How to Avoid a Stuck Fermentation during the Spring Wine Harvest
How to avoid a stuck fermentation
How can you tell if you have a stuck fermentation?
- Your wine is stuck at 2-5 Brix for more than a few days
- Your wine tastes very sweet
What causes a stuck fermentation?
- High sugar levels – 26+ Brix
- High fermentation temperatures
- Low nutrient levels
- Must not punched down or mixed during fermentation
- Inncorrect yeast strain
So.. how can you avoid it?
- If you have high Brix you can water back your must
- You can ice down your must with dry ice or frozen water jugs
- Add the correct amount of nutrients during fermentation
- Punch down and mix must reguarly
- Research and add the appropriate yeast
Not using yeast? Doing a native ferment? Here are some tips to avoid a stuck fermentation
- Keep cellar CLEAN – the cleaner the cellar the less bacteria has the opportunity to flourish and kill your batch
- Check your Brix and make sure they are manageable, if high, water back
- Keep track of your fermentation temperatures
- Keep the temperature in your winemaking cellar as constant as possible
A stuck fermentation can be painful. We highly suggest you take the neccessary steps to avoid it!
Need to fix your stuck fermentation? Check out our video on WinemakingInstructions.com and this Fixing a Stuck Fermentation Blog Post.
For exact measurements and instructions, follow the directions on the manufacturer’s packaging, contact a winemaker at Musto Wine Grape Company for assistance, or download our Full Class offering at WinemakingInstructions.com.
We’re here to help when you need it
As stated above, Musto Wine Grape offers a variety of products as well as services including testing and support. Email winemaker@juicegrape.com or call (877) 812 – 1137 to speak with someone who can assist you.
Cleaning vs. Sanitizing in Winemaking
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.
Product Spotlight: Crusher Destemmer
You’ve got your fresh wine grapes in tow, and now its time to make some wine! If you don’t take advantage of our crush and destem service, you’ll have to crush and destem your grapes. We offer a variety of crushers, and crusher-destemmers to fit any winemaking project. We’ll cover some of our top options to help you determine which one suits you best! The most popular crusher destemmer is the stainless steel electric crusher destemmer. With an electric motor that does all the elbow work featuring an all stainless steel assembly, it is corrosion resistant and will last you for many winemaking seasons to come.
Stainless Steel Electric Crusher Destemmer
This crusher destemmer is motorized, with a stainless steel hopper and body. It has an hourly production rate of 1,500kg (about 3,330lbs). Its electric motor is 100volts/1hp, and it’s dimensions are 100 x 550 x 580h mm. The hopper dimensions are 900 x 460 mm and it has a removable protection box. This piece of equipment is a great investment for a winemaker who has plans to crush and destem an average of 50 or more lugs of grapes. With proper cleaning and storage, this machine will last a winemaking lifetime! We also carry the matching stand for our crusher destemmers, in both painted and stainless steel.
If the stainless steel crusher destemmer is a bit out of your winemaking budget, we carry one nearly identical but that is painted:
Electric Crusher Destemmer with Painted Hopper and Body
All the specs are identical to the stainless steel crusher destemmer except for the fact that this one is painted steel. The downfall of this machine is that it is susceptible to corrosion if not cleaned and stored properly. With proper cleaning and storage, it will surely last you many years. If you’re looking for something in the middle, we have that too!
Electric Crusher Destemmer with Stainless Steel Hopper and Painted Body
If you’re looking for a slightly more budget-friendly crusher destemmer with that boost of corrosion protection, this stainless steel hopper, painted body crusher destemmer is perfect. Once again you’ve got identical specs to our other options above, without having to compromise too much on either advantage of corrosion protection or budget.
If you are a home winemaker with less than 50 lugs of grapes on average and a smaller equipment budget, we also carry manual grape crushers and crusher destemmers. They come in the same options as our electric crusher destemmers including fully stainless steel, fully painted, or stainless steel hopper/painted body.
Stainless Steel Manual Crusher Destemmer
The Grifo hand powered crusher destemmer has a hopper size of 900 x 500 mm, and the Aluminum rollers are 220 mm. The hourly production rate is about 700-800kg (1500-1750lbs) and is a great option for a winemaker processing up to about 50 lugs of grapes and is looking for corrosion protection.
Painted and Stainless/Painted Manual Crusher Destemmer
With the same specs as the stainless steel but more wallet friendly, the painted and stainless manual crusher destemmer is a great option.
With lots of options to choose from, Musto Wine Grape has your winemaking needs taken care of.
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.
Top 7 Winemaking Tips for the Spring Harvest
The Spring Harvest is underway! It’s time to get yourself set up for your Spring fermentations.
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Plan out your batch
- What kind of wine do you want to make?
- Review your ferementation notes from previous seasons
- Taste wines from Chile and South Africa for inspiration
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Review how to adjust your must
- Adjusting your Brix, TA, and pH
- Take an online class if need a referesher
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If making wine from juice, decide on Fresco vs. Non Fresco Juices
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Decide on the type of yeast you want to use
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PRE ORDER
- Give us a call at 877-812-1137 or email us at sales@juicegrape.com
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Think about the temperatures in your cellar
- Do you need extra heat?
- Do you need AC?
