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making wine from grapes

Cleaning vs. Sanitizing in Winemaking

Published May 4, 2023 | By cmusto

What is the difference between Cleaning vs. Sanitizing?

This is a discussion we have with customers constantly. Cleaning your equipment means that you have removed all of the visible dirt and residue on your equipment. Sanitizing means you have treated your equipment with a chemical solution that will eliminate, or prevent the growth of spoilage organisms. You MUST clean your equipment before sanitizing the equipment, since you cannot properly sanitize equipment with visible residue on it.

Below is a video from our online classes – WinemakingInstructions.com that talks about and shows you step by step how to clean and sanitize your equipment.

Interested in making your own wine? Musto Wine Grape Company is here to help! Musto’s New England’s largest supplier for home winemaking products and services. Visit juicegrape.com or give us a call at (877) 812 – 1137 to learn more.

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Top 7 Winemaking Tips for the Spring Harvest

Published April 3, 2023 | By cmusto

The Spring Harvest is underway! It’s time to get yourself set up for your Spring fermentations.

Plan out your batch
1. What kind of wine do you want to make?
2. Review your ferementation notes from previous seasons
3. Taste wines from Chile and South Africa for inspiration
Review how to adjust your must
1. Adjusting your Brix, TA, and pH
2. Take an online class if need a referesher
If making wine from juice, decide on Fresco vs. Non Fresco Juices
Decide on the type of yeast you want to use
1. For Chilean grapes we always suggest using the CSM yeast
2. For Pinotage grapes we suggest using D254 yeast
PRE ORDER
1. Give us a call at 877-812-1137 or email us at sales@juicegrape.com
Think about the temperatures in your cellar
1. Do you need extra heat?
2. Do you need AC?
Keep an eye on the Harvest Tracker for updates on the Spring Harvest
1. Harvest Tracker

Interested in making your own wine? Musto Wine Grape Company is here to help! Musto’s New England’s largest supplier for home winemaking products and services. Visit juicegrape.com or give us a call at (877) 812 – 1137 to learn more.

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How to Make Syrah Wine from Chilean Wine Grapes

Published March 28, 2023 | By cmusto

Chilean Syrah from Colchagua Valley has received high praise from publications like Wine Enthusiast, earning 93+pts. It’s a wine variety that is often overlooked from Chile and is a wine worth making this season. Chilean Syrah boasts flavors of plum, wild berry, and earth aromas. I highly suggest introducing this wine to oak barrels or an oak infusion. The medium acidity and powerful aromas are complemented by the French Oak flavor profile.

Yeast Suggestion: CSM yeast

Oak Suggestion: French oak barrels or chips

Wine Flavor Profile: Bold, medium tannins, blackberry, plum, wild berry, leather, smoke, chocolate, and oak

How to Make Syrah Wine from Chilean Wine Grapes:

Crush Syrah grapes into a sanitized bin or tub. (Each 18lb crate will make 1.25 gals of finished wine).
Apply 50ppm of Potassium Metabisulfite and stir well. Allow to sit for 8-12 hours.
Apply .5ml of Color Pro Pectic enzyme per box diluted into a 10% solution with water to the must and stir. Allow to sit for another 8-12 hours.
Mix Booster Rouge, FT Rouge, and Opti-Red, with spring water until it is the consistency of pancake batter and pour over top of crushed grapes. Mix in well.
Add rehydrate CSM yeast (1g/gal) with Go Ferm rehydration nutrient and warm water. Allow to sit for 15 minutes and pour over top of crushed grapes.
Punch down grapes 3 times per day throughout the duration of fermentation and monitor temperature and Brix levels daily. Use a hydrometer to test sugar content in a strained juice sample. Make sure the temperature does not exceed 85F.
One day after adding the yeast, add Fermaid O, mixed with spring water into the pancake batter style slurry. Dump into grapes during a punch down.
After the depletion of 1/3 of the Brix (when the Brix level is between 16-11), add Fermaid O that is mixed with spring water into the pancake batter style slurry. Dump into to grapes at a punch down.
Add Malo-lactic bacteria the same day as the Fermaid K. If you are using liquid cultures, just pour over the grape must and mix. If you use the dry cultures, rehydrate them in warm spring water according to their specific directions, utilizing any rehydration nutrients recommended.
When the Brix have dropped below zero, press the wine into a sanitized tank, carboy, or demijohn. Make sure the vessel is topped up all the way to the top of the neck and sealed properly with a bung and airlock.
Rack after 48 hours and then again in a week. Allow MLF to complete before adding sulfites.
Allow the wine to age and rack it every 2 months and add sulfites when racking.
Add oak infusion after 2^nd or 3^rd racking. Taste test along the way until the oak profile is where you want it to be.

