2017 Wines - Chapter 6 - Blueberry

We had a few pounds of blueberries left over from 2016. Together with those we picked we wound up with 43# of berries. At the usual 6#/gallon rate we could have gotten 7 gallons of straight blueberry wine. But in an effort to stay out of a rut, I tried something different this time.

I split the berries up, putting 17# in the primary bucket. After the crush, I poured off most of the free run for the rosé. After gently pressing the remaining 26#, I added that cake to the primary as well, so we had the skins of 43# of blueberries altogether. I treated it with KMS.

After several hours I added 46oz of Merlot concentrate, 1 gallon of water, 3g Booster Rouge, 3g Opti Red, 0.6g Lallzyme EX, 6t of pectic enzyme, and 1.5tsp tannin. I adjusted the pH from 2.85 to 3.78 with calcium carbonate. 690g sugar brought the SG from 1.064 to 1.086 and I let it rest overnight.

The next morning the pH was back down to 3.29. A bit more carbonate brought it back to 3.44 and we pitched K1-V1116 with GoFerm during rehydration.

I made the usual bentonite and Fermaid-K additions and in 1 week we were down to 1.006. The wine was pressed yielding 3.5 gallons of dark, rich, heavy blueberry wine.

At 1.006 it has little more fermentation to go. If I don't see any bubbles in the next few hours, I may bring it up into the warm pantry to assure it doesn't stick.

2017 Wines - Chapter 5 - Sauvignon Blanc

In addition to the Zinfandel grapes, I picked up a 6 gallon Sauvignon Blanc juice bucket. Starting numbers were pH 2.97, TA 0.51%, and SG 1.090 - no adjustments needed. I added 6g Booster Blanc, 12g Opti White, and pitched QA 23.

I tried to keep this ferment as cool as possible with ice packs. The problem, as with the Zinfandel, was that vacation was approaching. I had to cut back on the ice packs and let the temp drift up in order for the ferment to finish before we left. I step-fed Fermaid K, added 9g bentonite on day 3, and by day 9 it had dropped to 1.015, where I racked it to the carboy.

The following day I topped it up and added the KMS. Upon return from vacation it was quiet, so I racked, topped up again, and now it just needs to be cold stabilized and cleared.