Wine 2021 – Update #02
19 October 2021 Our plans changed again. The ship date for the grapes kept slipping, eventually landing on 15 October. Then on the 12th we were notified the date slipped again to the 22nd....
Category: Blog
My blog on wines, beers, and making both.
Bottle Label Progression
This page shows how my wine labels morphed over the years. My first labels, long lost to history, were printed on a dot matrix printer. Later ones were printed on a black-n-white laser printer,...
Wine 2021 – Update #01
14 September 2021 This fall’s plans have undergone evolution, as ideas crossed my mind, discussions with my son & niece occurred, and — finally — the list of available grapes solidified. My local group...
2021 Finer Wine Kits – Barbera in detail
Last updated 08/30/2021 This blog is a step-by-step description of making a Finer Wine Kits (FWK) according to their directions. This is a how-to combined with a critique of both the kit and the...
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...
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...