Hi,

I've just inherited by default (long story) about 30 gallons of just
pressed Sangiovese juice. And this is not a bad thing!

I'm wondering if there are any recipe suggestions out there? I've
made enough wine from juice to be okay with the basics, but I'm having
difficulty finding any recipes for these grapes. I'm mostly wondering
if I should add any oak to it. Something tells me yes, but wanted to
make certain it is the right thing to do.

I'm also wondering if it's worth my while to get 5-10 gallons of
cabernet crushed and press to make a chianti blend.

Thanks,
Nick

Nick wrote:

Hi,

I've just inherited by default (long story)
about 30 gallons of just
pressed Sangiovese juice. And this is not a bad
thing!

I'm wondering if there are any recipe
suggestions out there? I've made enough wine
from juice to be okay with the basics, but I'm
having
difficulty finding any recipes for these grapes.
I'm mostly wondering
if I should add any oak to it. Something tells
me yes, but wanted to make certain it is the
right thing to do.

Well, first of all, Sangiovese is a red grape and
is usually fermented on the skins. I know there
are dealers out there that sell the "Juice" but
it was probably not pressed juice from the
crushed, fermented and pressed grape. Therefore,
all bets are off as this is not the normal way to
make a "Chianti" style wine.

I do not know the results you will obtain with or
without Cabernet grapes (or juice) but it would
be good to realize this is not the standard
practice in making a "Super Tuscan" type of
"Chianti".



I'm also wondering if it's worth my while to get
5-10 gallons of cabernet crushed and press to
make a chianti blend.

Thanks,
Nick

Nick -
Pressed Sangiovese juice is likely to make a pretty light wine, if
you don't have any skin exposure during fermentation. Unless you want
to make 30 gallons of blush wine, I think your best bet would be to
get 15 gallons or more of crushed Cabernet Sauv. grapes (NOT pressed -
you need the skins!) and ferment them together. Oak wouldn't hurt
either, I expect, but the skins are more important, IMHO. You can
call it a "super Tuscan" - very trendy. :-)

Doug

You need to define crushed and pressed a little better. If this is
hot pressed juice it can make a very nice, deeply colored red wine, if
it looks like a blush, no to little oak may make more sense. I
always add oak to reds and I usually blend. If this is mostly
fermented wine coming off the skins and it has some tannins and color
that is another matter too; I would definitely add oak.

Joe

On Fri, 28 Sep 2007 14:23:40 -0700, Joe Sallustio
wrote:

You need to define crushed and pressed a little better. If this is
hot pressed juice it can make a very nice, deeply colored red wine, if
it looks like a blush, no to little oak may make more sense. I
always add oak to reds and I usually blend. If this is mostly
fermented wine coming off the skins and it has some tannins and color
that is another matter too; I would definitely add oak.

Joe


I'm not certain of the proper terms, but it were 9 crates (lugs?) of
the grapes put into a crusher and 10 minutes later there was a bit
less than 30 gallons of juice. I was told that I would end up with
about 5 gallons of sediment. The sediment might be crushed skins that
passed through. The color is a deep enough red, but kind of hard to
tell because it's a bit 'pastey' looking.

Thanks for the replies. If the above details enhance another
reply...please do. :-)

Nick

"Nick" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 28 Sep 2007 14:23:40 -0700, Joe Sallustio
wrote:

You need to define crushed and pressed a little better. If this is
hot pressed juice it can make a very nice, deeply colored red wine, if
it looks like a blush, no to little oak may make more sense. I
always add oak to reds and I usually blend. If this is mostly
fermented wine coming off the skins and it has some tannins and color
that is another matter too; I would definitely add oak.

Joe


I'm not certain of the proper terms, but it were 9 crates (lugs?) of
the grapes put into a crusher and 10 minutes later there was a bit
less than 30 gallons of juice. I was told that I would end up with
about 5 gallons of sediment. The sediment might be crushed skins that
passed through. The color is a deep enough red, but kind of hard to
tell because it's a bit 'pastey' looking.

Thanks for the replies. If the above details enhance another
reply...please do. :-)

Nick

Can the same technique used to make red zinfandel be utilized to make your
wine a deeper red?
Thant would be to leave the crushed skins in the primary fermentation until
the right gravity is obtained.
On the other hand if it is your first time with this type of grape what
would be wrong to begin the fermentation as is.
Then later on you can blend the Sangiovese with another robust wine or drink
it as it.

Nick wrote:

On Fri, 28 Sep 2007 14:23:40 -0700, Joe
Sallustio wrote:

You need to define crushed and pressed a little
better. If this is hot pressed juice it can
make a very nice, deeply colored red wine, if
it looks like a blush, no to little oak may
make more sense. I
always add oak to reds and I usually blend. If
this is mostly fermented wine coming off the
skins and it has some tannins and color that is
another matter too; I would definitely add oak.

Joe


I'm not certain of the proper terms, but it were
9 crates (lugs?) of the grapes put into a
crusher and 10 minutes later there was a bit
less than 30 gallons of juice. I was told that
I would end up with
about 5 gallons of sediment. The sediment might
be crushed skins that
passed through. The color is a deep enough red,
but kind of hard to tell because it's a bit
'pastey' looking.

Thanks for the replies. If the above details
enhance another
reply...please do. :-)

Nick

Does the juice include skins?

