Wines · Home winemaking in Dorchester, MA
Cipriano Family Wines
Cellar Book
How we make wine each September, what we use, and a record of every vintage since 2021: the grapes, the crush, the fermentation temperatures, the press, and what we told ourselves to do better next year.
The process
The steps we’ve settled on after six harvests, from the August grape call to bottling the following year.
Early August
Order the grapes
Musto gets its harvest timeline at the end of the first week of August. Call in the first couple of weeks of August to preorder a specific grape for a specific weekend.
- Lanza-Musto fruit always sells out, so order it early. We can taste in the coolers on pickup day and switch.
- Standard order: 30 boxes of one red plus 10 boxes of one white or rosé. A box is 36 lb and yields about 2.5 to 3 gallons.
- Order a barrel at the same time if we need one.
August
Plan the crew and compost
- Line up helpers for crush and press, and make Crush Crew t-shirts for them.
- Get ready for the crew: prepare accommodations, clean the house, and plan food for crush and press.
- Schedule compost pickup with Bootstrap Compost: two 48-gallon toters for crush week, swapped on Monday for two more for press week.
Week before crush
Prep for crush
- Book the grape truck: a 15 ft U-Haul if three people are going, or a 10 ft box truck for two. Book it for 220 miles and 8 hours.
- Bottle enough of last year's wine to empty one barrel and free up all the glass.
- If it's a new barrel, swell it: fill it a third with water, wait a couple of hours, fill it the night before, and empty it the morning of.
- Wash 4 blue tubs (3 for the red, 1 for the white), 5 carboys and the buckets.
- Sew the cheesecloth liner for the containment platform. Order more cheesecloth first if we don't have enough in stock.
- Make sure we have enough duct tape.
- Buy window screen and cover the drywell drain.
- Check that the head of the punch-down tool is tight.
- Move the patio furniture, and move and cover all the woodworking equipment.
- Put tarps down in the garage and on the patio, and set out bricks in the garage for the fermentation tubs to sit on, with boot trays under the spigots.
- Turn the garage temperature down the night before pickup so the grapes stay cool overnight.
Pickup day
Pick up the grapes
Hartford is about 1 hour 45 minutes each way. We prefer to pick up one day and crush the next, keeping the grapes overnight in the garage.
- Pack a refractometer, a jacket for the coolers, gloves, a phone charger, and cash for tolls and the crew's tip.
- Taste and load at Musto. Taste everything and check the Brix before committing. The preorder isn't locked in: we can switch to different grapes on the day, and we have, when something else tasted better or the planned fruit wasn't ready.
Crush day
Crush
Set up
- Put out the yellow platform and tape the cheesecloth liner to it. If it needs to drain to the drywell, attach the hose to the platform.
- Bring out the press and the destemmer.
Crush in this order
- Crush the white, clean the crusher, then crush the red. When switching grapes, run the pump again after flushing the crusher with water.
- Turn the garage heat up to max for the red to get fermentation going.
- Press the white after the red is crushed. How hard to press the white depends on the grape, so research it before crush day.
- Once the white is pressed, proof the yeast and pitch it (see Proof and pitch the yeast).
Five jobs keep the line moving: dumping grapes, raking them through the destemmer, handling the hose coming from the destemmer pump, hauling stems to compost, and cleaning the boxes. Hauling stems and cleaning the boxes can each be done by one person; the other jobs sometimes need two.
Clean up
- Clean the crusher, destemmer, platform and other equipment. Tighten the screws on the destemmer and grease it.
- Wash the towels and winemaking clothes.
- Move the compost toters to the curb on Sunday night for Monday pickup.
Crush night
Proof and pitch the yeast
- White first: after the white is pressed, proof the white yeast and pitch it into the carboys. Then proof the red yeast and split it evenly between the tubs.
- Proof both following the instructions on the yeast supplier's website for that strain. For the white, that has meant warming the yeast and working it into some of the grape juice.
