October 24, 2007 – 8:37 pm
This was the first day post-harvest that I didn’t have much to do. This evening I checked the must and punched it down. No off odors, and the punch-down brought up bubbles, so the wine hasn’t gone still yet. I tasted a small quantity, and it’s developing nicely. Rather astringent, but good fruit—it really tastes [...]
October 23, 2007 – 8:57 pm
When I checked the temperature of the must at about 4:30 PM it was 79° F, too high. But earlier today I received the Thermowell Fermentation Kit I ordered last week from Northern Brewer, so I set that up to keep the temperature closer to where it should be: 75°.
Harvest Day +5, 9:30 PM: [...]
October 22, 2007 – 8:51 pm
This morning the garage was at 53° F, but the must was still working, as its temperature was 60° F. The airlock was not bubbling, but began to do so again about once every 10 seconds after I punched down the cap. I put the primary fermenter back in the fermentation chamber and brought the [...]
October 21, 2007 – 8:07 pm
I punched down the cap again this morning before going off to Meeting; the must was at 75° F, so I turned the heater up a bit. When we got back and I checked the sugar level at about 4:00 PM, the Brix had dropped to only 1.25°! Fermentation was nearly complete. The pH was [...]
October 20, 2007 – 8:52 pm
This morning when I checked the must, it was fermenting furiously and the “cap” (the grape skins and stems pushed to the surface as the yeast generate carbon dioxide) was well formed. Although the fermentation chamber temperature was 78° F, the yeast were so happy that the must was 86°, an ideal temperature for extracting [...]
October 19, 2007 – 10:44 pm
The must had returned to a beautiful purple-red color this morning when I checked it. This indicates that the pH is a bit high, as a lower pH would give the classic ruby red one aims for. I’ll take what I can get! I ladled out some more must, let it settle, and checked the [...]
October 18, 2007 – 11:31 pm
A Brief History of the Forest Pool Vineyard
In March of 2004 I began work on a small vineyard in my backyard: about 750 square feet with 26 Syrah vines on Teleki 5C rootstock, which permits water budgeting to control the otherwise overly-vigorous Syrah vines. Because of the limited space, I went with a very tight [...]
