-Details- 2024 and 2025 Older details here
The sections below provide more information on specific projects. Most recent projects at top.
Cabernet Sauvignon (2023)
Livermore - California
December 2025
Frozen wine must shipped from California to my house; from grapesforwine.com.
- Arrived Dec. 8, 2025. Temperature 26ºF
- 12/9/2025- Morning Temperature 45ºF Mixed pail to pail. Added 1g KMB. By afternoon temperature 51ºF SG-1.093. Added:
- - 0.9g. KMB-
- 8 g. Fermaid-O
- 10g. FT Rouge Tannin
- 10g. Go Ferm Protect
- 8g. Opti-Red
- 12/10/25- SG- 1.090 Temp. 61ºF Pitched yeast (sprinkeled)
Sangiovese (2023)
Livermore - California
December 2025
Frozen wine must shipped from California to my house; from grapesforwine.com.
- Arrived Dec. 8, 2025. Plastic bucket was crushed (just like last year's order.) but not leaking. Temperature 25ºF.
- 12/9/2025- Morning- Mixed pail to pail. Temp. 55ºF. SG 1.108. Added 1g KMB. Afternoon temp. 62ºF. Added
- - 0.9g. KMB-
- 8 g. Fermaid-O
- 10g. FT Rouge Tannin
- 10g. Go Ferm Protect
- 8g. Opti-Red.
- 12/10/25- SG 1.102. Temp. 63ºF. Added three cups water. SG now 1.100. Pitched yeast (sprinkeled)
Apple wine 2025 -
I decided to throw this together because I had lots of apples in my trees this year. <Kinder Crisp, Gala, Empire & Granny Smith> The largest portion Kinder Crisp the least Granny Smith. Had issues with the amount of water used (It's complicated, I screwed up.) Anyway, I've now got a five gallon primary filled to the four gallon mark with water and apple pieces.
Sept. 15, 2025
- I cored and sliced into eights about 12 pounds of apples listed above. Kept the skins on removed brown or soft spots. Tossed into a mesh lined five gal. primary. (See picture.)
- Boiled a gallon of water with 2 lbs. sugar and poured into fermenter. This wasn't enough water to cover apples so I boiled another half gallon and added to the mix. After stirring temperature was 120º F.
- Let must cool to about 80ºF and added a small sliced lemon. Checked Specific Gravity (SG) and began to adjust attempting a starting SG of about 1.090. This is where I messed up -Was using a different hydrometer and misread it- Anyway once I realized my error I ended up with two plus gallons of water approximately 4.5 lbs. of granulated sugar and a SG of 1.087.
- Added the following to the must:
- 1 1/2 tsp. acid blend
- 1 1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme
- 1/4 tsp. tannin
- 1 tsp. yeast nutrient
- 9/16/25- Pitched yeast. (Red Star Premier Cuvée) Temp. 68ºF Starting SG 1.087
- 9/17- SG 1.080 punched cap x2
- 9/18- SG 1.060 "
- 9/19- SG 1.046 " Added 1tsp. yeast nutrient & 1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme.
- 9/20- SG 1.027 Sealed with airlock.
- 9/21- SG 1.016
- 9/24- SG 0.006 Pressed and racked to secondary about three gallons.
- 10/6- Racked and clarified- degassed- added 0.6g KMB - 1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme.
- 10/30- Racked
- 11/17- Bottled (12 bottles) ABV=12.3 It's early but has a nice tart fresh taste.
Pinoit Noir -AGAIN- vintage 2021-
Frozen grapes, skins and seeds from Livermore Valley California. Purchased from Grapes for Wine.com. Arrived Feb. 21, 2025. 25ºF /-4ºC
02/22/2025 AM- Temperature up to 38ºF/3ºC Added 1g KMB-Mixed between buckets.
2/23- 8:30 AM Temp 60ºF/15ºC. - Starting SG 1.090 - Mixed in
- 8 g. Fermaid-O
- 10g. FT Rouge Tannin
- 10g. Go Ferm Protect
- 8g. Opti-Red
- Pitched 5g. yeast (Red Star Premier Rouge) At 1 PM. |Yeast was hydrated in distilled water then mixed with must for 4 hours before pitching.|
2/25- SG- 1.073 Punched cap 3x
2/27- SG 1.032 "
2/28- SG- 1.020 Sealed with air lock.