On Fri, 28 Sep 2007 19:15:58 -0400, "Paul E. Lehmann"
wrote:

Nick wrote:

On Fri, 28 Sep 2007 14:23:40 -0700, Joe
Sallustio wrote:

You need to define crushed and pressed a little
better. If this is hot pressed juice it can
make a very nice, deeply colored red wine, if
it looks like a blush, no to little oak may
make more sense. I
always add oak to reds and I usually blend. If
this is mostly fermented wine coming off the
skins and it has some tannins and color that is
another matter too; I would definitely add oak.

Joe


I'm not certain of the proper terms, but it were
9 crates (lugs?) of the grapes put into a
crusher and 10 minutes later there was a bit
less than 30 gallons of juice. I was told that
I would end up with
about 5 gallons of sediment. The sediment might
be crushed skins that
passed through. The color is a deep enough red,
but kind of hard to tell because it's a bit
'pastey' looking.

Thanks for the replies. If the above details
enhance another
reply...please do. :-)

Nick

Does the juice include skins?

Yes, there is a lot of skins.

On Sep 29, 10:52 am, Nick wrote:
On Fri, 28 Sep 2007 19:15:58 -0400, "Paul E. Lehmann"



wrote:
Nick wrote:

On Fri, 28 Sep 2007 14:23:40 -0700, Joe
Sallustio wrote:

You need to define crushed and pressed a little
better. If this is hot pressed juice it can
make a very nice, deeply colored red wine, if
it looks like a blush, no to little oak may
make more sense. I
always add oak to reds and I usually blend. If
this is mostly fermented wine coming off the
skins and it has some tannins and color that is
another matter too; I would definitely add oak.

Joe

I'm not certain of the proper terms, but it were
9 crates (lugs?) of the grapes put into a
crusher and 10 minutes later there was a bit
less than 30 gallons of juice. I was told that
I would end up with
about 5 gallons of sediment. The sediment might
be crushed skins that
passed through. The color is a deep enough red,
but kind of hard to tell because it's a bit
'pastey' looking.

Thanks for the replies. If the above details
enhance another
reply...please do. :-)

Nick

Does the juice include skins?

Yes, there is a lot of skins.

Great. What you want to do is leave the wine (juice) on the skins, as
it ferments you will see the skins come up to the top, push (punch)
them down with a potato masher or big spoon in the morning and each
night. The skins have to stay wet. Eventually the skins will sink,
taste it each time you punch it down. Eventually it will start to
taste more astringent. When it seem to taste close to right as to
astringency you need to put this into a wine press. If you don't have
one use the biggest colander you have and squeeze them by hand, like
making snowballs. There are lots of resources free on the internet
that explain how to make wine. If you can get the wine warmer, to
90F it will pull the color out faster.

Joe

Sorry, I take back (mostly) my earlier comments. I made the mistake
of assuming that Nick understood the terms he was using. Fortunately,
wiser (and more skeptical) heads prevailed, with better advice.

Nick - just for future reference, there are two terms that have very
specific meanings in winemaking, that can often be confusing to
newcomers.

"Crush" refers to the process of breaking the skins of the grapes, so
that the juices inside are exposed and fermentation can begin. In
many cases, the stems are removed at the same time (and by the same
machine).

"Press" refers to the process of separating the liquids (juice or
wine) from the skins, seeds and other misc. solids. In the case of
white wines, this is often done right after "crush", so that the
fermentation process is started on the juice only. In the case of red
wines, "press" usually happens AFTER fermentation, as you want to
ferment on the skins to get the colors and tannins from the skins into
the wine.

So what you had was 30 gallons of crushed grapes, or must. Strictly
speaking, it was not "pressed juice". Fortunately for you, crushed
grapes is what you want in this instance, as you want that skin
contact during fermentation. Joe's advice above was right on. If you
follow those recommendations, you should end up with 18 to 20 gallons
of very nice Sangiovese.

Happy fermenting --

Doug

On Oct 1, 2:20 pm, Doug wrote:
Sorry, I take back (mostly) my earlier comments. I made the mistake
of assuming that Nick understood the terms he was using. Fortunately,
wiser (and more skeptical) heads prevailed, with better advice.

Nick - just for future reference, there are two terms that have very
specific meanings in winemaking, that can often be confusing to
newcomers.

"Crush" refers to the process of breaking the skins of the grapes, so
that the juices inside are exposed and fermentation can begin. In
many cases, the stems are removed at the same time (and by the same
machine).

"Press" refers to the process of separating the liquids (juice or
wine) from the skins, seeds and other misc. solids. In the case of
white wines, this is often done right after "crush", so that the
fermentation process is started on the juice only. In the case of red
wines, "press" usually happens AFTER fermentation, as you want to
ferment on the skins to get the colors and tannins from the skins into
the wine.

So what you had was 30 gallons of crushed grapes, or must. Strictly
speaking, it was not "pressed juice". Fortunately for you, crushed
grapes is what you want in this instance, as you want that skin
contact during fermentation. Joe's advice above was right on. If you
follow those recommendations, you should end up with 18 to 20 gallons
of very nice Sangiovese.

Happy fermenting --

Doug

It was a group effort; it is a news 'group'...

My Central Valley reds from grapes have pH issues, most are starting
at 4 as a heads up. TA looks decent, must be a possium problem.

Joe