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California wine grapes are expected to arrive the last week of the month. Luigi and his son-in-law Craig bring them in every year. They are good quality, and have required very little in the way of adjustments. They are bringing in Petite Sirah this year, which can produce a seriously bold fruity red.

If interested, email Craig at csampson@FirstOnSite.ca. I can talk you through the logistics of making wine from grapes if you need some help. They also bring in fresh juice buckets which are generally still better than kits IMO.

Pete's Frootique also does a similar grape and juice offering through their wholesale dept. Also good quality. The contact there is Jason Cave 835 3558

Cost is generally $80 for 5-6 gallon juice bucket or $120 for 3 boxes of grapes (enough to produce 5-6 gallons of wine).

Do you have access to a crusher? I am interested.

Sandy

Making wine from kits has never been very appealing, but this is a different story.

Very tempting.

Interested myself, but I doubt I can fit it in my schedule.....

There are a few crushers on Kijiji right now. Maybe a group buy for those interested.

Cheap: http://novascotia.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-s ... Z512361987" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Moderate: http://novascotia.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-s ... Z515740182" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pimped: http://novascotia.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-s ... Z485468779" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Someone's unloading a whole wack of supplies: http://novascotia.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-s ... Z519347372" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

GAM wrote:Do you have access to a crusher? I am interested.

Sandy

I've got a spare manual crusher that I'm happy to lend out. Pretty easy to use. The destemming has be done by hand, but not too bad if only doing a few boxes.

jason.loxton wrote:There are a few crushers on Kijiji right now. Maybe a group buy for those interested.

Cheap: http://novascotia.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-s ... Z512361987" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Moderate: http://novascotia.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-s ... Z515740182" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pimped: http://novascotia.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-s ... Z485468779" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thant first press is a little small but really cheap!

Here's a good (and free) reference for making red wine from grapes. It's well written, but does promote their products. Many of the additives (yeast nutrient, oak chips, pectic enzyme) can be obtained locally through Noble Grape

Anyone else in on this I'd love to do a big batch of wine and share the work/mess. X, I can start one for you and you can put it in a carboy at your convenience.

Sandy

Let me think about it. I'll get back to you in a day.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

That idea tempts me somewhat as well...


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I'm intrigued as well. I'd be willing to go splits on a 5-6 gallon batch with someone - if we can get the press etc figured out

CorneliusAlphonse wrote:I'm intrigued as well. I'd be willing to go splits on a 5-6 gallon batch with someone - if we can get the press etc figured out

Noble Grape Burnside used to rent a press for a nominal fee. They probably still do. They required an advanced booking becasue it's a popular item this time of year. Generally plan to press at dryness (SG 0.996-0.998) which is typically 7-10 days after you pitch. It's no big deal if the wine is pressed a day early or a few days after dryness is reached.

Juniper Hill wrote:

CorneliusAlphonse wrote:I'm intrigued as well. I'd be willing to go splits on a 5-6 gallon batch with someone - if we can get the press etc figured out

Noble Grape Burnside used to rent a press for a nominal fee. They probably still do. They required an advanced booking becasue it's a popular item this time of year. Generally plan to press at dryness (SG 0.996-0.998) which is typically 7-10 days after you pitch. It's no big deal if the wine is pressed a day early or a few days after dryness is reached.

Now I'm intrigued as well Neil. Would you write up a step by step for the wine you plan to make, from the arrival of the grapes to the pouring of a glass of wine. When/if you have time. Or is that too much to ask.

Maybe that is too much to ask and I should read a book on it some time.

ps. Hundreds of vineyards up here in the valley, but I guess the grapes won't be quite the same.

Now I'm intrigued as well Neil. Would you write up a step by step for the wine you plan to make, from the arrival of the grapes to the pouring of a glass of wine. When/if you have time. Or is that too much to ask.

Maybe that is too much to ask and I should read a book on it some time.

ps. Hundreds of vineyards up here in the valley, but I guess the grapes won't be quite the same.[/quote]

Valley grapes are also good. Great for white wines, reds more of a challenge but can be done. More adjustments typically needed for these grapes to get a balanced wine, but lots of exceptions. Here's a trimmed down excep of the protocol I usually follow for red winemaking:

1.Crush and Destem
2.Sulfite
Kmeta 50 ppm approx 0.19 g/gallon. ½ teaspoon equal 1.9 g which will sulfite 10 gallons
3.Test
a. Brix – goal 22-25 (24)
b. pH – goal 3.4-3.7 (3.4-3.8) - not manditory to measure, can just go with it
c. TA – goal 6-9 g/l - not manditory to measure, can just go with it

d. Remember: Must volume = 0.7 X Grape weight in Kg

4. Adjust Brix if needed - rarely needed with Cali grapes, I've never added sugar to them.
5. Twice daily punchdowns of the cap
6. Additives
a. Pectic Enzyme as per instructions– wait 8 hrs before adding other additives can inactivate enzymes
b. Oak Chips 1-2 g/lb - stablizes colour

