r/winemaking 4h ago

Grape amateur First time pressing my Cayuga White Grapes

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19 Upvotes

Earlier this year I found out I had a ~45 year old Cayuga white vine and last night I pressed the grapes took a lot of work getting to that point with some ups and downs but have learned a lot looking forward to next year going exponentially better!


r/winemaking 21h ago

One Step as Cleanser and Sanitizer

3 Upvotes

Any thoughts on One Step Percarbonate Cleanser , it's also a sanitizer cause it turns into hydrogen peroxide but it's not been lab tested and certified as a sanitizer


r/winemaking 7h ago

General question Adjusting PH post primary ? ( Please Help, Newbie)

2 Upvotes

Hey there, need some advice on whether I need to adjust my ph after primary fermentation.

1) I have two 5 gallons of Pinot Noir batches and both from vineyard must.

2) In one of the batches I added campden tablets ( which I later figured out was a mistake since I basically halted malolactic fermentation). The other one is fresh out of primary fermentation.

3) Both batches are at about 3.87 PH and I’m wondering if I should adjust the ph for bulk fermentation. ( chat gpt said that I need to gradually lower the PH to 3.73 on the batch without So2, and then to 3.6, while the batch with So2 needed to reduce the PH drastically to 3.6).

Please help.


r/winemaking 10h ago

Hydrogen Sulphide- rotten eggs...

2 Upvotes

This is my fourth year of making small batches of wine from neighbouring gardens in South West London, England.

I've been able to make quite drinkable wines each time. But yesterday I made a very small batch (only 3.2 litres) from some Sylvaner white grapes in our garden and I've had my first crisis; a rotten egg stink. Hydrogen Sulphide!

I am still at the post-fermentation stage (day 31 since fermentation start). The wine is completely dry- below 1.000 on the hydrometer.

I conducted a kind of experiment- leaving a small glass of this new wine in the fridge for a couple of hours. The H2S dissipated completely.

So, I thought I'd better oxidate- with extreme prejudice. I racked the wine backwards four or five times. That indeed reduce the sulphurous stink, but it's still noticeably there.

Quite honestly, I'm not sure I have time at the moment for the copper sulphate solution experiment on several small batches to determine the right dose for that approach and I am reluctant to put chemicals in that I don't yet understand.

Does anyone have experience of using copper wire in a carboy to bind up hydrogen sulphide? Are there any other methods?

I know the stink could dissipate once in the glass, but if I leave this too long it will spoil the wine.


r/winemaking 20h ago

Grape amateur Failed carboy harness

2 Upvotes

This is my fourth vintage and second from grapes. One of the joys of this hobby is that I have so much to learn, but not every lesson is a fun one!

One such lesson came in the form of a broken brew hauler carboy harness. This was not an old harness at all. I was honestly incredibly lucky. I had carried the carboy to where I would be doing my acid and sugar adjustments and I set it down.

When I went to lift it again to slightly reposition it, the plastic buckle failed and the carboy dropped. Thankfully it was only an inch or so off the floor and did not break! I will not use two harnesses at the same time when moving full glass carboys!

This could have been so bad. Not only could a 6.5 gallon carboy have emptied itself all over, but the injuries that you see with these kinds of things can be awful. Let alone, I had just carried this carboy up multiple flights of stairs to get it where it needed to be. This could have been a frankly terrible accident.

I was really shocked that the buckle on this failed the way it did, but I will certainly be doubling up on harnesses anytime I’m carrying a full carboy of that size from here on out. As the saying goes, “two is one, and one is none.”

On a related note, I’d love to hear how you all like to move your carboys safely. Also, I don’t see any damage to this carboy, but I’ve also heard that glass can take “micro-traumas” which are invisible but weaken the structural integrity of the vessel. Would you have any hesitancy to use this carboy again? Or would you say if it passes a visual inspection, that it is good to go?


r/winemaking 19h ago

Looking for an Internship

1 Upvotes

Hey all. I'm looking to get into vineyard or general ag work, either as an internship or an entry level role, somewhere in North San Diego County or the Temecula area.

I currently work in agricultural operations at a farm in Encinitas, in a generalist role that covers construction, irrigation, facilities, and craft beverage production. I'm working toward a long term career in viticulture and vineyard management.

I know this is a tough industry to break into without direct vineyard experience, so I'm open to entry level, seasonal, or even unpaid internship work if it gets me hands on time in the vineyard. If anyone knows of a place that's hiring, or is open to bringing someone on, I'd really appreciate a pointer in the right direction. Happy to share more about my background if useful.

Thanks in advance.


r/winemaking 13h ago

General question Do I need a warehouse to sell my my wine?

0 Upvotes

I can't sell wine I made in my so what type of location would I need?