2012 SI Cab Days 2-7

Day 2 Temp increased to 65; the cake was already about 18 inches thick. The froth was already purple, and the must began to produce quite a bit of fizz when we punched down the cake and stirred. Day 3 Temp 70; specific gravity 1.08==19.1 bris. Grapes going red, juice already pink purple, loads of froth and fizz. Cake 2 ft thick Day 4 Temp 72;spec grav 1.045--brix 12.1. Grapes are soft and going limp. They look and feel cooked. The juice is much more alcoholic than sweet--we're at about 11% alcohol on our way to 13.8 or so. The tartaric acid I added--about 3 tablespoons per barrel--took us up from .53 to about .63 acidity. We're not into day 5; day 6 starts Thurs morning at 10. I'm anticipating that we will press about 6 hours into day 7 on Friday afternoon. Predicting brix will be at or very close to 0 by then. Malo bug was introduced. Still no meta. Temp still 72. Day 6 saw a reading of 1.03 and a temp of 70, and on day 7 we got down to about 1.015, which is about 3 brix. Doug at PIWines concurred that we could press even though the must was still producing some froth and fizz. We went 11 large and one small 3 gal cboy for a total of 48 gallons. I'm guessing after racking, we'll have about 43 gallons, which is less than the 50 gals (240 bottles) I was shooting for, following the red rule of thumb that 2 cases of grapes usually yield a 5 gal. But the wind blows for no man and so does the grape. Basement temp is 64, and the cboys are bubbling more than I've seen before. Once they calm down, we'll add some meta and stir up the sediment to flush any yeast out of hiding--I'm guessing two weeks or so. We'll rack a couple weeks later, probably before Thanksgiving.

2012 SI: Cabernet Sauvignon Day One

We bought 16 cases of cab and 4 of merlot from Mrs. Lapide this morning--we were interested in mimicking Coppola's Rosso, but Mrs. L's Syrah was lost in Jersey and the son who lost it was in the doghouse. Grapes excellent--the cab in particular is full of hints and undertones that I can't read at this point. Crushed, specific gravity 1.100, pointing towards a 13.7% wine. Acidity a little low--.52. Adding 50 tsp of Tartaric acid later. 50 grams of yeast already stirred into the three vats. First bubbles showing about 5 hours later. Forgot to note must temp--60. Good numbers

2011 Barbera, Grapes pressed. 34 gallons in the jar

Laura and I pressed the grapes today. Great yield, sour cherries.

2011 Barbera Redux: Day 9

The must has followed a pretty typical trajectory from the third day, the cake decreasing in thickness each day and the grapes softening. Fairly big bubbles through yesterday. Laura and I took another specific gravity reading. We are at 1.010, brix 2.5, so we press tonight.

2011 Barbera, Day 3

AM
Big cake. 4 inches, and a big pink-purple froth you could surf on. The aroma is deepening though the juice still tastes pretty sweet.

2011 Barbera Day 2

9 A.M.

No cake but some good fizz, and the must is emanating warmth. Poised for take off. Still smelling sweet and fruity, with hints of alcohol in the air.

9 P.M.

3 inch cake thick enough so that the surface was drying out. Lots of bubbles when I punctured the cake. Big fruit, with the alcohol coming on. Big night tonight I'm guessing.

Brix, yeast, action

Laura and I destemmed until we couldn't take it anymore and then measured the specific gravity of the must: 1.010, which predicts an alcohol content of about 13.5. Nice neighborhood to be in--we have bottles from Sicilia, the Rhone and Argentina that are all 13.5. We stirred in the yeast liquid and noticed there was already a little fizz to the must. I'm guessing this wine will be quick out of the gate.

Barbera Redux

Gina and I drove out to see Mrs Lapide today. We bought 6 crates of barbara, 4 of grenache and 2 of alicante--we're aiming for 30 gallons this year.

We thought about making other wines, but we're loving last year's barbara--I think I told everyone that because Mrs. L only had 5 crates of barbera last year, I stepped up the amount of grenache and alicante in the mix. The grapes are delicious. The barbara is a little sweeter than it was last year.

We crushed at about 2, and Laura and I will add the yeast tonight after a destemming fest--a mix of water, 3 envelopes of Montrachet Red Star and a half cup of sugar.

Day 8 (S.I.): full-tilt boogie

To crush is human; to press, divine is what the bard really meant to say.

The must was nearly still when I pressed yesterday. I tried a little of the wine as it came out the press's spout, and it's already showing a display of fruits and notes: I'm getting raspberry and the 1040, sched. D. No, I don't know--raspberry and something. The recipe I used was different from past barbera's simply because Mrs. Lapide was down to 5 crates of barbera--so there's twice the alicante in this wine and almost twice the grenache. We made a 70-20-10 barbera in the past; this one is a 50-30-20.

The yield was 28 beautiful gallons--I thought I'd get 30+. I was thinking 33, but considering how hot and dry the summer was, it's no wonder the yield's a little low. Anyone follow the weather in CA this past summer? Was it as hot and dry as ours?

Going to add the malo-lactic bug tomorrow, and will add some SO2 sometime soon. I think in the anaerobic state I can introduce them together, but I'm not sure.

Staten Island Red, Day 6

Situation here:

Purple haze all in my brain
Lately things just don't seem the same
Actin' funny, but I don't know why
'Scuse me while I kiss the sky.

In other words, cake still forming but down to about 2 inches, less warmth, grapes soft and all red-purple, froth diminishing but still present, aroma deepening towards wine.

Staten Island Red, Day 4

Big purple froth today. Grapes are cherrying up and softening and making the whole thing look easy. A great day to be a wine maker.

Staten Island Red, Day 3

Grapes beginning to soften, liquid increasing--bright purple juice. The cake was about 3 inches before I punched it down. Pink-purple, noisy froth, the aroma is deepening from fruit juice to wine, and the must is throwing off some warmth. It's as robust a fermentation as I've seen.

Staten Island Red, Day 2

I crushed the grapes about 30 hours ago and added the yeast mixture about 24 hours ago, so we are into the second day by all measures. I just stirred the must. There was a cake about two inches thick and some big froth as I poked the board through the cake to stir. The froth is loud, and if you stick your head in the barrell--and who wouldn't?--there's a pleasant miasm of alcohol rising, though everything still smells and tastes pretty sweet. I'll stir it again in the morning.

Staten Island Red

Ciao cugini,

Gina and I went to see Mrs. Lapide yesterday, as I reported in an earlier email, and we bought 5 crates of barbera, 3 of grenache and 2 of alicante. I varied the barbera recipe we used in the past because I had to--Mrs L had only 5 crates of barbera left. Mrs. L gave her blessing to the mix, which was good enough for me. Turns out she and her late husband--born Lorenzo Lapide--made wine for years.

G and I crushed the grapes in the PM--OK, it was mainly me. Grapes were superb: the alicante did a fierce impersonation of black, the barbera was sweet, and the grenache sweet and fruity. No raisining, no rot, no lie. I crushed into 2 barrells because I didn't want to risk overflow from a single barrells. Grapes were room temp when I added the Red Star Montrachet yeast at about 9 P.M.--3 envelopes of yeast per half gal pitcher, plus 1/2 cup of sugar in each pitcher.

We're shooting for about 150 bottles.

Purple froth beginning to appear as of 7 A.M. this morning, and a gorgeous perfume beginning to emanate: a star is born.

The juice that's running from the stirring sticks is already purple and has a sweet taste with fruit--it already has a little alcohol push to it, or my tongue deceives me. Which it does from time to time.

In vino,

Bernardo