Joe wrote "I have heard of people letting their Baco hang longer for a late
harvest
wine. Have you tried this? Do you pick at optimum Brix/TA or do you let
them hang to soften the acid?"

Joe - I try to let the Bacos hang until the brix is around 24 and TA is
1.00% or below.
By the time they get to 24 brix some berries are falling off the clusters so
I pick. I
would like to let them go so TA falls but they are very soft and some
raisins start to
form. I don't believe I've ever picked below 0.9% TA. It's always a
struggle to end up with a Baco wine with acid in the 0.6 to 0.7% TA
range, but that's the way Baco goes here in the KC area. I get quite a lot
of acid
precipitating out during fermentation and cold conditioning so these grapes
must have
a lot of tartaric.

Bill Frazier

William Frazier wrote:

Joe - I try to let the Bacos hang until the brix is around 24 and TA is
1.00% or below.
By the time they get to 24 brix some berries are falling off the clusters so
I pick. I
would like to let them go so TA falls but they are very soft and some
raisins start to
form. I don't believe I've ever picked below 0.9% TA. It's always a
struggle to end up with a Baco wine with acid in the 0.6 to 0.7% TA
range, but that's the way Baco goes here in the KC area. I get quite a lot
of acid
precipitating out during fermentation and cold conditioning so these grapes
must have
a lot of tartaric.

Have you ever used calcium carbonate to reduce acid?

My Baco I purchased this year came in at Brix: 20.2, pH: 3.22, acid:
14.2

Of course I'm planing MLF for it... hopefully that has an affect, as
it's tart right now.


--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields

Hi Charles

Sounds like you are also in Niagara.

I am planning to pick my Baco soon. They still look healthy and they look
ready. I have been waiting as Bill suggested to pick them as late as
possible to help decrease the acid and maybe raise the brix a bit. But in
the end I think they will be similar acid readings to what you have.

There have been a lot of good discussions on acid reduction techniques on
this forum. I am thinking of using Potassium carbonate or Potassium
bicarbonate. I don't have any experience with either I usually accept the
acid, adjust the brix and blend appropriately later.

But I have heard that potassium precipitates easier than calcium carbonate
after cold stabilization.

Bill has a wealth of experience with Baco and I think he suggested acid
reduction techniques in an earlier post.

Joe

"Charles" wrote in message
...
William Frazier wrote:

Joe - I try to let the Bacos hang until the brix is around 24 and TA is
1.00% or below.
By the time they get to 24 brix some berries are falling off the
clusters so
I pick. I
would like to let them go so TA falls but they are very soft and some
raisins start to
form. I don't believe I've ever picked below 0.9% TA. It's always a
struggle to end up with a Baco wine with acid in the 0.6 to 0.7% TA
range, but that's the way Baco goes here in the KC area. I get quite a
lot
of acid
precipitating out during fermentation and cold conditioning so these
grapes
must have
a lot of tartaric.

Have you ever used calcium carbonate to reduce acid?

My Baco I purchased this year came in at Brix: 20.2, pH: 3.22, acid:
14.2

Of course I'm planing MLF for it... hopefully that has an affect, as
it's tart right now.


--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields

Joe wrote:

Hi Charles

Sounds like you are also in Niagara.

I am planning to pick my Baco soon. They still look healthy and they look
ready. I have been waiting as Bill suggested to pick them as late as
possible to help decrease the acid and maybe raise the brix a bit. But in
the end I think they will be similar acid readings to what you have.

There have been a lot of good discussions on acid reduction techniques on
this forum. I am thinking of using Potassium carbonate or Potassium
bicarbonate. I don't have any experience with either I usually accept the
acid, adjust the brix and blend appropriately later.

But I have heard that potassium precipitates easier than calcium carbonate
after cold stabilization.

Bill has a wealth of experience with Baco and I think he suggested acid
reduction techniques in an earlier post.

I'm actually up in Kitchener, my grapes are from Niagara though. I too
have never done acid reduction like pre-fermentation but I am going to
attempt it. I shall let everyone know how it goes

What is the outlook on the chardonnay down your way? I am really
interested in getting some for a nice barrel fermented chard but I'm not
sure if this is the year or not.

It was a hard winter for some. But I find me and most others not too far
from the lake were o.k. There may be a slight reduction in harvest (10-15%)
for some varieties and some of the reds will have high acid but I think
Chardonnay had a good year around here and it should start next week.

How much are you interested in?

Joe

"Charles H" wrote in message
...
Joe wrote:

Hi Charles

Sounds like you are also in Niagara.

I am planning to pick my Baco soon. They still look healthy and they
look
ready. I have been waiting as Bill suggested to pick them as late as
possible to help decrease the acid and maybe raise the brix a bit. But
in
the end I think they will be similar acid readings to what you have.

There have been a lot of good discussions on acid reduction techniques
on
this forum. I am thinking of using Potassium carbonate or Potassium
bicarbonate. I don't have any experience with either I usually accept
the
acid, adjust the brix and blend appropriately later.

But I have heard that potassium precipitates easier than calcium
carbonate
after cold stabilization.

Bill has a wealth of experience with Baco and I think he suggested acid
reduction techniques in an earlier post.

I'm actually up in Kitchener, my grapes are from Niagara though. I too
have never done acid reduction like pre-fermentation but I am going to
attempt it. I shall let everyone know how it goes

What is the outlook on the chardonnay down your way? I am really
interested in getting some for a nice barrel fermented chard but I'm not
sure if this is the year or not.

Joe wrote:

It was a hard winter for some. But I find me and most others not too far
from the lake were o.k. There may be a slight reduction in harvest (10-15%)
for some varieties and some of the reds will have high acid but I think
Chardonnay had a good year around here and it should start next week.

How much are you interested in?

Joe

Not quite sure yet... 60 to 110 litres worth of juice, a bit more if
it's not cold settled.

--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields

Charles

At this time I only sell grapes not juice but I will check around. It now
looks like the chardonnay won't be ready until next week at earliest.

Joe

"Charles H" wrote in message
...
Joe wrote:

It was a hard winter for some. But I find me and most others not too
far
from the lake were o.k. There may be a slight reduction in harvest
(10-15%)
for some varieties and some of the reds will have high acid but I think
Chardonnay had a good year around here and it should start next week.

How much are you interested in?

Joe

Not quite sure yet... 60 to 110 litres worth of juice, a bit more if
it's not cold settled.

--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields

We picked the baco yesterday and crushed today, The readings we

Brix 19
TA 1.40%


"Joe" wrote in message
.. .
I may be getting some late harvest baco noir or cab franc. They are being
picked late since the acid is high and the brix low. The flavour seems
o.k.
It has been that kinda of a year in the NE.

Does anyone have a recipe for late harvest wine they can share?

Other suggestions for making the most of high acid low sugar grapes?

Joe wrote:

Charles

At this time I only sell grapes not juice but I will check around. It now
looks like the chardonnay won't be ready until next week at earliest.

The weather is looking really nice for the next so I think I will look
into getting some... would you mind emailing me prices and such? Just
remove the spam. before my name! :^)

--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields