Wine Updates

1/22/10:  Racked and stabilized the Zinfandel/Blackberry and my Orange Muscat Port.  The Orange Muscat finally got to an SG of 1.034. That puts it about 17% alc. Followed the instruction for the Orange Muscat which included adding the Fining agent as well.  The next morning it was amazing how clear the wine actually was.  And in the days to follow even better.  It looks ready to bottle, but no I need to wait 3 more weeks to rack again.
The Black/Zin I racked and stabilized also added some Medium Toast French Oak chips to the carboy.  SG is at 0.990, this stuff is real dry and a little rough to taste, unlike the Orange Muscat which actually almost is drinkable already.

1/26/10: The Tennessee Apple is real clear after the last racking.  There is a little sediment, so I racked the wine off the sediment.  Did a little taste test, one sweetened just a little and one not.  By adding some sugar it brings out more of the Apple Flavor.  Added just 2oz. of sugar which raised the SG from 0.996 to about 1.001. that seem to get the results I was looking for. If in 2 weeks if no sediment is dropped, into bottles it goes.

Starting the Vineyard

I have a good size Backyard and one half is pretty much unused.  We have tried a couple of different Landscaping options but with the Florida Heat, bugs and the weeds constantly taking over, we gave up.  So this past year my wife agreed to give that half of the yard.  So I plan to install a small Vineyard and a Garden area.  The Garden will include some  fruit trees and raised beds for some vegetables.

The Vineyard will consist of 3 40 foot long rows.  I will be planting 3 varieties of Grapes that grow here in Florida.  2 Muscadine Noble. 2 Bronze Magnolia Scuppernong, and 4 Black Spanish Hybrids.

I started work on the Vineyard area yesterday. I have included a couple of photos to show the progress. First I had to remove the pond I install years ago for the Turtles and fill in the hole.

After filling in the hole from the pond, day 2 was all about making sure the ground was somewhat even and packed.  Then to install the trellis system.  I got it all laid out and posts are set.  Here are a couple of pictures to show progress.

1/21/2010:  Adding the support wires today.  I think I will probably make a change by adding a tensioning device to the wire later.

Orange/Muscat Updates

1/3/2010:  SG was at 1.080 today.  According to the instructions it is time to rack to secondary.  My secondary bottle must be larger than 3 gallons.  When I racked it over it was not even close to the full.  So I added 4 cups of water with 1 1/2 cups sugar to the secondary.  Still not full, but ok.  the SG was maintained at 1.080 so the finished alcohol level will be the same.

1/14/2010 SG at 1.038

1/20/2010 SG at 1.036

Muscadine Final Bottling

I bottled the final 5 bottles of my Muscadine wine.  I got 10 bottles in all from 2 one gallon batches, both were finished differently.  First, I bottled "All Noble" a Semi-Dry 2 weeks ago, I had sweetened to an SG of 1.006 and added a small amount of Tannin. Second I bottled "Sweet Noble" yesterday I sweetened to 1.012 originally then I added more sugar a couple of weeks later to about 1.020. Waited a couple weeks and bottled it. The All Noble is a little rough but there is some potential, I will see in a few months. My Sweet Noble actually isn't too bad right now, but a little time in the bottle will definitely do it some good.