- About 1 gram of yeast per gallon of must; figure 2.5 gallons per box of grapes.
- If the red yeast isn't a competitive strain, stun the grapes with sulfite before pitching: two level teaspoons per 50-gallon tub, about 6.6 g per 400 lb.
About one week
Primary fermentation
- Punch down the cap three times a day using the punchdown tool, and wipe the tub walls above the juice line.
- Log the must temperature after stirring, three times a day. A meat thermometer works well.
- Keep the must inside the yeast's active range, taken from the manufacturer's website for that strain. The must runs 15 to 20°F above the room, so steer it with the garage thermostat.
- For whites, set the white wine room so the temperature measured on the carboy stays in the yeast's active range.
About a week after the yeast goes in
Press the red
Prep for press
- Put out the yellow platform and tape on the cheesecloth, replacing it if it needs replacing after crush. If the platform is on the patio, attach the hose so it drains to the drywell.
- Bring out the press.
Press
- Press the red when the must temperature has stabilized at roughly room temperature, usually about a week after the yeast goes in.
- Don't stir the red the morning of press day. A thick cap lets the free-run juice drain clean through the tub spouts, and in general that fills a whole barrel before any pressing.
- Fill the barrel under the shelf first, and check that the barrel sits level.
- Bladder press: water in slowly, bleed the air from the top valve until water comes out, cap it, then hold pressure. Taste the press juice against the free-run juice throughout the press and stop when it turns bitter. Reds can turn bitter quickly, and the pressure where that happens varies.
Clean up
- Clean the press, platform and other equipment.
- Wash the towels and winemaking clothes, then run the washing machine on its clean cycle.
- Move the compost toters to the curb on Sunday night for Monday pickup.
November, then spring
Rack
Prep
- Clean the tubs the wine will be pumped into.
Rack
- First racking around Thanksgiving, second in spring. It takes 5 to 7 hours.
- Pump the glass into the clean tubs, leaving sediment behind.
- Mark the wine level on a stick in the barrel and tape the hose above it, then empty the barrel.
- Rinse the barrel until it runs clean and refill it quickly. It should sit empty as briefly as possible.
- Expect to lose 5 to 10 gallons to sediment per racking, and less on the second racking.
Clean up
- Clean the tubs, pump and hoses.
The following year
Bottle
Prep
- Buy bottles if we don't have enough.
- If we recruit a crew, prepare food for them.
Bottle
- After decanting into the bottling vessel, let young wine rest several hours so dissolved gas fizzes out.
- Vacuum filler: calibrate the height with water for a new bottle size, turn it on before placing the bottle, and remove the bottle while it is still running.
- Fill to a quarter to half an inch below where the bottom of the cork will sit. Keep bottles upright for 12 hours after corking.
- A gallon is about 5 bottles; a 59-gallon barrel is roughly 295 bottles.
2026: Old Vine Primitivo & Chenin Blanc
Crushed Saturday Sept 19, pressed Friday Sept 25.
- Grapes
- 30 boxes Old Vine Primitivo, Costamagna Vineyards, Clement's Hill. 11 boxes Chenin Blanc, Costamagna, Lodi
- Starting Brix
- Primitivo 24 · Chenin 23
- Yeast
- RP-15 · Alchemy I
- Crush
- Sat Sept 19
- Press
- Fri Sept 25, two press loads (overfilled)
- Red
- About 74 gal: 1 barrel, 2 carboys, 2 one-gallon jugs, 3 bottles
- White
- About 22 gal: 5 carboys, each three-quarters full
- Pickup crew
- Scott and Faun
- Crush crew
- Scott, Faun, Penney, Beth Ann, Seth, Chris, Ian and Lisa
- Press crew
- Scott, Faun and Penney
What happened
- Earliest pick Musto had seen. Prices unchanged from 2025, freight higher.