3/5/25- Pressed (4.5 Gal) SG-0.996. Added MLF
5/10/25- Racked. Added KMB (0.8g.) Degassed
5/18- Added Clarifiers
5/29- Racked
6/9/25- Bottled ABV-12.8% (17 bottles) [$6.47/bottle]
Pinoit Noir vintage 2023 -
Frozen grapes, skins and seeds from Livermore Valley California. Purchased from Grapes for Wine.com.
Arrived October 4, 2024. Temp 64ºF mixed and added 1.1g KMB Specific Gravity 1.090.
10/5- Added the additive kit :
- 8 g. Fermaid-O
- 10g. FT Rouge Tannin
- 10g. Go Ferm Protect
- 8g. Opti-Red
Pitched yeast (Lalvin RC212) .
10/6- Fermentation has started- Punching cap 2-3x/day
10/8- SG- 1.054
10/10- SG- 1.005 Sealed with air lock
10/12- SG- 0.995
10/16- Pressed. Aproxamately 3.5 gal. Added MLF.
11/20- Racked everything. Plastic to glass.
12/17- Racked. Added 0.7g KMB and clarifiers. SG-0.992
1/9/25- Racked (3 gal.)
01/10/2025- Bottled. (15 bottles - $10.00 ea)
Sauvignon Blanc 2023 -
Frozen must from Livermore Valley California. Purchased from winegrapes.com.
The five gallon pale arrived in good shape. As expected, after traveling five days, the must was fully thawed. [72º F (22º C).] Unusual, was the consistacy of the liquid portion of the must. After mixing between buckets I tried to get an initial specific gravity reading. I strained the liquid, through a wide sanitized strainer (to eleminate grapes, seeds and stems) into my hydrometer test jar/cylinder. However, the liquid was so thick (like a thin pea soup) the hydrometer did not bob up and down. It was floating but would take a position at or between 1.090 and 1.080. It held that position even when the test jar was giggled or if I tried to spin the hydrometer.
Not sure if this is a temperature issue or something else. I know winegrapes.com does a lousy job of insulating and packing but, past experience indicated the Sauvignon Blanc would not be available in cooler months. And the fact they didn't charge to ship from CA to NY must be taken into account. Time will tell.
- Arrived 8/16/2024 Mixed and added 1.2g KMB. Added Go-Ferm, Fermaid O and Opti-White. Starting SG around 1.082. (See notes above.)
- 8/17/24- pitched yeast in the morning.
- 8/18- Fermentation evident. SG around 1.060. Punched cap X2.
- 8/19- SG 1.053 Punched cap X2.
- 8/20- SG 1.010. Punched cap X2 sealed with airlock.
- 8/21- SG 1.000 Punched cap X2.
- 8/25- SG 0.997 Pressed and racked to glass. About 4 gal - Added 180 mL pineapple juice. ABV 11.4%
- 10/2-SG 0.995 Racked - Added 0.9g KMB - degassed -
- 11/9- Racked
- 11/11- Racked
- 11/12- Added 2tsp Pectic enzyme. (I think the pineapple juice caused haze.)
- 11/13- Added clarifiers.
- 11/20- Racked
- 11/21- Bottled- [15 bottles $10.67 ea] SG- 0.995 ABV 11.7%
- Initial tasting is good. Dry to almost off dry. Smooth,light hints of pineapple, lime and pear.
Cali Chianti-
Concentrated wine must from Lodi California. This is a blend of Sangiovese, Merlot and Petite Sirah. It is one of the Finer forte wine kit options. Added two grape skin packs a seed pack and oak chips to the must. I am using the FF unit (Fast Ferment) as primary fermenter since it has more volume and my other primary is in use. Hoping for a robust wine.
- Arrived June 15, 2024 Starting SG 1.102
- 6/16- pitched yeast mixture (Lalvin RC 212)
- 6/17- active fermentation stirred. Added collection ball to FF
- 6/18- SG 1.070 - Added yeast nutrient- Removed .5 gal. must to separate carboy becuse everything was overflowing.
