Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I’ve been in Italy with my lovely wife for the past couple of weeks.

For those of you who didn’t know, I am attempting to make wine for the first time. I purchased some beautiful grapes from a local vineyard and I am making 4 very small batches to get the hang of the process. I’m doing three batches of zinfandel (all with different yeasts) and one batch of syrah. The fermentation went very well on all four batches, and I pressed the wine this weekend. Below are some pictures of the process (perhaps next year I’ll have a proper wine press on hand….

First, I had to open the kegs that I used for fermentation. Next, I dumped all of the contents (wine, skins, seeds) into a bucket, using a collander to separate the skins from the liquid.

Next, the skins and seeds had to be pressed, to squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible. Not having a proper grape press, I used good old fashioned hand power with a mesh bag. Squeezing the skins and seeds a little at a time, I was able to extract most of the liquid from them.

Finally, I used another mesh bag to do one more “scrubbing” of the wine as I poured it into the keg where it will be spending the next few months. After that, I added the appropriate amount of potassium metabisulfite to ensure that no nasties are going to grow, and sealed the kegs. Having the equipment on hand, I figured I may as well purge them with nitrogen to remove any oxygen that was present. I don’t have pics of that process, but here are pics of the wine being poured into the keg, and the addition of the sulfite:

This process was repeated for all 4 batches. Now they will sit for a few months to clarify a bit before being aged on oak for 12-24 months. I want to add a special Thank You to Eric for hooking me up with a nice winemaking book, as well as to my lovely wife and our fellow wine enthusiasts (see also: alcoholics) for prodding me to take a stab at making wine.

I should note that, although very young, all four batches had a beautiful color and were tasting like they might have the potential to be semi-decent. Time will tell…. All I know is that the extended time on the skins (three weeks at 62 degrees) should give these wines plenty of tannins. Wish me luck!