Crush 2012 - Syrah

Syrah! Syrah!

October 2012

Finally getting started on 2012 vintage.  Work and kitchen remodelling caused a bit of a delay, with the kitchen being the biggest part.  It seems the new stove and refirgerator had to be stored in my main work area!

So on to a Syrah!

The source I was hoping to use had nothing available, so contacted Delta Packing and got 9 lugs of Syrah yesterday (drove over and picked up). They looked real good, did not see any bas grapes.

After crush gavee almost 40 gallons of must.

    SG             1.10
    Brix         ~24.2
    TA              7
    pH            3.98

added Lallzyme EX last night, and this morning added Laffort Tannin VR Supra and Opti-Red
To one I added Go-Ferm and Syrah yeast (MoreWine DWY 70) to the other Go-Ferm and Bordeaux yeast (MoreWine DWY 62). MoreWine Brehm additive pack - save about 20% over buying individually.

November 2012

SHave gone through primary and secondary fermentation on 10 galons, aand only primary on the other 10 gallons.  Today I racked both to clean carboys, andd added 40 grams of tartaric acid and 3 grams of potassium metabisulfate to each carboy.  I also added about 4 ounces of medium toast American oak cubes to each.

Now to let them age for a while, probably 3 months on the oak for the light version and longer for the other.

They were running at:
    SG       0.0995
    Brix     <0
    TA       7 (seems to be constant)
    pH      3.98 (reason added some tartaric acid)

January 2013

Well into aging now and have combined/blended both batches into one of four -5 gallon carboys.  The lighter one lacked body, while the heavier was almost too havy.  I like the blend rather well.  Will be aging for several more months.

April 2013

Continuing to age.  Racked the wine and added fresh oak, American medium toast at about 4 oz for 5 gallons.  I am planning to bottle in late August or early September when I hope to need the carboys for this year.

July 2013

Will probably bottle this soon aas I will need the space for this years crush, which may come early.

August 2013

I bottled 7 cases of 2012 Syrah on 1 August and lableded them on 9 August 2013.  With the remaining 2 1/2 gallons I added some of the brandy from sparkling wine brandy episode and bottled a case and a half of fortified (port sysle) sysrah.  Now to let it sit for about three months to get over bottle shock.

Turned into a very good Syrah, and my next try at these grapes (in 2016) came out even better.

 

Or my excursion into winemaking

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