With fermentation roaring, I needed a plan for pressing the juice off the grape skins. Originally, Mr. B mentioned that he made some calls and thought someone had a wine press in Houston I could use. Then, he suggested possibly meeting me in Austin to give me a press to borrow. But with schedules tight, […]
Party time means primary fermentation time! On August 12th, I successfully brought back a tank of baby wine to Houston as it fermented. But, I still was on the lookout for clear indications that the fermentation party was rockin’ and rollin’. It didn’t take long. See the video below to see it in action. Primary
So there was harvest, then there was crushing/destemming, and then there was a yeast addition. After all of that, I snapped my fingers, and my grape must and I appeared in Houston. Kidding! The day after adding yeast to my Alicante Bouschet grape must, I woke up at 5 am to drive back to Houston
After harvest, several things must happen before the yeast can start partying (by consuming the sugars, aka. primary fermentation). The first thing Mr. B and his friend Mr. S told me when we arrived at the destemming location was “winemaking is mostly about cleaning.” Yay. But, if cleaning will protect my wine and help me
Getting the Party Started Read More »
Y’all, so much has happened in the last week; I can’t cover it all in one post. So bear with me as I try to catch you up on the wine’s status. Let’s start with harvest! I left Houston on Monday afternoon, arriving in Mason at ~5:30pm. After checking into a cute Mason BnB, Mr.
Back in February, one of my teachers at the Texas Wine School (I’ll call her Ms. S), connected me to a winemaker (I’ll call him Mr. B) who is helping me with everything I need to get started. Many plans have been thrown around about how to get grapes/grape must back to Houston from Mason,
Lesson 1: Roll with it Read More »
Hello friends, People say “follow your dreams”. My risk averse self has so far called my big dream a pipe dream, relegating it to day dreaming and “zone-out” moments. Well, in early 2019, I took a tiny step that led to me BUYING 500 POUNDS OF GRAPES. Yehaw! At a high level, I dream of
Urban Winery in Beta Mode Read More »