- Picked up and crushed the same day: Faun and Scott drove down and back without stopping for lunch.
- Chose Chenin Blanc over Viognier on taste. Musto told us the Old Vine Primitivo comes from Clement's Hill.
- Took 11 boxes of Chenin instead of our usual 10 because Musto had just one box left over.
- Bootstrap Compost took the stems and pomace in 2 large totes.
- Crush ran long because we had to sort out some moldy grapes.
- Competitive yeasts again, so no sulfite stun on the red.
- Didn't put water in the press for either the red or the white, because both were already turning tart.
For next year
- Order more cheesecloth if we need it.
- Buy 2 more strainers next time we buy bottles.
- Make a couple of wooden spatulas for the press.
- Make or buy a large brush for cleaning the press and the blue tubs.
- Put up a clothesline for drying tarps, from the corner of the house to the dogwood or from the dogwood to one of the river birches.
Primitivo
RP-15 · 68–86°F · 24 Brix (expected 13% alcohol)Took until Monday morning to reach the active range, starting at 57.5°F with the garage at 89°F. Peaked at 84.2°F Tuesday morning, just under the top of the range, then held around 73 to 76°F.
Show the full temperature log (16 readings)
| Day | Date | Time | Must °F | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat | 9/19 | 11pm | 57.5 | 89 ambient |
| Sun | 9/20 | 11am | 62.3 | |
| 9/20 | 7pm | 65.9 | ||
| 9/20 | 10:30pm | 67.5 | ||
| Mon | 9/21 | 11am | 72.2 | 82 ambient |
| 9/21 | 8pm | 78.2 | ||
| 9/21 | 1am | 82.5 | ||
| Tue | 9/22 | 9am | 84.2 | 61 ambient |
| 9/22 | 4pm | 84.0 | ||
| 9/22 | 9pm | 81.7 | ||
| Wed | 9/23 | 10am | 75.8 | 61 → 70 ambient |
| 9/23 | 6pm | 75.6 | ||
| 9/23 | 1am | 75.1 | ||
| Thu | 9/24 | 11am | 75.0 | |
| 9/24 | 7pm | 74.2 | ||
| 9/24 | 12am | 73.5 |
Chenin Blanc
Alchemy I · 55–61°F · 23 Brix (expected 12.5% alcohol)2025: Montepulciano & Chardonnay
Picked up Friday, crushed Sunday Sept 21, pressed Saturday Sept 27.
- Grapes
- 30 boxes Riverenza Montepulciano, Clement's Hill. 10 boxes Lanza Chardonnay. Plus 5 cases of bottles
- Starting Brix
- Montepulciano 24 · Chardonnay 25
- Yeast
- BM4x4 · Alchemy I
- Crush
- Sun Sept 21
- Press
- Sat Sept 27, three press loads
- Red
- 80 gal: 1 barrel, 2 carboys, 6 one-gallon jugs, 10 bottles
- White
- 20 gal: 4 carboys (consolidated from 5)
- Pickup crew
- Scott, Penney, Glenn, Faun and Beth Ann
- Crush crew
- Scott, Penney, Glenn, Faun, Beth Ann, Buf and Ron
- Press crew
- Scott, Faun, Buf, Penney and Glenn
What happened
- The Lanza Primitivo we planned on was late, so we switched at Musto. Picked Montepulciano and Chardonnay on taste; both were shooting a little over 25. We liked the Tempranillo but didn't know how to work with it.
- Lunch at Franklin Giant Grinder; grapes stored overnight in the garage.
- Crushing 30 boxes of Montepulciano took 20 minutes.
- Both yeasts were competitive, so no sulfite stun. We liked that a lot.
- Didn't stir the red on press day, so the juice settled to the bottom: about 53 gallons came straight out the spouts and we bailed the rest from the top with gallon buckets.
- Barely pressed the Montepulciano. The press juice lost sweetness almost immediately, so nearly all 80 gallons are free run.
