4 replies to this topic

[strangebrewer]

September to October is grape harvest season here in North America and as usual I'm planning to smash some grapes and make some vino. Anybody else getting in on fresh grapes coming into their area? I've been reading reports that it has been a cool growing season in California so harvest might be a little later than usual this year.I haven't made up my mind just yet but I think I'll get around 400lbs of grapes this year. In previous years I feel like I spread myself a little thin getting a number of different varietals so this year my plan is to focus my efforts and make enough of a single wine to fill a 22-26 gallon barrel. Right now I'm thinking I'll use Suisun Valley Cabernet Sauvignon as my primary grape and blend in a still to be determined amount of other grapes. I'm still doing my homework before I commit to a blend since I'm going to have a lot of it on my hands!So anybody else getting in on the action this year?

[strangebrewer]

How much would it cost to tack on enough grapes to your order to make only 5 gallons? And to have you help me.

I couldn't tell you cost just yet. Have to figure out what this is going to run me still. To make 5 gallons depending on the grape could take anywhere from 75-100lbs of grapes. For that much I probably even have a fermenter you could borrow since I've been collecting large fermenters lately it seems.

[ChicagoWaterGuy]

I did about 2400# with a few guys in 2008. I hosted and it was a big commitment. It burned me out. I may do some this year or next, if someone else hosts. Most of the grapes were ordered through a local homebrew shop/meadery from Lodi. The rest came from Cali and are sold by seasonal shops set up with refer trucks in fenced in lots. There is actually a lot of old school winemaking going on in Chicago. It was cool that year also. The grapes came late. Nothing like crushing cold grapes in a cold garage and hosing everything down with cold water.

[strangebrewer]

I did about 2400# with a few guys in 2008. I hosted and it was a big commitment. It burned me out. I may do some this year or next, if someone else hosts. Most of the grapes were ordered through a local homebrew shop/meadery from Lodi. The rest came from Cali and are sold by seasonal shops set up with refer trucks in fenced in lots. There is actually a lot of old school winemaking going on in Chicago. It was cool that year also. The grapes came late. Nothing like crushing cold grapes in a cold garage and hosing everything down with cold water.

Awesome. I bet there is a lot of old school winemakers in Chicago. I know there were in Pittsburgh when I was there. Probably very similar settlement by ethnic groups who still do things exactly the same way they always did things.The way I see it, grape season is a lot of work but it's once a year and it's the only chance I get to get in fresh grapes and learn to be a better wine maker. It's a LONG stretch between the opportunity to apply what I have learned so may as well take advantage of every chance I can get. So far I haven't been able to convince anybody to ship in grapes from South America in large enough quantity to make it economical so that I can get in 2 harvests a year . I'll get there some day though.

[ChicagoWaterGuy]

Awesome. I bet there is a lot of old school winemakers in Chicago. I know there were in Pittsburgh when I was there. Probably very similar settlement by ethnic groups who still do things exactly the same way they always did things.The way I see it, grape season is a lot of work but it's once a year and it's the only chance I get to get in fresh grapes and learn to be a better wine maker. It's a LONG stretch between the opportunity to apply what I have learned so may as well take advantage of every chance I can get. So far I haven't been able to convince anybody to ship in grapes from South America in large enough quantity to make it economical so that I can get in 2 harvests a year . I'll get there some day though.

It's quite an interesting experience making and taking wine with old world ethnic winemakers. There is a guy that I help out. He crushes his red grapes (usually zin or carrigan or a blend), puts them in a verticle barrel with a tap at the bottom and collects all the juice free run. No press, no yeast, no sulphites and only minimal contact time with the skins and no aging. By the time you are drinking this years wine, all of last years is gone. That's the way his dad did it, so thats the way he does it.And I love the way some guys refer to fermentation as the "boil"