- 6/19- SG 1.042 - Stirred X2- Temp 79ºF (external temp 74ºF)
- 6/20- SG 1.000 - Stirred X2- Temp 75ºF - Sealed with airlock.
- 6/21- Stirred X2- Added .5 gal back to must
- 6/29- SG 0.995 - Removed grape skins and seeds- degassed- added 1.2g.KMB- added clarifiers- Added oak cubes.
- 7/11- SG 0.996 Switched and cleaned collection ball. Stirred - Flavor good
- 8/26- Removed oak. Stirred
- 9/11- Racked to glass
- 9/24- Racked
- 10/10/24- Bottled. SG 0.995 14.6% ABV (28 bottles- $6.36/bottle)
Sangiovese Merlot blend (2020)
Livermore - California. February 2024
Frozen wine must, harvested 2020,shipped from California to my house; from grapesforwine.com.
- Arrived February 9, 2024 in a plastic bucket with no box. Bucket was in good shape. Temperature 40ºF, specific gravity 1.118.
- Feb. 10- Mixed pail to pail X2 Temp 56ºF Added spring water to bring SG to 1.096 Temp now 60ºF Total volume near 6 gallons. Added:
- 1 g. KMB-
- 8 g. Fermaid-O
- 10g. FT Rouge Tannin
- 10g. Go Ferm Protect
- 8g. Opti-Red
- Added 5g. yeast (Red Star Premier Rouge) several hours later.
- 2/11- Fermentation has started. Temperature 65ºF
- 2/12- SG-1.085 Punched cap x2 (everyday)
- 2/13- SG 1.072 temp 69ºF
- 2/15- SG 1.042 temp 70ºF
- 2/16- SG 1.030 Sealed proimary with airlock
- 2/17- Added 14g oal chips (mixed toast levels)
- 2/18- SG 1.014
- 2/20 SG-1.005
- 2/23 SG-1.000
- 2/25 SG- 1.000 Pressed (4.8Gal) Added Oak chips and cubes. Started MLF ABV=13%
- 5/8- SG-0.995- Racked to glass- Clarified- Degased- Added 1g.KMB.
- 6/4- Racked - SG- 0.995- ABV 13.7%
- 6/22- Racked
- 6/29- Bottled- (21 bottles) Ended up $6.90/bottle. Initial taste is very smooth with nice mouthfeel. Very good.
Wine must cap in primary fermenter.
Newly purchased wine press. Much better yield than bucket press. Video here.
Sangiovese (2021)
Livermore - California
January 2024
Frozen wine must shipped from California to my house; from grapesforwine.com.
- Arrived Jan. 16, 2024. Plastic bucket was crushed but not leaking. Interesting as the box was undamaged. {Maybe occurred during freezing as it was in a freezer since 2021} Temperature 57ºF, specific gravity 1.094. Minimal cooling packets. Glad I purchased in winter. The box sat at UPS warehouse three days over long weekend. Next time I'll avoid holiday weekend.
- Jan. 17- Starting SG 1.093 Temperature 63ºF Added
- - 0.9g. KMB-
- 8 g. Fermaid-O
- 10g. FT Rouge Tannin
- 10g. Go Ferm Protect
- 8g. Opti-Red
- Lalvin RC 212 yeast after five hours.
- 1/19- SG- 1.086 Stirred, Fermentation active.
- Punch Cap twice everyday.
- 1/22- SG-1.034
- 1/31- SG-0.997 Pressed- Added MLF bacteria and Oak. Got about 4.75 gallons from press. Better than anticipated.
- 4/1- SG- 0.994- Racked to bucket and back to glass- Added 1g.KMB- Degassed. The glass carboy was 5gallons so I used marbles to reduce volume.
- 4/18- Racked to new glass 4 gal carboy. NO Marbles!! The marble idea sucks. (No clarifier)
- 5/31- Racked- SG- 0.994 ABV- 13.4% (Still no clarifiers.)
- 6/22- Racked (Still no clarifiers.)
- 6/29- Bottled (18 bottles) $8.17/bottle. Initial tasting is very good. Nice mouthfeel and just a bit of pucker. Dry with fruit hints. It should be really great as it ages.
Sangiovese bucket upon arrival