- The week after: pumped the 2023 to the tank, moved the Barbera out and back, cleaned both old barrels, proofed the new barrel, bottled the 2023.
For next year
- The red could have used one more day of fermentation; it was still very active at press.
- When switching grapes, run the pump again after flushing the crusher with water.
- Truck rental: 8 hours was necessary (returned at 7:50); 216 miles against 220 planned.
Montepulciano
BM4x4 · 60–82°F · 24 Brix (expected 13% alcohol)Steadier than any other year: climbed to 75°F by Wednesday and held at 73 to 74°F through Friday. Stirred with the metal plunger.
Show the full temperature log (16 readings)
| Day | Date | Time | Must °F | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | 9/21 | 9:20pm | 59 | |
| Mon | 9/22 | 9:54am | 61 | |
| 9/22 | 7:19pm | 65 | ||
| 9/22 | 11:38pm | 66 | ||
| Tue | 9/23 | 9:06am | 70 | Turned heat down to 75 |
| 9/23 | 5:33pm | 73 | Turned cooling on to 65 | |
| 9/23 | 7pm | 74 | Turned heat to 72 | |
| Wed | 9/24 | 10am | 75 | |
| 9/24 | 1pm | 74 | ||
| 9/24 | 4pm | 74 | ||
| Thu | 9/25 | 9am | 73 | |
| 9/25 | 4pm | 73 | ||
| 9/25 | 8:30pm | 73 | ||
| Fri | 9/26 | 9am | 73 | |
| 9/26 | 4pm | 73 | ||
| 9/26 | 8pm | 73 |
Chardonnay
Alchemy I · 55–61°F · 25 Brix (expected 13.5% alcohol)Stirred with a wooden stick.
2024: Barbera & Sauvignon Blanc
Picked up Friday, crushed Saturday Sept 21 in the rain, pressed the following Saturday.
- Grapes
- 30 boxes Lanza Barbera. 10 boxes Lanza Sauvignon Blanc
- Starting Brix
- Barbera 26 · Sauv Blanc 23.5
- Yeast
- VRB · Alchemy I
- Crush
- Sat Sept 21
- Press
- Following Saturday, done by 4pm
- Red
- 77 gal: 1 barrel, 2 carboys, 5 one-gallon jugs, 5 bottles
- White
- 24 gal: 4 carboys, 3 bottles
- Pickup crew
- Scott, Ralph, Glenn, Paul and Laura
- Crush crew
- Scott, Faun, Ralph, Glenn, Buf, Paul and Laura
- Press crew
- Scott, Faun, Amy, Amy's parents and Alex
What happened
- Barbera read 28 on the refractometer; Mettler Grenache hit 30. The Chardonnay tasted good but the grapes didn't look great.
- Lunch at Franklin Giant Grinder with Paul and Laura. It rained all of crush day.
- Sauvignon Blanc went into 6 carboys two-thirds full and tasted a lot like pear. Barbera filled 3 blue tubs two-thirds full.
- Barbera yeast was proofed in two pots, following Cheese's instructions, and pitched Sunday at 9am.
- Switched to a meat thermometer for temperatures; it works great. Used only the punch-down tool, no pump-overs, and it worked fine.
- Not stirring the Barbera the morning of the press left a thick cap: a full 59-gallon barrel of free run came out the spouts before any pressing.
- The Barbera turned tart at about 1 bar. The Sauvignon Blanc went to 3 bar and still wasn't tart, and was still fermenting hard at press.
For next year
- Use cheesecloth over screen.
- Loctite the head of the must punch-down tool.
- People at the press loved tasting the juice. Save some again next year.
- An artist's tent would help if it rains.
Barbera
VRB · 59–82°F · 26 Brix (expected 14% alcohol)Reached 75°F Monday night and sat at 75 to 77°F for four days.
