Hi,
I was curious if anyone had experiences with making very small batch
wine, if such a practice exists. I have 2 vines newly planted in my
yard and was interested in making wine from their crop down the road.
It is Zinfandel, and I'm in Redwood City, CA near Woodside.
If anyone can point me in the direction of small batch winemaking
products or tips or suggestions, they are appreciated.
Rob

On Apr 23, 3:43 pm, "Rob D." > wrote:
> Hi,
> I was curious if anyone had experiences with making very small batch
> wine, if such a practice exists. I have 2 vines newly planted in my
> yard and was interested in making wine from their crop down the road.
> It is Zinfandel, and I'm in Redwood City, CA near Woodside.
> If anyone can point me in the direction of small batch winemaking
> products or tips or suggestions, they are appreciated.
> Rob

Check out http://winemaking.jackkeller.net. Many of Jack's recipes
are for one gallon batches. His particular one for red Zinfandel
(http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request204.asp) is for 5 gallons,
but the measurable ingredients are easily scalable for smaller
amounts. Just substitute 1 Campden tablet per gallon for the
metabisulfite and use the entire yeast packet for the smaller batch.

On Apr 23, 3:43 pm, "Rob D." > wrote:
> Hi,
> I was curious if anyone had experiences with making very small batch
> wine, if such a practice exists. I have 2 vines newly planted in my
> yard and was interested in making wine from their crop down the road.
> It is Zinfandel, and I'm in Redwood City, CA near Woodside.
> If anyone can point me in the direction of small batch winemaking
> products or tips or suggestions, they are appreciated.
> Rob

Check out http://winemaking.jackkeller.net. Many of Jack's recipes
are for one gallon batches. His particular one for red Zinfandel
(http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request204.asp) is for 5 gallons,
but most of the measured ingredients can be scaled for smaller
batches. Just substitute 1 Campden tablet per gallon for the
metabisulfite, and use the entire pack of yeast for the smaller amount.

On Apr 23, 1:43 pm, "Rob D." > wrote:
> Hi,
> I was curious if anyone had experiences with making very small batch
> wine, if such a practice exists. I have 2 vines newly planted in my
> yard and was interested in making wine from their crop down the road.
> It is Zinfandel, and I'm in Redwood City, CA near Woodside.
> If anyone can point me in the direction of small batch winemaking
> products or tips or suggestions, they are appreciated.
> Rob

As pointed out, Jack's site is a general good resource. The main
issues working with such small amount of grapes a 1) a lot of work
for a small reward, and 2) the environment has a greater impact on the
result in terms of bacteria, oxygen, etc., so the winemaking is more
difficult.

Google Jeff Chorniak. He's making wines from bonsai grapes so he might
have the best perspective on this.

Pp

> I was curious if anyone had experiences with making very small batch
> wine, if such a practice exists. I have 2 vines newly planted in my

Like you, I'm growing grapes in my backyard. I pulled in my first
harvest last year, and it tipped the scales at 4lb. How's that for a
small batch? You've *really* got to want to make wine to make a batch
that small, and I did - 500 ml (give or take) of finished wine is
aging in a beer bottle as we speak.

Normally my small batches are 1-gallon, and for batches of that size I
would recommend an assortment of smaller containers. Half-gallon jugs
and wine bottles come in handy when you've got to rack a 1-gallon jug
and don't have anything to top it off with. So do half-bottles. Heck,
I even overpaid for a six-pack of coca cola in those little 8oz glass
bottles, and I don't even drink coke anymore. You'll need lots of #2
bungs, drilled and solid, to go with them. You can put the siphon hose
into a pint or quart sized glass measuring cup during racking,
temporarily, while you're switching from the half-gallon jug to the
wine bottle.

Once you've got wine in a wine bottle or smaller bottle, be careful
about racking out of it, because weight of the liquid in the bottle
helps to keep it steady. As the liquid is siphoned out, the bottle
becomes more and more sensitive to little pushes and pulls (like that
ever so slight tug on the siphon hose while all your attention is on
the receiving container). If you don't have a helper, or something you
can clamp it to, you might just want to decant instead of siphoning.

With small batches, it becomes more important to save the lees/slurry.
Let it settle in a small bottle until you get clear wine on top, then
decant. It's often best to combine the lees of several batches so you
can fill a container to the top.

Erroll
www.washingtonwinemaker.com

On Apr 25, 10:00 pm, Erroll Ozgencil > wrote:
> > I was curious if anyone had experiences with making very small batch
> > wine, if such a practice exists. I have 2 vines newly planted in my
>
> Like you, I'm growing grapes in my backyard. I pulled in my first
> harvest last year, and it tipped the scales at 4lb. How's that for a
> small batch? You've *really* got to want to make wine to make a batch
> that small, and I did - 500 ml (give or take) of finished wine is
> aging in a beer bottle as we speak.
>
> Normally my small batches are 1-gallon, and for batches of that size I
> would recommend an assortment of smaller containers. Half-gallon jugs
> and wine bottles come in handy when you've got to rack a 1-gallon jug
> and don't have anything to top it off with. So do half-bottles. Heck,
> I even overpaid for a six-pack of coca cola in those little 8oz glass
> bottles, and I don't even drink coke anymore. You'll need lots of #2
> bungs, drilled and solid, to go with them. You can put the siphon hose
> into a pint or quart sized glass measuring cup during racking,
> temporarily, while you're switching from the half-gallon jug to the
> wine bottle.
>
> Once you've got wine in a wine bottle or smaller bottle, be careful
> about racking out of it, because weight of the liquid in the bottle
> helps to keep it steady. As the liquid is siphoned out, the bottle
> becomes more and more sensitive to little pushes and pulls (like that
> ever so slight tug on the siphon hose while all your attention is on
> the receiving container). If you don't have a helper, or something you
> can clamp it to, you might just want to decant instead of siphoning.
>
> With small batches, it becomes more important to save the lees/slurry.
> Let it settle in a small bottle until you get clear wine on top, then
> decant. It's often best to combine the lees of several batches so you
> can fill a container to the top.
>
> Errollwww.washingtonwinemaker.com

Hey that's great advice!
I've never made any wine before, so I figure if I can master the
small batch, making more will be easier, and good excuse to plant more
vines in a few select sunny locations in yard. And I guess I *really*
do want to try this.

For 4lb, how many vines do you have and how are they planted? I'd
guess one in a container.

I bookmarked your blog, so perhaps be in touch after my first harvest.

thanks again.

According to 'cliff notes' a Napa Valley winemaker sent me, mature vines
should yield about 5 bottles of wine. Mature being somewhat subjective, I
remember something like three to five years in my discussion. A lot of that
depends on the skill of the vine-meister, of course -- how well the vines
are cared for, how expertly they are pruned, etc. He said one acre of
mature grapes is good for about 5,000 bottles.

On Apr 26, 10:14 am, "Rob D." > wrote:
> For 4lb, how many vines do you have and how are they planted? I'd
> guess one in a container.
>

>
> thanks again.

I have a potted Pinot Noir that was in it's third leaf last year, and
it yielded 2 lb of grapes. I allowed three 2nd leaf Leon Millot to
ripen a little fruit, and between them I got another 2 lb. I really
don't know how much a mature potted vine ought to yield, but I'm using
the harvest from my Pinot as a first estimate. I have four more vines
(Price and Siegerebbe) going into their 3rd leaf, this year, and a 4th
leaf Swenson Red. I'll be a curious blend, but I'm hoping for a gallon
of it!

> I bookmarked your blog, so perhaps be in touch after my first harvest.

I'd love to hear about it.

Erroll
www.washingtonwinemaker.com