101 – Episode 4 – Fermentation & Pressing
So far we’ve gotten the grapes, crushed them, and detoured into my acquisition of a grape press. Now it’s time to inoculate and get onto the fermentation! Years ago I kept my wine and...