2009 WIne Making UPDATED Day 1 - 9

Day One:

We got THE phone call at 8:30 in the morning. “Get down to A.T. Siravo the grapes are in and they are going fast!!” That was not an understatement; we called and asked them to hold some Zinfandel grapes. We were told that two tractor-trailer loads were sold out but they had another suggestion for us. We were at the grape wholesaler by 9am the place was a zoo, Eddie the person who seemed to be running the operation took a shine to us, brought us for a mini tour, and let us taste all the grapes to allow us to make an informed decision as to what we wanted. We decided to up our original plan of just three cases of white wine grape to five cases. The Marvasi grape was so sweet and full of flavor – the sweetness will subside as the alcohol in the wine increases!! We also took 20 cases of Nebello grapes and 3 cases of Allegante grapes for a red wine blend.

We loaded up the pickup with the grape and additional 60-gallon primary fermenting tub. We thought we had everything secured until we rounded a corner and one of the cases of grape ends up in the middle of the street. Phil pulled over and salvaged what he could and put it back on the truck.

Now for the prep work to get ready for the next day. We swept the garage floor and put a tarp over it. Unloaded the grape from the truck washed and installed the spigots on the primary formation tubs. Bleached the wine press and left it out in the sun to dry. Tomorrow we will sterilize all the equipment prior to use.

Day Two

The carboys, fermenting tubs, wine press and anything that touches the grape was sterilized with C-Brite. It comes in a powered form that you mix with water; it has a slight bleach smell but will not alter the color of your clothes.

The crew started to arrive around 9am. We started with the white grape first. We destemmed the white grape and ran it through the crusher. The crushed grape is then placed in the wine press and squeezed several times to ensure all the juice has been expressed. We take the stems and skins and put them in our compost pile. The juice is run through a fine mesh metal strainer and through a funnel with a very fine mesh strainer. Therefore, the juice has been strained twice yet will still have sediment in it. The strained juice ends up in a glass carboy with an airlock. This will sit for a week or two so the sediment goes to the bottom and can the clear wine can be siphoned off the top.

The red wine is a bit of a different process. We crushed the grapes and put them directly in to large fermenting tubs. We will stir the crushed grape twice per day for 7 – 10 days. During this process the fermentation begins and the wine “boils”, you will hear a bubbling sound as the natural wild yeast on the grapes eats the sugar to produce alcohol and releases the carbon dioxide.

Both wines at this point are all natural and have no additives and no yeast. We may need to add some chemicals to the white wine to stop fermentation and to clarify but that remains to be seen in the coming weeks.

Now we sit back relax and enjoy a glass of last years vintage until next week when the work begins again!!

Day 7

We have been caring for the wine every day by turning the grape in the tub twice per day. As the grape is fermenting in the tub, it rises to the top and we push it down, this process keeps out bacteria and mold that could grow on the top but also helps in the fermentation process. On day 7, it was time to press the skins, stems and seeds. We once again sterilized everything that will come in contact with the grapes with the C-Brite solution. Once everything is sterilized we begin to drain the first tub, we use a fine mesh strainer to catch seed, small pieces of skins and other small particulates. The juice goes into a plastic bucket and is set aside. Once all the juice is drained, we remove all the skins, seeds and stems from the tub and place them into a plastic bin to be pressed. We now will clean the 90-gallon fermentation tub that the juice has been in for the past 7 days, once rinsed out the tub is moved to our basement and filled with the juice we just drained from the tub. Now the pressing begins. We press in small batches so it does not gum up the press and we get the most yield from the grape. The juice that comes from this pressing is then added to the tub in the basement. We repeat the process with the smaller tub, and add the contents to the 90-gallon tub in the basement. This will blend the two batches and ensure a consistent product.

Day 9

The wine has now been sitting in the basement for 2 days this allows some of the fine particulates to settle to the bottom and ensures all the flavors from the 2 tubs have married. We once again sterilize everything that will come in contact with the wine. We attach a hose to the spigot and begin to fill one of the two demis we have. A demi holds 16 gallons of wine. Once the 2 demis are filled we move onto the carboys; we have several different sizes of carboys ranging from 3 – 7 gallons. We then add oak chips to add that wonderful oak flavor you get from a fine wine that has been aged in oak barrels. The wine will now sit until sometime in December when we will bottle.


CLICK ON THE PHOTO BELOW TO SEE THE STEP BY STEP PROCESS IN PHOTOS!!

