New additions to the Vineyard

I received my new Vines today.  5 Blanc Du Bois and 3 additional Black Spanish to give me a total of 8.  I added an additional row for the Blanc Du Bois and integrated the Black Spanish into the existing row to space them 5 feet apart.

Blanc Du Bois is a Hybrid that was developed by the University of Florida.  It is capable of producing a nice White Wine.  The Black Spanish has been around since the Spanish settle the New World.  Supposedly the Catholic Priest brought the from Spain and planted them in Texas.  They thrive in the southern Gulf climate.

Bottled the White Muscadine (Scuppernong) blend

After spending a couple weeks in cold stabilization, a large amount of tartaric acid crystals (wine diamonds) had fallen out.  I removed it from the fridge and let it come back up to cellar temp for a few days.  The wine is extremely clear, so I decided to bottle it.  The flavor is pretty good,  Still young tasting but with lots of promise to be good wine.

The cellar is filling back up

After a few bottlings, the cellar was getting a little bare of batches under-construction. I just added a couple of new batches. My 100% Apple from Fresh, but pasteurized Apple Cider. and a 3g batch from a juice concentrate Cranberry Blend.  I basically followed the same recipe for Welch's Concentrate since it is very similar.

Here is what I did

Cranberry From concentrate

7 cans (12 oz) Cranberry juice blend frozen concentrate
4 1/2lbs granulated sugar (starting SG was 1.094)
3 tsp acid blend
15 drops pectic enzyme
3 tsp yeast nutrient
water to make 3.25 gallon
wine yeast 71B-1122


The rest of what is in the Cellar is: Elderberry 5g (3g no-oak, 2g oak'd), Red Muscadine 4g, Blackberry/Concord 1g, Mead (dry) 1g, and in the Fridge: White Muscadine 1g ( Fridge, cold stabilizing)

Apple Wine update

After averting the near MESS.  I noticed on Thursday that the activity has seemed to have slowed down.  So I check the Specific Gravity and it was down to 1.005.  Time to rack,  put into a 1 gal and 5 gal with a little head space for foaming since it is still fermenting.

November Update

In the past months I have continued to Rack and monitor the following Wines.  Red Muscadine, I racked and Stabilized.  White Muscadine/Scuppernong was racked and sweetened just a little off-dry.  The Elderberry was racked and seperated into 3g and 2-1gal.  In the 1gal I added light toasted American Oak.  After 2months i will evaluated both wines and decide on a blend.  By the way the Elderberry, even being very young, tastes great.  The Elderberry Rose is completely clear and stable so I bottled it today (pictured to the right).

During the last 2 months I started and completed a Wine Expert VR Liebfraumilch  Kit.

Apple Wine batch #3 5 gal.

I started a batch of 100% apple Yesterday and in less than 24 hours I am getting foaming in the airlock.  I even had over 2 1/2" of space in the fermenter. So, I added a blow-off assembly help eliminate a possible disaster. The ferment was also creating a lot of heat. So I placed it in a tub of water and added ice to cool the ferment down a little.  I will try to keep the water between 60-68deg.

Here is the Recipe for what is in the bucket.

Apple Wine (Full Body)

5 gal seasonal Apple Cider with lots of pulp. (pasteurized)
5.75lbs sugar dissolved in 5 cups hot water. Achieved a starting SG of 1.085
1.25oz. Tartaric Acid to get .6TA
5tsp Yeast Nutrient
2tsp. Yeast Energizer
1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
1 pkg. Montrachet Yeast in a starter.

I have had mixed results using Montrachet.  But I have real good results with the first Apple Wine I made.  It did require some aging but it came out great.  I actually still have 2 bottles left.  going open one at Christmas time.

I have had troubles in the past getting my Sugar additions correct until I found Fermcalc .  It is a fabulous tool.  There is an online version as well as a Downloadable standalone application.   If you enter accurate information it will return extremely accurate numbers.

October Updates

I bottle the Welch's White Grape a couple weeks back.  I needed to add some Bentonite to get it to clear completely.  I racked and bottled right off the Bentonite.  The wine turned very good.  It made a very nice light White wine.  I have had $5 - $10 bottles that were not as good.  At about $1.00 a bottle including the cork I cannot complain.  I have racked the Muscadine a my Elderberry wines.  The Elderberry Rose is already clearing and stable at an SG of 1.008.  Added more Pot Sorbate and 2 Campden tablets.  I also started a Wine Expert Liebfraumilch kit I purchased a while back.