Zin this weekend!

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jonnys_spirit
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Zin this weekend!

Post by jonnys_spirit »

Making a drive this weekend to pick up Zinfandel grapes (200#) this weekend for a couple carboys worth of wine that'll go into bottles in the next 12-18 months...

Of course I'll make some grappa or sugarhead grappa with the skins.. Also doing 100# each of Mouvedre and Syrah later in October. I find that once I press the must after a ferment and seal the pomace up in a bucket w/lid that the pomace stays good for quite a while..

Cheers!
-j
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i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
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Oldvine Zin
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by Oldvine Zin »

We ran our old vine zin last weekend, great fruit this year.
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Demy
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by Demy »

Just today I harvested. I will do a bit of grappa with the skins (only pomace, no sugar or other additions).
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jonnys_spirit
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by jonnys_spirit »

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Once racked down and bulk aged I’m expecting about two five gallon carboys from this 20 gallons of Zinfandel must from just north and west of San Francisco. Sanitized the fermenter and hit it with 1.5g Lallezyme ExV enzymes to enhance extraction. I’ve got D254 yeast and some VP14 MLB which I plan to co-innoculate after a day maybe two of rest and extraction. Might let natural yeasties run for a couple days first.

Cheers!
-j
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i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
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subbrew
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by subbrew »

Awesome. I wish I could grow good wine grapes here. I grew some Frontenac and if you can get the acid under control they make OK wine. But to be able to have zin or cab or merlot would be incredible. There are some new varieties coming out for northern grows that I will give a try in the next few years. Might be back to pick you brain on wine production as it seems a topic you know well.
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jonnys_spirit
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by jonnys_spirit »

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200# Zin pressed and racked into carboys. Finishing up the last few gravity points and MLF. I haven’t run a chromatography yet bit will after I rack off gross lees and get these all topped up, oaked, sulfited, and vacuum sealed for bulk aging. Expecting about 60 bottles in 18-24 months.

Coming soon 100# each of Mouvedre and Syrah!

1x five gallon bucket of pomace to add to two I already have. That’ll be 20 gallons total pomace to contribute towards my next grappa sugarhead.

Cheers,
J
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i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
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Stonecutter
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by Stonecutter »

That’s awesome JS! I’m not jealous or anything…no not at all :shh:
Are these your grapes or a hookup?
Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by jonnys_spirit »

Thanks Stone! I’d love to grow some of my own but probably not quite the right climate here. These came from a wine club a couple hours away who ordered a few pallets that are delivered cross country via refrigerated truck so I was able to pick some up fairly affordably. The Zin is from a vineyard just north of San Fran and the Mouvedre and Syrah from a Washington State vineyard. I’ll order frozen grape must buckets too but swore off kit wines a few years ago. I’ll use the cheapest kit wine concentrate to give the grappa a little bump.

Cheers!
-j
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i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by Oatmeal »

Stonecutter wrote: Thu Oct 07, 2021 4:06 pm I’m not jealous or anything…no not at all
Hmmm. Angry? No. Maybe salty....all I know is I need to reexamine my life choices about fermentation!

I feel boring making whiskey.

Enjoying the updates!
Through the magic of alchemy, our spirits live on.
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by Stonecutter »

jonnys_spirit wrote: Thu Oct 07, 2021 6:43 pm Thanks Stone! I’d love to grow some of my own but probably not quite the right climate here. These came from a wine club a couple hours away who ordered a few pallets that are delivered cross country via refrigerated truck so I was able to pick some up fairly affordably. The Zin is from a vineyard just north of San Fran and the Mouvedre and Syrah from a Washington State vineyard. I’ll order frozen grape must buckets too but swore off kit wines a few years ago. I’ll use the cheapest kit wine concentrate to give the grappa a little bump.

Cheers!
-j
I used to live up that way. Near Halfmoon Bay. There’s an old restaurant my buddies parents used to own called Gazo’s Grill out on Highway 1. Halfway to Santa Cruz. Hell, I think they sold it years ago. We used to drag kegs onto the beach and howl at the moon till the sun came up. Good times. I love that area down there. Good idea on the concentrate as a pick me up for the grappa. I actually bought my first kit today…$70 :oops: Oh well. I’ll give it a shot. Keepin my eyes open for vines on chain link is about all I got out here near the Wasatch Front. Looking forward to your updates :thumbup:
Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.
-Thomas Paine
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jonnys_spirit
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by jonnys_spirit »

Congrats on the kit! I’ll do the odd white kit and maybe a port style kit with some other stuff mixed in and fortified with home made brandy or grappa every once in a while.
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200# grapes fermented and racked off gross lees topped up into two six gallon carboys. Probably give them another month like this to complete MLF then rack off fine lees and sulfite. I haven’t measured gravity but it’ll finish if there’s any sugars left.
1/2 gallon on airlock for future top up.
One gallon of trub/sediment under airlock for grappa starter in a month or so.

