The wine was fermenting up a storm this morning, and I had to turn on a fan to get some air into the winery before I could punch down the caps.
Things are going a little hotter than I want right now. At 7:00 this morning, the winery temp was 69 degrees, the cap was 85, and the wine was at 75. The one fermenter I tested this morning was at 19 Brix. So, that’s a drop of 6 brix in 24 hours. Not unusual, but faster than I want.
So, we’re going to cut back on the mid-fermentation addition of nutrients, and we’re going to turn down the thermostat in the winery to try to bring things a bit more under control.
All that said, I’m extremely happy about this wine.
I’m thinking about getting some more grapes this weekend. Is anyone interested in helping with picking and crushing on Saturday? Give me a call if so. At the very least, we’re going to drive down to Delicato winery this weekend or next and get some juice to make a couple carboys of white wine, and maybe some red too.
Evening Update:
Tonight, 3 of the fermenters were at 13.5 brix, and 2 were at 14. I turned the thermostat down to 66 and moved the fermenters a little bit towards the back of the room, where it’s about 2-3 degrees colder. We’ll see where we’re at in the morning.
The must tastes great and the color is starting to look wine-like.
-Chris