We crushed it – all of it… Tasted the excellent wines, snacked on the antipasti, stomped the grapes, dropped, then pulled the crusher out of the tub (near fail), and on the one of the hottest days of the year watched the Heat cool off against the Pacers on the projector screen. The “Crush Cam” was in full effect and the music set the tone. Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” … ‘Reach out and touch Grapes’ was and will be the theme song when we fire up the crusher and kick off the first box of grapes getting smashed.
The help from my wine girls and hired muscle was great and I owe the success of the event to them along with mom. For those that couldn’t make it – no biggie. These pictures tell a thousand words.
Now about the wine. The Malbec (MB) and Carmenere (CM) both have the potential to become two excellent wines. The BRIX (sugar levels) started at 23.7 for MB and 24.5 for CM and will result in 13.5-14% alcohol once the sugar drops to 0. The PH and Total Acidity (TA) levels are both at safe levels pre-fermentation. PH for MB is 3.40 and CM is 3.47. TA for MB is .75 and MB .82. These numbers will fluctuate during the primary fermentation and then again after the secondary fermentation. The key is to keep them close the suggested ranges for a balanced red wine; PH between 3.4-3.6 and TA between .6-.8.
The yeast and nutrients were added 24hrs after the crush and the fermentation has kicked off. Over the next 7 days the yeast will consume the sugar and turn the juice into wine. Once the sugar is gone the second step of the process will be to press the skins from the wine. Stay tuned for up to date tweets with @villagewineryc and instagrams @villagewineryclub.
Drink in good Health,
Matt Baldassano