Show the full temperature log (22 readings)
| Day | Date | Time | Must °F | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | 9/22 | 9am | 56 | |
| 9/22 | 5pm | 62 | ||
| 9/22 | 10pm | 65 | ||
| Mon | 9/23 | 9am | 68 | |
| 9/23 | 11am | 69 | ||
| 9/23 | 3pm | 71 | ||
| 9/23 | 9:30pm | 75 | ||
| Tue | 9/24 | 10am | 77 | |
| 9/24 | 2:15pm | 77 | ||
| 9/24 | 7pm | 77 | ||
| 9/24 | 10pm | 77 | ||
| Wed | 9/25 | 10am | 76 | |
| 9/25 | 1pm | 75 | ||
| 9/25 | 4pm | 75 | ||
| 9/25 | 11pm | 76 | ||
| Thu | 9/26 | 9am | 76 | |
| 9/26 | 4pm | 76 | ||
| 9/26 | 8:30pm | 76 | ||
| Fri | 9/27 | 9am | 76 | |
| 9/27 | 4pm | 76 | ||
| 9/27 | 8pm | 77 | ||
| 9/27 | 11pm | 77 |
Sauvignon Blanc
Alchemy I · 55–61°F · 23.5 Brix (expected 13% alcohol)One reading: 56°F Sunday 9:30am.
2023: Zinfandel–Alicante Blend
Crushed Friday Sept 22, pressed Saturday Sept 30. Our biggest vintage.
- Grapes
- 60 boxes Lodi Beauty Zinfandel. 6 boxes Alicante. Plus 10 cases of bottles
- Starting Brix
- 22 at Musto and in the must
- Yeast
- RC-212, 180 g
- Crush
- Fri Sept 22
- Press
- Sat Sept 30 with Buf, Kendall and Amy
- Red
- 165 gal: 2 barrels, 7 carboys, 4 one-gallon jugs, 5 bottles (about 812 bottles)
- New gear
- Third TW Boswell barrel, TCW suction torpedo
- Pickup crew
- Gabe, Ralph, Mike, Eila, Scott and Glenn
- Crush crew
- Gabe, Ralph, Mike, Eila, Scott, Faun and Glenn
- Press crew
- Scott, Faun, Buf, Kendall and Amy
What happened
- Cheese and Gabe came for crush weekend.
- Before press, the wine shed got rebuilt: new sheathing, house wrap, clapboards, insulation, vapor retarder, PVC board and waxed shelves.
- Moved the 2022 from barrel to tanks, then sulfited the old barrel with 7 tablespoons of sulfite and 7 gallons of water, rolled now and then.
- Punched down 3 times a day. The must started very cold, at 40°F Friday night, and took until Monday to get going.
- Used 8 compost buckets for the crush and 16 for the press.
For next year
- Check the barrel is level in the garage.
- Fill the barrel under the shelf first.
- Reds turn bitter past 1 bar.
- A clothesline for drying tarps.
- Tighten barrel spouts after cleaning them.
Zinfandel–Alicante blend
RC-212 · 60–86°F · 22 Brix at start; 12 Tue, 7 Wed, 6 Thu and SatA slow, cold start, then a sharp rise Monday night to an 80°F peak Tuesday morning. Brix readings are marked on the line.