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Keep an eye on the Harvest Tracker for updates on the Spring Harvest
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.
How to Make Syrah Wine from Chilean Wine Grapes
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 2nd or 3rd racking. Taste test along the way until the oak profile is where you want it to be.
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.
What is Bud Break?
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)
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.
Product Spotlight: CSM Yeast
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!
What are Fresco Winemaking Juices?
What are Fresco Juices?
Ever bake a cake from a box and it came out delicious? Did you know you could do the same with winemaking?
Mondiale Fresco is proud to be the only product to offer home winemakers their own vineyard in one unique package. Each pail of juice is pre-balanced and adjusted to ensure you have the best winemaking success possible. Just warm up the juice to fermentation temperature and watch it go.
What does “pre-balanced” and “adjusted” mean?
Every season Mother Nature gives us a different wine grape harvest. Some years the acid, pH, and sugars are all in line with each other. Most times they aren’t and there needs to be some slight adjustments made pre-fermentation to ensure top wine quality. The Fresco juices are adjusted so that the acid, pH, and sugar levels are all in balance with each other. This makes for an easier fermentation and, a very pleasing wine.
Depending on the varietal of wine you choose, enzymes and tannins might be added – all pre-measured, and ready-to-go, just open the packet and add to the pail. These add-ons help with wine clarity and mouthfeel, contributing to the “taste like made from scratch”, or in this case, as if fermented on the skins. The Fresco juices are the best juices to work with for busy winemakers. You get the juice warmed up, watch it ferment, age, and bottle.
No muss, no fuss. Just delicious wine. Click HERE to via our list of Fresco Juices.
Fresco Juices are Pre-Order ONLY. Give us a call at 877-812-1137 to secure your Fresco Juice order.
Wine Spotlight: Greanche Blanc
A new grape has been added to our winemaking portfolio from Cry Baby – Grenache Blanc!
This grape is widely planted in Spain and the Rhone Valley.
It produces wines with good alcohol content, low acidity, citrus and herbaceous notes. A great blender for Rousanne or Muscat.
It’s best to ferment at low temperatures in order for the bouquet to flourish.
Interested in trying a new white wine this season? Email sales@juicegrape.com
Lodi Rules: Grow great grapes, make delicious wine, leave everything a little better than we found it
“May we farm in a way that meets the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to create their livelihoods.” – The LODI RULES motto.
Started in 2005, the LODI RULES certification program is a collective of growers who are focused on all thing’s sustainability. Many of these Lodi Farmers are 4th or 5th generation winegrowers who are focused on farming with the next 100 years in mind. We at Musto Wine Grape, are lucky enough to work with some of these amazing farmers – Mettler Ranch and Costamagna Vineyards. Look for the LODI RULES seal on the wine grape boxes this season.
LODI RULES growers use a unique risk model to quantify the environmental and human impact of all pesticides applied in the vineyard. This model considers the dietary risks to consumers, as well as the acute risk to farm workers; small aquatic invertebrates; birds; and bees; and bees and beneficial insects. The Lodi region has documented a great decline in the use of high-risk pesticides since 1992, thanks to sustainability adaption by farmers.
LODI RULES Sustainability Standards Overview:
- Water: They carefully manage the quality and efficiency of their water, appreciating every drop
- Soil: They do their part to make sure that soil – the foundation of the vineyard- thrives for generations to come
- Community: They support the neighborhoods and schools around the farms
- Ecosystem: They encourage biodiversity and act as stewards of the land
- Pest Management: They us an integrated approach to pest management, which includes protecting beneficial insects and minimizing risks to birds, bees, water, and people
- People: They make sure that their vineyards are a safe and rewarding place to work
- Quality: They design farming practices to improve wine grape quality
- Generational Farming: They farm with the next 100 years in mind
How is certified sustainable farming different than organic and biodynamic?
- Organic and biodynamic farmers follow a set of practices related to the environment. Certified sustainable farming includes practices related to the environment, the people, and the business.
LODI RULES has over 100 sustainable practices included in its certification; with over 28,776 acres certified.
Over 150 wines bear the LR seal (Mettler Ranch & Costamagna being some of them!) A wine must contain 85% certified grapes to be the LR seal.
“Sustainability means leaving everything – people, places, etc.- as good as better than how we found it” – Kevin Philips, Michael David Winery
“When you drink a glass of wine made from LODI RULES certified grapes, you are supporting a farmer, a vintner, and an entire agricultural community that embraces their responsibility to care for the environment and the people”
This is a certification I think we can all get behind. Musto Wine Grape is grateful to be bringing in these grapes this season. If you are interested in grapes from the LODI RULES program, please give us a call at 877-812-1137 to pre-order. We are looking forward to assisting with your winemaking this fall!
Grapes Available from LODI RULES Certified Vineyards:
Mettler Ranch:
- Barbera
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Grenache
- Merlot
- Pinot Grigio
- Pinotage
- Petite Sirah
- Rousanne
- Sangivoese
- Syrah
- Viognier
- Zinfandel
Costamagna Vineyards:
- Old Vine Primitivo
- Cabernet
- Merlot
- Sangiovese
- Barbera
- Aglianico
- Montelpulciano
- Mourvedre
- Nero D’Avola
- Sagrantino
Cheers,
Christina Musto-Quick
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