7. Get yeast starter going and Pitch Yeast (1g Yeast per gallon of Must) - "starter" procedure only an hour
For every 1 gram of yeast, add 1.25 grams of Go-Ferm, 25 mL clean, chlorine-free water (not distilled, you want the minerals).
-Yeast is added to warm water (104º F) containing Go-Ferm and allowed to soak for 20 minutes. Then a small amount of the must is added to the yeast starter and the mixture is allowed to sit for another 20 minutes.

8.Add Nutrient Fermaid K - can use generic yeast nutrient
a. 1 g/gallon at start fermentation
b. 1 g/gallon at 8-10 brix drop
9. Ferment at 25-29 C if you can

9. Press at Dryness
10. Settle in Carboy 24-48hrs
11. Rack off Gross Less after settling - carboys will be 1/4 - 1/3 lees if pressed hard
12. Add Malolactic Culture and Malolactic nutrient
13. Leave rest for 3 months at 16-22 C
14. Rack off lees and sulfite (Kmeta) 1/2 tsp per 5-6 gallons
15. rack every 3-6 months, add oak cubes 30-60 grams with on of these rackings for flavour.
16. Bottle when clear, add an extra 1/4 tsp Kmeta at bottling.

Yeast suggestions - EC1118 is bulletproof but can consume all the nutrients making Malolactic fermentation a bit slower. RC212 is a great choice, but a bit of a Nutrient Pig - I'd go heavier on the nutrient additions with that one.

WOW! That's awesome! Thanks!

It's a whole new fermenting science!

GuingesRock wrote:WOW! That's awesome! Thanks!

It's a whole new fermenting science!

Ya, there's quite a bit to it if you get into the weeds. Tons of overlap with Brewing, so I think interest in both is a natural fit...In fact i think they complement each other really well.

Cheers,

Neil

A person who makes beer from a kit (one of those cans with a sachet of yeast under the lid) doesn’t make very good beer.

Your winemaking process seems to be akin to the all grain beer brewer vs. a kit and kilo brewer.

Cider, might be the simplest, traditionally made drink. You can buy large containers of apple juice up here in the valley at harvest time, which you can simply ferment to make cider. Noble grape in Halifax brings it in from the valley for cider makers.

I was secretly hoping that making wine from juice squashed out of grapes, would be a similar simple process to cider making, but it seems like it's much more complicated. I suspect the results are suitably rewarding (like moving to all grain), otherwise you wouldn’t be going to the trouble.

People give us bottles of kit wine at Christmas and we never know what to do with it, you certainly can’t drink it.

I think this is too much for me to handle this year on a whim, but I think I'm going to clear out my lambic area for next year, as I would like to try this.

Mark,

Kits wines are okay. I used to make them many years ago. There are ways to tweek them up, and I'm happy to share any of my secrets if anyone's interested. Wines from grapes are a superior product IMO.

The fresh juice buckets are not much more work than kits, and are somewhere in between Kit wine and fresh grapes in terms of quality. I typically blend a Reisling juice bucket with my homegrown Frontenac Gris (Aromatic Hybrid White) to smooth out the acidic profile of my grapes and liven up the Juice bucket.

Cider is really cool. It's like white wine making, except someone else has crushed and pressed the fruit. Sterling's in ?New Minas sells great pressed cider at reasonable prices. They use a mix of cider apples including cox orange pippin. Nice people too. I bought 46 l from them last year.

X,
I've been too scared to knowingly bring Brett home because I've heard it can make wine turn to liquid horsesh!t. I'd suggest keeping any lambic bugs far away from wine when you decide to give it a go.

Neil

When is the pressed cider available?

adams81 wrote:When is the pressed cider available?

I think late Oct, but you'll have to give them a call. I believe they press once a week for about a month.

Here are the lists from Pete's Frootique. They think they'll be in Oct 6. Contact is Jason Cave JCave@petes.ca

Neil,

Have you been to Pete's winery near Wolfville. He lives up here, and has his own vineyard and expanding wine business. I never really got into Canadian Wines, but it's a fantastic place, and a good spot for lunch on a nice day, sit outside and enjoy the view.

He's English, and I told him he should get into making English cask ales, but I haven't seen much movement in that direction

http://www.luckettvineyards.com/ You can make free phone calls to North America from that phone box with the rotary dial...kids love it..."Hello Mum"