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Barrel Char Wood Products
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storm1969

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 13, 2005
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Columbia, MD
Still waiting on my Zin this year.... Should be in early next week. (It's from RRV).

My blending.... I tend to like PS a lot, might be my favorite grape. Last years PS/Zin blend was 75% PS / 25% Zin.

I'm making enough of each this year that I can play with the blend that goes into the barrel. I do like to blend as it goes into the barrel, I think it makes the final product much more integrated.

I am manually punch down the cap, starts out at like 5 times a day (Helps that I work 2 miles from the house) gradually reducing the punch downs as the fermentation slows.

After it's done, given how quickly it's fermenting, I will cover in CO2, add MLF, saran wrap it and stir it once a day.

Sucks about your grapes! Where do you get them from? I would freak if my supplier just didn't produce them.

Brian
 
RRV is a great apellation. I've used Zin from Limerick Lane before and loved it. The Syrah from up there is pretty amazing as well. Generally I get my Zin from either Amador, Paso or Lodi (family friends used to have the Vineyard there that produced for Cosentino but they sold it off about three years back) but this year because of the early harvest (heat) people were scrambling pretty hard. We just got caught up in the middle of a bidding war by someone who bought the whole lot.

You're still waiting for your RRV Zin? We may need to talk if there's some late stuff coming out. Mayhap you can PM me if you have a possible lead there.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 
how much grapes do you guys order at a time usually, also what units do they come in and do they ship out of state Id be really intreasted in this. If the guys that yall use are willing to ship I might get my LHBS store in on the deal Its hard to find anyone that sellls anything less than a ton shiped!

:happy10:
 
I generally buy by the ton. It's tough not to buy at that level or larger directly from the vineyards.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 
Generally the home winemaker with a vertical press will get about 130-150 gallons per ton, a winery with a horizontal press/bladder press will pull about 160-170 gallons. It will also differ by grape variety in some cases etc.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 
lol what do you do with 150 gallons of wine? you dont sell it yet do ya? are you stockpiling it or what? i dont think the bee problem is gonna make grapes stop growing...... thats cool though, then you can do batches big enough to justify oak barrels.
 
Storm, I went ahead and split this topic off your brewlog thread so it wouldn't get hijacked.

UCF - I have a large family so 300 gallons is knocked down to about 50 gallons to each family winemaker. They leave it up to me to handle cold settling, pump over, delestage and general primary management. From there we split it into barrels for different family members and it takes on different characters under different aging managemtn.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 
thats really cool. i wish my family was more into making things on their own.... i do have some family that has a very large farm, but their crops and livestock keep them pretty busy so they dont really bother with anyting else. thats really cool that your family works together to do things like that though. do you all live in california?
 
My LHBS sells grapes in 100# increments. Not that it would help much now since they're pretty much sold out of everything, but they're in Berkeley (CA). I'm told you can get about 6 gallons from 100# (a friend just pressed his and that's about how much he got). They do preorders before harvest, so if you're not too far away you could contact them to see about shipping for next year. They'll also destem and crush for you if you want. <a href="http://www.oakbarrel.com/"> Oak Barrel </a>
 
I use 15 and 20 gallon barrels. Makes enough for family, friends, and to give it time to age 5 or ten years. Smaller batches tend to disappear around the 5 year mark.

a 15 gallon batch tends to make around 75 bottles and a 20 around 100 bottles...
 
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