Cheers!
-j
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i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
————
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by Bushman »

Oldvine Zin wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 1:33 pm We ran our old vine zin last weekend, great fruit this year.

ovz.jpg

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OVZ
Wow looks good! I’ve tried my hand at grappa several times but for me it is a lot of work.
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Oldvine Zin
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by Oldvine Zin »

Bushman wrote: Wed Oct 13, 2021 5:44 pm
Wow looks good! I’ve tried my hand at grappa several times but for me it is a lot of work.
I really wish that those grapes (14 tons of them) were for grappa. But they were destined for wine, the winery is about 250 miles south of me and running a still on the property is not in the cards so reusing the pressings in not going to happen :(

Stay safe
OVZ
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by Bushman »

I used to belong to a wine club that brought in a portable still to make brandy from their wine that had reached it’s shelf limit or did not meet their standard for quality. The laws required they have a separate bar in a separate area at the winery for tasting the brandy. Everything had to be done on site by law they told me.
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by Oldvine Zin »

Bushman wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 4:42 am I used to belong to a wine club that brought in a portable still to make brandy from their wine that had reached it’s shelf limit or did not meet their standard for quality. The laws required they have a separate bar in a separate area at the winery for tasting the brandy. Everything had to be done on site by law they told me.
Sounds a little sketch to me, I believe that you would need to be a DSP to do any distilling, tasting room or not. Our winery permit does not include any distilling privileges.

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OVZ
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by Bushman »

Oldvine Zin wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 7:30 pm
Bushman wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 4:42 am I used to belong to a wine club that brought in a portable still to make brandy from their wine that had reached it’s shelf limit or did not meet their standard for quality. The laws required they have a separate bar in a separate area at the winery for tasting the brandy. Everything had to be done on site by law they told me.
Sounds a little sketch to me, I believe that you would need to be a DSP to do any distilling, tasting room or not. Our winery permit does not include any distilling privileges.

Stay safe
OVZ
I don’t think so as they were very open about it. If I remember right the distiller was licensed but had to do it on site so they brought him in from Yakima or Ellensburg area and the winery had two locations Woodenville and Concrete and they were only allowed to distill in the Concrete location.
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by Oldvine Zin »

Bushman wrote: Sat Oct 16, 2021 5:21 am
I don’t think so as they were very open about it. If I remember right the distiller was licensed but had to do it on site so they brought him in from Yakima or Ellensburg area and the winery had two locations Woodenville and Concrete and they were only allowed to distill in the Concrete location.
I think that we are going off topic here so please forgive me :D
TTB rules state:

Change in location or ownership. Where any distilling apparatus registered under this section is to be removed to another location, sold or otherwise disposed of, the registrant shall, prior to the removal or disposition, file a letter notice with the appropriate TTB officer. The letter notice will show the intended method of disposition (sale, destruction, or othewise), the name and complete address of the person to whom disposition will be made, and the purpose for which the apparatus will be used. After removal, sale, or other disposal, the person having possession, custody, or control of any distilling apparatus intended for use in distilling shall immediately register the still or distilling apparatus on its being set up or, if already set up, immediately on obtaining possession, custody, or control. The registrant shall also comply with the procedures prescribed in this chapter for amendment of the registration or permit application.

So the winery would have to be a permitted DSP, I see no mention of portable stills anywhere in the ttb rules

Stay safe
OVZ
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by jonnys_spirit »

Petite Syrah and Mouvedre crush completed this weekend from Washington State grapes. These were a little more expensive than the Zin and look very nice.100# of each will provide between 25-30 bottles of each for the cellar. This season with total 400# must will give me about 100-120 bottles of single varietal and some blends plus a top up on the port barrel.
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I put three blocks of dry ice into each fermenter to do maybe a three day cold soak @ 40*F before I start the ferment.

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I also took some pressed skins and wine plus some sweet must and vacuum packed four different cheeses in a few spoons of each. I’ll probably de-seed maybe a cup of each must/pomace and make a paste for yummy wine and cheese crackers.

The Zin is still mlf’ing so i stir it daily and bumped it up to about 70*F to help it along.

Cheers!
-j
————
i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
————
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by Stonecutter »

The paste sounds delicious! I’ve never heard of that. You could mix that in with some fettuccini with roasted sweet tomatoes and roasted garlic.
Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.
-Thomas Paine
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Re: Zin this weekend!

Post by jonnys_spirit »

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Stone, Someone at the crush brought this blueberry encrusted cheese and I thought it’d be pretty good with sweet grape must (since it was a wine/grape crush) so it’s a mission. Lotsa seeds though so deseeding a cup or so by hand might work if I can thicken it up a little without cooking it. Maybe I can balance tart pressed (fermented) pomace with some sweet must into a thick paste and stick it in a jar in the fridge? I’ll work on picking out the seeds tonight :)

Cheers!
-j
————
i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
————
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