11/14/2017 - the temperature has been giving us trouble, so it has been cooler than normal, I readjusted 11/14/2017. We'll see - up to just shy of 2 on the auxillary heater and the vents have been closed to the room. Looks like we are going to have a new body - Angie is going to try and make time to join us.
11/16/2017 - It was just Angie, Michele and myself, but we got alot done. It's always hard this time of year - lots of activities and conflicts, but that's OK too.
Bottling:
Fontana Merlot (Michele) - We finished bottling this Merlot. The SG was down to 0.992 and the ABV was 11.2%. The yield was 30.5 bottle equivalents. Michele is thinking about blending with these, so she did large 1.5 l bottles for storage for later blending; some 750 ml for the house, and then some 375 ml for tasting as it ages.
Wine Lovers Merlot (Michele) - We finished bottling the other Merlot. The SG was down to 0.992 and the ABV was 11.1% - this one started out at a smidge lower SG. The yield was 30.5 bottle equivalents. Michele is thinking about blending with these too, so she did large 1.5 l bottles for storage for later blending; some 750 ml for the house, and then some 375 ml for tasting as it ages.
Racking & Clearing:
WinExpert Selection Australian Traminer-Reisling (Betsy) - this was racked 11/14/2017, I was over in the workshop so I took care of it. Looks like we are having a new body so I wanted to get the batch racked and moved to the counter. SG was 0.996. Need to measure brix before we bottle - it should have some residual sugar.
Stabilizing:
WinExpert Vintners Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Betsy) - SG of 0.994 reached. This was stabilized and chemicals added for clearing. Used a new approach for degassing that "seemed" to work. Decanted out about 1 gal into a gal jar, then corked both the jar and the carboy with vented stoppers and shook intermittently with my sanitized finger over the vent - releasing as the pressure built up. This seems to release the initial surface tension that is the cause of the volcanic eruption sometimes (I think). I then did all the additions to the carboy after stirring probably 10 minutes to degass. I did not have the Mt. Vesuvius effect so maybe this will work. We'll see. This wine had set in secindary for 2 weeks - that might have help too.
Winexpert Selection Australian Chardonnay (Betsy) - 11/14/2017 - I thought this would be ready for stabilizing and wanted to try a new approach for degassing. The degassing worked well, but its a good thing I looked a second time, because it was the cab that probably could have been stabilized - not the chard. Oh well. I had forgotten my glasses so I'm blaming that. Maybe I'll get back over before Thursday.
We degass (again) and stabilized and added clearing agents, all went well, and the SG was 0.993.
Secondary Fermentation:
WInExpert Vintners Reserve Merlot (Michele) - Boy, that woman loves her Merlot!! Because the last 2 merlots (WineLovers and Fontana) were a little light - both in character and ABV, Michele decided to try some chaptilization with this merlot. She took a small amount of water and made a simple syrup, let it cool and then added to the wine along with a little yeast (EC-1118). but we didn't get either a measure of the sugar or the SG after the addition, so we won't be able to track the increase in alcohol content.
Winexpert Vintner's Reserve Vieux Chateau Du Roi (Betsy) - We moved to secondary carboy, SG = 1.000, a little lower than usual but we are adjusting the heat in the room and its in the range to move on to secondary.
Primary Fermentation:
RJS Grand Cru Malbec (Betsy & Mollie) - Description says a popular rustic red wine has a soft, rich texture, silky tannins, and fills your palate with ripe plums, currants, cherries, and red berries.
Mollie couldn't make it - home problems - so we started this one - this will be the last one that oversummered in the cellar. SG at start 1.088 at start.