Yesterday, we decanted and strained the Solaris must through cheesecloth in a sieve and squeezed all the remaining juice out of the grapes through the cloth. We measured specific gravity of 1.0075 so we don't have a long way to go. The liquid is quite cloudy so it will take some time to clarify in the demijohn. The tiny drops I tasted were actually quite good but strongly flavoured.
We had a lot more red must from the Rondo grapes so Alex devised a method of forming a ball in the cheesecloth and squeezing it in his hands. We pondered whether we should make grappa but thought better of it.
Again the specific gravity read 1.0075 so we surmised we harvested a bit early. For next year, I have purchased a refractometer so we'll be a bit more scientific. Last year, our Rondo came in at 1.02 so we had a long way to go to get to .99. This year, we won't have as much alcohol content. The juice tasted much sweeter last year. This year's juice is a bit harsh tasting but the smell is lovely.
So we have one demijohn of white and two of red. That's getting better already. Now we wait. The trouble is, we have forgotten from year to year what we need to do. I suppose I should take a course.
Could really do with advice on how to care for my wine.
ReplyDeleteI would like to move it but an scared. It had good growth this year but no fruit. Not sure how to prune it and when. We live in Boyle.
Carol
Hi Carol, we are novices at this as well but let's start with some questions. How old is your vine? It takes about 5 years before grapevines bear fruit.
DeleteIt's pretty hard to move a grapevine because their roots go VERY deep. If it's only been there a short while, then perhaps it would be possible.
Is it outside and is it a hardy variety?
Is it self-pollinating (most grapevines are but not all). https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/grapes/grapevine-pollination-needs.htm
Vines need very aggressive pruning, usually in January when they are dormant. You need to decide how you will train it. Horizontally like in France, straight up like in some places in Italy, or overhead on a trellis as in Spain. Then you can watch a YouTube video on how to prune vines for your selected method of training.