Show the full temperature log (24 readings)
| Day | Date | Time | Must °F | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri | 9/22 | 10pm | 40 | 22 Brix |
| Sat | 9/23 | 7:38am | 52 | |
| 9/23 | 9:43am | 50 | 22 Brix | |
| 9/23 | 4:09pm | 54 | ||
| 9/23 | 9:03pm | 58 | ||
| Sun | 9/24 | 11:18am | 60 | |
| 9/24 | 3:10pm | 60 | ||
| 9/24 | 9:01pm | 61 | ||
| Mon | 9/25 | 8:10am | 62 | |
| 9/25 | 9:20pm | 72 | ||
| 9/25 | 11:53pm | 77 | ||
| Tue | 9/26 | 9:25am | 80 | 12 Brix |
| 9/26 | 12:57pm | 78 | ||
| 9/26 | 4:15pm | 76 | ||
| 9/26 | 9:15pm | 78 | ||
| Wed | 9/27 | 10:17am | 74 | 7 Brix |
| 9/27 | 7:23pm | 72 | ||
| 9/27 | 11:24pm | 70 | ||
| Thu | 9/28 | 11:16am | 69 | 6 Brix |
| 9/28 | 11:34pm | 68 | ||
| Fri | 9/29 | 8:50am | 68 | |
| 9/29 | 3:11pm | 66 | ||
| 9/29 | 11:23pm | 66 | ||
| Sat | 9/30 | 8:44pm | 66 | 6 Brix |
2022: Costamagna Primitivo
Chose Costamagna on pickup day after tasting everything. Yeast pitched Saturday Sept 24.
- Grapes
- 60 boxes Costamagna Primitivo
- Starting Brix
- 24 in the coolers, 24.5 in the must
- Yeast
- RC-212
- Goal
- Two barrels (118 gal) and a pump-over test
- Press
- 100 gal of free run; pressed at 8.5 Brix
- Red
- 2 barrels plus 28 gal at the November racking
- New gear
- Second barrel, 1,000 corks, stainless must plunger
- Pickup crew
- Scott and Glenn
- Crush crew
- Scott, Faun, Glenn, Penney, Buf and Beth Ann
- Press crew
- Scott, Faun, Glenn, Penney and Buf
What happened
- Crushed in 1 hour 20 minutes. Must was 52°F.
- Proofed the yeast in a crockpot and a pot from Faun's mom. Roe says put everything in one pot, and don't mix with water first.
- Had to add two more fermentation tanks for six total. The must peaked at 86°F on Tuesday, when the original thermometer broke.
- Racked Nov 26 starting at 12:45: from 2 barrels plus 28 gallons down to 2 barrels plus 17, losing about 10 gallons. A second racking left 2 barrels, 2 carboys and 7 bottles.
- Ordered corks from ACIC Closures with the vintage on the end.
For next year
- Bring gloves.
- Get the must up to 54°F before the yeast goes in.
- Tighten barrel spouts after cleaning them.
- Buy a bigger racking cane and find a way to pump over.
Primitivo
RC-212 · 60–86°F · 25 Brix at pitchingLogged by time of day, so times on the chart are approximate. Where two tubs were read, the chart shows their average. Ambient was raised to 80°F Sunday, then cut to 61°F when the must hit 84°F.
Show the full temperature log (17 readings)
| Day | Date | Time | Must °F | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat | 9/24 | 11am | 58 | Sugar 25 |
| 9/24 | 10:45pm | 58 | Raised ambient to 68 | |
| Sun | 9/25 | am | 60 | Ambient up to 75 |
| 9/25 | 6pm | 62, 64 | Ambient up to 80 | |
| 9/25 | 11pm | 65, 66 | ||
| Mon | 9/26 | am | 69, 71 | Ambient down to 78 |
| 9/26 | pm | 76, 77 | Ambient down to 72 | |
| 9/26 | late | 78, 79 | Ambient down to 65; split into 6 buckets | |
| Tue | 9/27 | am | 83, 84 | Turned down to 61 |
| 9/27 | 1pm | 86 | Broke the original thermometer | |
| 9/27 | 10pm | 76 | ||
| Wed | 9/28 | am | 78, 79 | Ambient up to 68 |
| 9/28 | pm | 68 | Ambient up to 75 | |
| 9/28 | late | 66, 65 | ||
| Thu | 9/29 | am | 66 | |
| 9/29 | pm | 68 | Ambient down to 72 | |
| 9/29 | late | 67 |
2021: Lanza Primitivo & Grenache Rosé
Our first vintage. Crushed Friday Sept 17, pressed Friday Sept 24.