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What is Bud Break?

Published March 20, 2023 | By cmusto

Happy first day of Spring Winemakers!

Our California grapes are starting to go through bud break.

Here is a nice view of our Cry Baby Thompson Seedless and Grenache grapes “waking up” 🍇

What is Bud Break?

Bud break is the start of the grape vine’s annual cycle. It is a relaxing time in the vine’s life as long as they don’t experience any intense weather occurrences, such as frost. Frost can kill the buds or delay their growth.

Check out what Bud Break looks like in Chile! (link)

Posted in Editorials | Tagged #budbreak, #californiabudbreak, #californiagrapes, #californiawinegrapes, #grapestomakewine, #grapewine, #homewinemaking, #howtomakewinefromgrapes, #makingwinefromgrapes, #winegrapes, bud break, california bud break, california grapes, california wine grapes, grape wine, Grapes to make wine, home winemaking, homewinemaker, How to Make Wine from Grapes, making wine from grapes, wine grapes, winemaking | Leave a comment

Product Spotlight: CSM Yeast

Published March 15, 2023 | By cmusto

Product Spotlight: CSM Yeast

CSM yeast was derived from Bordeaux and helps create a vibrant aromatic profile. CSM aids in adding complexity to the palate and pairs well with malolactic fermentation.

Why you want to use it:

It’s the perfect yeast for the Chilean fruit. It reduces vegetal aromas, adds complexity, stabilizes color, and helps increase the aromatic profiles of berries and spices.

Use Tips:

Fermentation starts quickly with this yeast. Be prepared to see Brix drop 24 hours after inoculation. It can stand up 14% ABV and can handle temperatures from 59–90°F. However, I highly suggest keeping your fermentation temps lower than 75°F. Once you hit 80°F you lose aromas and “burn off” flavors. Keeping your wine between 59–75°F during fermentation is a best practice.

You also want to use nutrients when using CSM; nutrients such as Fermaid-O and Fermaid-K. CSM tends to produce H2S (rotten egg smell) if there aren’t enough nutrients during fermentation.

Avoid cold shocking the yeast at inoculation. You’ll want to get the must and the yeast starter within a few degrees of each other before pitching the yeast starter. But without temperatures falling lower than 55°F. Temps below 55°F could stall fermentation and/or kill the yeast.

Goes best with:

CSM was cultivated to help ferment Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Merlot, Sangiovese, Petit Verdot. However, we have seen it used on Carmenere, Malbec, and Syrah from Chile with great results.

Dosage:

6gm/gals

Flavor Profile:

Cherry pit, raspberry, blackberry, spice, violet, bark, and sweet pepper

Ready to make wine? Musto Wine Grape Company is here to help you make the wine of your dreams! The Spring South African & Chilean winemaking season starts soon! Secure your winemaking grapes or juices and give us a call at (877) 812-1137 to speak with one of our Musto Crush Crew members. We can get you set up with everything you need and provide customer support along the way to ensure your success!

