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10/14/2018: 1.100 General Notes: Picked up grapes at Musto in Hartford at 10 AM on 10/14/2018. Ten 36Lb lugs of Zinderella Zinfandel, two 36Lb lugs of Petite Sirah (Both Lodi). Came out to 48 Gallons after crushing. Sulfited to 50PPM. Initial Brix measured at 24.3. Added 60g of Tartaric Acid to raise TA (Initially tested at 5.8 with a pH of 3.7). Tested pH and TA again the next night. pH at 3.9, TA at 6.8. Added another 30g of Tartaric Acid. Immediately pitched 50g of RP15. Must at 16.7C. Good to see that the temp rose through the day from the initial temp of 10C -- had two heat pads and a brew belt heating it for 24 hours. Also in the mix, Opti-Red: 48g, FT Rouge: 63g added on morning of 10/19. Oops! forgot to add it before pitching yeast. 10/15/2018 9:00: 1.100 Yeast pitched at 8PM along with last addition of tartaric acid (30g). Must at 16.7C. 10/16/2018 16:30: 1.100 First punchdown and general checkup. Fermentation is starting. Temp is down to 15.7C. Cold night. Ambient got down to 5C. Hoping that the ferment and higher daytime ambient temps heat this thing up. 10/17/2018 18:00: 1.092 Must warmed up to 21C. Going to pitch the Malo tomorrow if temps hold. Good to see that the heat pads/brew belts/blanket are working to keep the chill off. I think all told, I'm dumping in 100W of heat. 10/19/2018 9:00: 1.060 Must is 24C. Pitching the malo this morning. Cap is looking fantastic. Color is good. Hydro sample tasted fantastic -- maybe not quite tart enough. Definitely need to check the TA/pH after ferment is done. I used a light hand adding tartaric at the beginning. Hoping it starts to warm up out there soon. Forcast looks promising. I want to get a late heat spike here. Malo pitch: 2.5G of VP41 rehydrated with 50g Acti-ml at 25C. Let rest for 15 minutes, stirring occaisonally. Pitched during morning punchdown along with second Fermaid-O addition (Only had 28g of Fermaid-O left. Supplemented the dose with 10g of Fermaid-k). Also added ML nutrients -- 30g of Opti Malo Plus. Nothing left to do but punch it 2x per day and let it ride down to pressing. 10/20/2018 9:00: 1.022 Wow. Heat spike up to 28.5C. Fermented like a rocket overnight. Much more tart tasting, now that the sweetness is disappearing. Color is fantastic. Cap was set like a brick this morning. Ran first malic acid test, just so I could have a reference later. Registered waaay up around 300 mg/L. 10/20/2018 18:00: 1.019 Evening punchdown. Smells great. Temp is at 29C. Going to reduce the heat tomorrow morning if the cold temps tonight don't pull the temp down. 10/21/2018 11:00: 1.009 Temp is 27C. Hoping it'll last five more days so I can press on Saturday. 10/22/2018 8:00 Morning punchdown. Temp is 20C. Going to hit it with a hydrometer test tomorrow. 10/22/2018 18:00 Evening punchdown. Color is continuing to improve. Looks and smells fantastic. Grape skins are starting to look pretty chewed up. Temp is 18C. Ferment really slowing down. 10/23/2018 9:00: 0.997 Reading is from hydrometer. Time to press! Temp is 17.5C. Tasted hydro sample. So sour! MLF is hopefully progressing along. 10/23/2018 12:00: 0.996 Pressing is complete. LOVE the hydro press. Had to sneak it in during a nasty thunderstorm. Fun! Netted 36 gallons in total. About 25 gallons of free/press run. Currently settling in carboys. Planning to rack off the gross lees on Saturday. 10/26/2018: Racked off the gross lees. Only lost about a gallon and change. Have it racked into two 13.5 gallon demijohns, 5 gallon carboy, and a growler. 11/21/2018 12:00: 0.995 All siting under a blanket undergoing MLF. Temp is holding around 21C (Threw a couple of brew belts and a germination mat under the blanket). 11/24/2018 Weekly stirring today. MLF is really cruising along. Flavor is starting to really come around, definitely still some ML in there, though. Going to let it go another two weeks before taste testing again. 12/18/2018: Malic acid test shows < 30 ppm. pH is 3.6. Looks like we are through MLF! Going to give it a couple more weeks and hit it with the KMeta on New Years or so. 1/5/2018: Turned off the heat. Going to rack and sulfite soon. 1/11/2019 MLF being oficially complete, I racked and Sulfited to 50ppm (30 ppm was called for, but I figured I'd bump it up a bit for its long winter slumber). 20 gallons in four five gallon carboys, and one demijohn (14.5 gal) filled -- 34.5 gallons total. We'll visit again in April-May when it's time to put it in the barrel. 1/25/19: Took some readings: 3.76 pH. 32ppm SO2. Going to need to raise the SO2 in the next couple weeks. Flavor is slowly coming along -- definitely still green taasting. 