- Grapes
- 51 boxes Lanza Primitivo, Suisun Valley. 5 boxes Grenache for rosé
- Starting Brix
- 22.5 at Musto, 23.5 to 24 in the must
- Yeast
- RC-212 · Wine15 for the rosé
- Crush
- Fri Sept 17
- Press
- Fri Sept 24, four press loads
- Red
- About 124 gal after the May racking: 1 barrel, 3 demijohns, 3 six-gallon carboys, 4 one-gallon jugs, 1 bottle (149.9 gal at press)
- Rosé
- 11.5 gal, bottled as 45 bottles
- Pickup crew
- Scott, Glenn and Ralph
- Crush crew
- Scott, Faun, Buf, Penney, Glenn, Ralph and Beth Ann
- Press crew
- Scott, Faun, Penney, Glenn and Buf
What happened
- Picked up a U-Haul on Mass Ave at 7am. One hour 45 minutes each way. Tipped the crew. Lunch at Franklin Giant Grinder.
- Crushed the 51 boxes (one short of 52) into four tubs of about 13 each, stunned the grapes, and pitched the yeast Saturday at noon. Half the yeast wasn't rolling, so we combined the two batches.
- Rosé sat 3 to 4 hours on the skins. It fizzed so much we had to put cheesecloth over the carboy.
- Press started at noon because the numbers weren't quite there; we should start earlier. Emptied the press into 10 five-gallon City Compost buckets.
- First racking Nov 26 went from 147.5 to 126.5 gallons, a 14% loss. Second racking May 15 took 6.5 hours and lost under 5 gallons.
- Rosé bottled Feb 3 and Apr 23, 2022. Brix checks ran weekly from 9/27 into January.
For next year
- Bring a jacket for the coolers, plus a charger and the E-ZPass.
- Look for grapes with a little more brown on the stems.
- Screw the box onto the destemmer and use a pomace rake to spread the grapes.
- Put cheesecloth under the operation and tarps down to unload the truck.
- Pump over, or find a better cap management tool. Boot trays under the spigots.
- A second black plastic pipe for pumping off juice.
Primitivo
RC-212 · 60–86°F · 24 Brix before stunning; 23 Sun, 13 Wed, about 10 at pressLogged by time of day, so times on the chart are approximate. Moved the room from 74°F toward 64°F on Sunday; the must still rose steadily to 80°F by Wednesday.
Show the full temperature log (18 readings)
| Day | Date | Time | Must °F | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat | 9/18 | am | 62 | Post-mix reading |
| 9/18 | pm | 65 | ||
| 9/18 | night | 66 | ||
| Sun | 9/19 | morn | 66 | |
| 9/19 | midday | 68 | ||
| 9/19 | evening | 68 | 23 Brix; room moved from 74 toward 64 | |
| Mon | 9/20 | am | 70 | |
| 9/20 | pm | 73 | ||
| 9/20 | night | 75 | ||
| Tue | 9/21 | am | 76 | |
| 9/21 | pm | 78 | ||
| 9/21 | evening | 79 | ||
| Wed | 9/22 | am | 80 | |
| 9/22 | pm | 79 | 13 Brix | |
| 9/22 | late | 78 | 11 Brix | |
| Thu | 9/23 | am | 79 | 9 Brix |
| 9/23 | pm | 80 | 11 Brix | |
| Fri | 9/24 | morn | 78 | 10 Brix |
Reference
Yeasts, grapes, barrels, corks, the cellar and the equipment.
