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What did you do this week (and weekend)?
As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!
Made wine! Well, started the process at least - it takes a long time. So far two of the three varietals I ordered this year have been harvested. The heatwave this year meant that grapes were harvested a month early in some cases and have produced grapes with very high sugar levels. On one hand it means I'll be getting more wine for my dollar, as I'm diluting with water to bring the sugar levels down to prevent producing extremely sweet wines, but it's also given them some really interesting flavors. The Zinfandel juice is much sweeter, fruitier, and even rounder in taste than grapes from that vineyard have been in the past. I'm curious to see how it tastes once I have it off the must (the mixture of skins/seeds/stems produced during crushing) after the second rack. I'm hoping it mellows out.
The other is a Cabernet Sauvignon. The must smells incredible, like out of this world delicious. I'm hoping my expectations aren't too high. Similar issue to the Zin: its sugars are a bit high but not enough to require diluting. This is my first Cab so I'm interested to see how it turns out! The final varietal is a Petit Syrah, another first for me. They usually harvest in mid October but I imagine I'll get a call to come down in the next week.
The heatwave also left me a little ill prepared. I tend to use the same equipment for each varietal until it's ready to be bulk fermented in demijohns or barrels. In the past I could use the same buckets as the grapes are usually harvested at different point in the summer and fall. With the heatwave, the first two varietals came off the vines within two days of each other, leaving me to scramble for additional gear. That said, I'm all set up now and have two new gorgeous oak barrels to fill!