5/26/2019: Racked all but three gallons and eight bottles into the barrel (new ~30 gallon Hungarian oak from Vadai barrels -- used to barrel ferment a chardonnay to break it in). I'm going to use the eight bottles for top up over the next seven or eight months. If necessary, I'll top up from the three gallon c/arboy, too if I have to (transfer that thing into some bottles and gallon jugs). Looking good. There was a really slow leak in the top of the barrel. I sealed it up with some wax and a heat gun. Looking good. Planning to top up on the first of every month. Flavor is really coming along -- 'greenness' is starting to wear off. 6/30/2019: Topped up the barrel. Angels drank about a 750ml bottle. I stole a small glass to sample. Coming along nicely! I enjoyed the glass. Still young tasting, but the sourness has diminished significantly. Brilliantly clear. I'll test the sulfite and top up on August third or fourth (first weekend in August). The plan is to visit it every month from now until January or so when the next wine needs a trip through the barrel. See you August 3rd! 8/4/2019: Topped up again with a 750. Added 1 1/4 tsp KMeta. Sampled a glass. Looks very clear. Nice bright purplish-red color. Tastes a bit young, but it's really coming around. Tannins are sharp, body is a bit thin, and there's not a lot of finish to it at this point -- but it's definitely lost that bitter apple profile. I'm starting to get a touch of oak when I smell/taste. See you in September! 9/1/2019: Top up time! Took a sample and measured it at 44ppm SO2 at 3.7pH. Going to goose it with a tsp of SO2 to get it through to October -- that should raise my SO2 to about 75ppm. A bit high (39-63ppm is recommended at this pH), but it's got time to drop. Better to be a touch high than low. Oh it tastes...amazing! This thing really turned a corner. Nice and fruity, good tannin grip, full mouthfeel. It really improved a ton over the last month. The green/vegetal tastes and smells are completely gone. 10/1/2019: Another top up and taste test. Took about 2/3 of a bottle. I pulled 1/3 bottle out of the barrel for sampling (and to make it a full bottle of top off -- Ya, that's it, I needed to top up with the entire bottle. Waste not want not!). Taste continues to develop and improve. Not much of a nose on this thing yet, but the flavor is definitely coming along. No SO2 addition this month. I'll test it again when I do the November top up. Also -- the clarity improved a lot. I didn't realize that it was cloudy before, but now it's like looking through a deep red ruby. See you in November! 11/26/2019: Final topup. Took a full 750 ml. Did a little testing. Sulfite at 32ppm and pH at 3.6. Added 5g of KMeta (Shooting for 55ppm). I overshot it by a touch, but it'll drop over the next month. Tastes excellent. Oak is there but not overly assertive. Just about ready for bottling here. 12/28/2019: Bottling day! (Day 439). Pumped out of barrel into two 12 gallon fermenters and a six gallon carboy last night -- I can't bottle directly from the barrel since it's at floor level and I'm bottling with a siphon. Also, it's cold in the basement and I wanted to bottle it at at least 15C. I can heat the fermenters. The barrel...not so much. Took some readings this morning. We are at pH 3.67 36ppm SO2. Left the pH alone and added 5.6g of KMeta to goose the SO2 to 65ppm. Chart recommends 40-55 at this pH/ABV, but I'm anticipating a small drop from the bottling process, and poked it up a bit for safety margin. FINAL YIELD: 12 cases plus a case of 375 bottles. I still have a 3 gallon carboy left over that never saw oak. Going to bottle that separately as an unoaked alternative. HOW'D IT TURN OUT?: Of course, I did a little sampling. It tastes pretty goddamned good. Could have used a bit more acid, but this being the first big all grape batch, I kept the meddling to a minimum. Tannins are there, but not overwhelming. Nose is muted. Alchohol is definitely there without being boozy. Good legs in the glass. Color is perfect. Clarity is excellent. Loads of vanilla and a bit of spice (From the barrel, I assume). I hope the vanilla falls back a little while it sits in the bottle. I'm happy with it, though. If I'd spent $15 on it at the liquor store, I wouldn't complain -- and that's with no time in the bottle at all. He'll need about six months of bottle time to show us who he really is, I'll be checking in between now and the fall to see how he progresses (The 375's will be gone before his second birthday -- that's what they're for!). Definitely going to submit it to the Amateur Winemakers' Competition to get some unbiased feedback next year.