2009 Wine Making

Blueberry Wine

We have been making wine directly from crushing grapes or with a kit. Phil decided to try something different and make a blueberry grape wine. We started with 4 pounds of green grape and 6 ½ pounds of blueberries. We first crushed the green grape then the blueberries in the hand-cranked crusher. We put them in a stockpot added water to cover the fruit and added 7 pounds of sugar. We let this boil for about 10 minutes.

We then placed a mesh bag over the primary plastic fermenting bucket. This was to catch the skins of the grape and blueberries. We poured the mixture into the bucket and tied off the mesh bag. At this point, we added cool water to bring the volume up to the 3-gallon point and allow mixture to become room temperature. At this point we than could add 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrients, ¾ teaspoon of pectin enzyme and 1 package of champagne yeast. We chose champagne yeast to dry the wine out so it would not be too sweet. We stirred the mixture twice a day for 3 days. On the third day, we pressed the juice from the skins that were in the mesh bag. We let the juice stay in the bucket for another 3 days.

The juice was then transferred to a glass carboy where it was allowed to ferment for 1 week. We racked the wine to get rid of the sediment. Racking just means transferring from one container to another. The wine was again allowed to sit and ferment for 2 more weeks.

When the wine in the carboy stops producing gas its time to bottle. We transferred the wine from the glass carboy to a plastic bottling bucket. The bottles and corks were sterilized and we began to transfer the wine into the bottles and corked the wine. It will now sit and age for about 3 -4 months before we will be able to drink it

CLICK ON THE PHOTO BELOW TO SEE THE ENTIER PROCESS

Blueberry Wine

Sakonnet Vineyard Tour

This year we decided to take a staycation. We took daytrips to tourist sites in our own back yard. One of the sites we visited was the Sakonnet Vineyards according to their web site…

Sakonnet Vineyards, in Little Compton, Rhode Island was founded in 1975 on the well-researched premise that the microclimate and soil conditions found along the Southeastern New England coast closely resemble some of the great wine regions of the world, particularly, the maritime climates of northern France. At present, fifty acres are planted with many Vinifera varietals including Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Franc as well as Vidal Blanc one of the French-American hybrids. Wine production has climbed to over 30,000 cases annually with many wines receiving awards in domestic and international competitions.

Our tour began with a 20-minute video about the seasonal cycle at the vineyard we were then allowed in the crushing, pressing and fermenting room. It did not seem like a big operation – more on that later! Our guide told us all about the process that the vineyard goes through to go from grape to wine. The vineyard used two types of oak barrels French and American different types for different wines. The barrels are only used a maximum of five times and are sold to other vineyards or home brewers like us! I guess I know what to get Phil for Christmas!!

We then went into the bottling room. They only bottle 65 days a year and we were lucky enough to be there on one of those days. Most of the bottling operation takes place in a sealed room so the photos are I took are not the greatest!!

We then went into the ageing room, I could not get over how small the operation was then the guide gave us some insight as to why. The major varieties of Sakonnet Wines such as Eye of the Storm, Rhode Island White and Red are grown and pressed in California – so it is not a RI wine!!

Oh, those Marketing People are playing with our minds again!! Why is it a RI wine if it is grown in California??



TO SEE THE PHOTO ALBUM CLICK ON THE PHOTO BELOW

Sakonnet Vineyard

Kiwi Melon Pino Grigio Wine from a kit

We LOVE this refreshing light summer wine! It has a Pino Grigio base with a hint of Kiwi and Melon, it was a big hit last summer so we thought we would make another 5 gallons for this summer.

It is very important to ensure all our equipment is sterilized. We use c-brite a powder you mix with water and rinse all your equipment with prior to starting the process. Since this is a kit we use an array of chemicals to preserve, ferment and clarify the wine.

One of the last steps we add the Kiwi and Melon flavoring, we do not add the full amount that come with the kits, this keeps it the wine from becoming too sweet.

To view the album click on the photo below

Kiwi Melon Pino Grigio Wine from a Kit

Wine Making October 2008

Having make wine in the past from kits we thought we would try our had at making wine the old fashioned way right from the grape. We purchased a total of 18 cases of grapes; 5 cases of Cabernet and 13 of old vine zinfandel. We crushed most of it by hand since at the time we did not have a grape crusher!!

The crushed grape sat in a vat covered with a sheet for 10 days. Twice per day Phil stirred the fermenting grapes, as the days progressed you could hear the grapes "simmering" and "bubbling". The whole house smelled like an old wine barrel.

On day 10 we pressed the grape, strained the juice and placed it all in glass carboys. We let this ferment for 3 months. We bottled and let it sit for an additional month.

Since we used no chemicals, yeast or preservatives this wine will need to be consumed within one year!!

To see the album click on the photo below

Wine Making 2008