Making Merlot

When the going gets tough - make wine.

Start with 110 lbs of grapes from our neighbor's vineyard, South Stage Estate Vineyard.
Owners-Larry and Bonnie.

Make sure the sugar content is 24-27. These are 26.5.
Clean and sanitary equipment is important. In this case, an old bathtub and a grinder that separates the grapes from the stems and leaves.
Have the appropriate supplies. You need a Refractometer to measure the sugar levels and chemicals to measure the acid content.

A glass of wine is also appropriate and enables one to do the above with the utmost precision.









We used our other neighbor's garage and general wine making facility. Artie has been making wine for years.


Very high tech.










And now, in go the grapes...
...out comes a sort of mulched grape mush sans leaves and most of the stems.
This is where you can stomp if you wish.

The next step is to cold store the grapes to get good color levels from the skins.
The final step is to press the grapes and then wait for the fermenting process.





















Here is a sample of the end product in the fermentation stage. It is called 'Artie's Special'.

We continue to creep ahead on the house as well as resolve ongoing challenges...

Here we have the driveway outlined for the concrete guy who may or may not be there tomorrow...

back to the wine...