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Montepulciano 2020 By Joseph A. Picone, DMD

Published September 11, 2021 | By cmusto

montepulciano

Montepulciano 2020 By Joseph A. Picone, DMD

I had the pleasure to obtain 10 (36lbs) cases of Montepulciano grapes from Musto Grapes (Frank Musto) on October 10, 2020. Making wine using the many varieties of first class Musto sourced grapes has been an Annual fall event for the Picone family and our friends for the past 30 years or so. Over the years, I have made Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Old Vine Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Malbec, Reisling, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Moscato, and White Zinfandel to name a few. Each having their own unique qualities to enjoy. Frank and his crew are great in providing all the resources and guidance needed for the first-time wine maker all the way to the seasoned-pro. I was fortunate to have taken a one semester class years ago at Naugatuck Community College on Wine Making given by Bob Herold which together with Frank’s support team has allowed me to create some delicious wines over the years.

I would like to share my experience with you on making this year’s Montepulciano 2020.

The grapes were outstanding. The Brix reading on the refractometer was 25. The clusters were full and the berries were a beautiful deep purple. The boxes were well packed with few if any leaves. We crushed the 360lbs of grapes and immediately added some potassium metabisulphite to kill any wild yeasts. My crusher is also a destemmer, so all the stems were separated from the must during this process. The pH of the must started at 3.70 which wasn’t surprising due to the high Brix reading. I added an appropriate amount of Tartaric acid to bring the pH to a more desirable 3.41 the day of crush. 25 ml of Color Pro enzyme was added at this time as well.

At approximately 24 hours post crush, the Must was inoculated with 35 grams of yeast BM 4X4 in a solution containing GoFerm yeast nutrient. The temperature of the Must at the time of inoculation was 60 degrees F. The yeast solution was well constituted throughout the must. Periodic punching down of the “cap’ was done every 6-8 hours throughout the primary fermentation time.

At 48 hours post crush, the Must temp was 66 degrees F at the Brix reading was 23.5. Fermaid O was added.

At 72 hours post crush, the Must temp was 75 degrees F and the Brix reading was 20. Fermaid K was added.

At 96 hours post crush, the Must temp was 82 degrees F and the Brix reading was 16. I added oak chips to the vat.

At 120 hours post crush, the Must temp was 78 degrees F and the Brix reading was 8.

At 144 hours post crush, the Must temp was 72 degrees F and the Brix reading was 4. 0.9mg of Malolactic culture VP41 was added to the Must and thoroughly mixed in.

At 168 hours(7 days) post crush, the Must temp was 70 degrees F and the Brix reading was 3. The Must and remnant skins were carefully pressed using a bladder press. The raw yield was approximately 27.5 gallons. The Must was placed in cleaned and sanitized demijohns utilizing airlocks to allow CO2 to escape while fermentation progresses, albeit very slowly. The residual skins were heavily consumed during the fermentation leaving behind very little structure. The color extraction was excellent and provided a deep rich purple wine. More Oak chips were added to each of the glass carboys/demijohns.

The slow fermentation in the demijohns went uneventfully and at 2 months, careful racking was accomplished and an appropriate amount of Potassium Metabisulphite was added to help kill off any more yeast cells(30ppm).

At 6 months post pressing, another racking was accomplished without the addition of any sulphites.

At 9 months, I have just begun bottling and I am very pleased with the wine. It is a crystal clear, deep purple, medium to full body, somewhat fruity flavored wine. I expect it to pair well most any dish but have enjoyed it with pasta, pork, veal, and chicken thus far.

Sincerely,

Joseph A. Picone, DMD

Thank you Joseph for sharing your Montepulciano winemaking experience! If you would like to make Montelpuciano emails sales@juicegrape.com or call 877-812-1137.

Posted in Editorials | Tagged #howtomakewine, #italianwine, #makingwinefromgrapes, #redwine, #winegrapes, how to make wine, Italian Wine, making wine from grapes, montepulciano, red wine, wine grapes | Leave a comment