Yeasts we’ve used
| Yeast | For | Active range | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lalvin RC-212 | Zinfandel, Primitivo | 60–86°F | 2021–2023 | About 120 g per fermentation tub. Needed a sulfite stun. Alcohol tolerance about 16%. |
| Uvaferm VRB | Barbera | 59–82°F | 2024 | Fruit-forward; alcohol tolerance about 17%. |
| Lalvin BM4x4 | Montepulciano | 60–82°F | 2025 | Competitive, so no stun needed. |
| RP-15 | Primitivo, old vine Zin | 68–86°F | 2026 | Bright red fruit and minerality; handles high Brix; alcohol tolerance about 17%. Fermaid-O helps it along. |
| Anchor Alchemy I | Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc | 55–61°F | 2024–2026 | Alcohol tolerance 15.5%. |
| Lalvin W15 | Rosé (Grenache) | 50–81°F | 2021 | Two packs for 5 boxes. Logged as "Wine15". Alcohol tolerance about 16%. |
Grape sources at Musto
- Lanza-Musto, Suisun Valley. Musto family farm with the most consistent quality, usually two weeks behind Lodi. Sells out every year. Our 2021 Primitivo, plus Barbera, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.
- Costamagna Vineyards, Lodi (17046 N. Devries Rd). Old vine Primitivo in 2022 and 2026 (Clement's Hill), Chenin Blanc in 2026.
- Riverenza, Clement's Hill. Our 2025 Montepulciano.
- Lodi Beauty. Our 2023 Zinfandel.
- Zinderella, Lodi. Old vines from the late 1800s; good value.
- Crybaby, Fresno. Earliest Zin, very thick skins and intense, high alcohol.
- Mettler Ranch. Always late. Its Grenache hit 30 Brix in 2024.
- Amador. Earthy Zin that arrives in October.
Rules of thumb
- Potential alcohol is about Brix × 0.55. Whites are usually picked at 20–24 Brix, reds at 22–26.
- The refractometer is only useful before fermentation. Below 5 Brix the yeast is in its death phase.
- Grapes keep up to 5 days in Musto's coolers.
- 30 vines make about one barrel of wine.
- Free-run juice is less acidic than pressed juice; pressing early makes a less tannic wine.
- Malolactic fermentation stalls below 50°F; it wants pH above 3.2 and alcohol under 15%.
- Rosé: leave it on the skins one hour past the color you want, since it lightens. Taste the press juice against the free-run juice and stop when it turns bitter, rather than going by a set pressure.
- Zinfandel doesn't take well to filtering.
Barrels
- TW Boswell American Oak, Soleil, 225 L (59 gal), medium plus toast. Bought in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
- 110 lb empty, about 600 lb full. 35" tall, 28" at the belly, 2" bung.
- Don't use 100% new oak. TW Boswell suggests a third new, a third 2 to 3 years old, a third neutral, then blend at the end.
- American oak lasts about 5 years, French about 3.
Corks
- ACIC Closures natural cork, natural color, grade AC2, 45 × 24 mm, vintage on the end.
- AC1 is the top grade. Minimum order around 500.
- Artwork: black and white Illustrator file at 45 × 24 mm, leaving 1 to 1.5 mm margin. Fire or laser branding takes 3 weeks.
The cellar
- Insulated wine shed with an 8,000 BTU LG through-wall AC run by a CoolBot Pro, plus an Inkbird-controlled space heater that kicks on at 50°F.
- Temperature alarms on both at below 47°F and above 61°F.
- Holds the barrels on racks, a 220 L Speidel variable-volume tank, three 54 L demijohns and the 6-gallon carboys.
- Rebuilt in 2023 with new insulation, sheathing, clapboards and shelves.
Equipment
- Zambelli Gamma 15 crusher-destemmer with pump
- Lancman water-operated bladder press
- 55-gallon blue fermentation tubs with spigots
- Eagle spill containment platform (the yellow platform)
- Tellarini ALM20 pump for transfers, Shurflo pump for racking
- Stainless must plunger from Gino Pinto, TCW suction torpedo
- Enolmatic vacuum bottle filler and floor corker
- Bottles: CWA-017 antique green Bordeaux, 12 per case
Fermentation temperatures are °F, measured in the must after stirring.