I picked up my Malbec grapes today from mdcrush in
Mt. Airy Maryland - about 30 miles from where I
live. They were in a refrigerated cooler he had
on location.

I bought 5 lugs at 22 pounds (10 Kilos each) each
for a total of 110 pounds or 50 kilos.
The price was $142.50

The grapes were of good quality and no mold or
rot.

The price is a little high - but local growers are
charging almost the same thing here in Central
Maryland and Northern Virginia - and you don't
get a reusable lug.

The lugs are plastic and are reusable and
stackable. I am going to use them when I harvest
from my backyard vineyard this fall.

They had a stemmer crusher on location for use for
free but I have one at home so I brought them
home.

Here are the chemistries that I measured at home
after crush.

Brix 23.0
pH 3.5
TA 0.063

I think this will make an excellent wine.

The distributor may have made a mistake but I
thought I heard him say the brix was 26. I like
23 a LOT better than 26 Brix. If I wanted 26 or
higher, I could get Central Valley California
grapes and for less money.

I have found that some growers and distributors
error on the high side when it comes to talking
about the amount of sex they get and the Brix of
their grapes

There are other locations located around the US
that sell South American grapes. There was a
list in I believe it was last month's "Wine
Maker" Magazine - it may have been two issues
ago.

On Apr 26, 2:48 pm, "Paul E. Lehmann" > wrote:
> I picked up my Malbec grapes today from mdcrush in
> Mt. Airy Maryland - about 30 miles from where I
> live. They were in a refrigerated cooler he had
> on location.
>
> I bought 5 lugs at 22 pounds (10 Kilos each) each
> for a total of 110 pounds or 50 kilos.
> The price was $142.50
>
> The grapes were of good quality and no mold or
> rot.
>
> The price is a little high - but local growers are
> charging almost the same thing here in Central
> Maryland and Northern Virginia - and you don't
> get a reusable lug.
>
> The lugs are plastic and are reusable and
> stackable. I am going to use them when I harvest
> from my backyard vineyard this fall.
>
> They had a stemmer crusher on location for use for
> free but I have one at home so I brought them
> home.
>
> Here are the chemistries that I measured at home
> after crush.
>
> Brix 23.0
> pH 3.5
> TA 0.063
>
> I think this will make an excellent wine.
>
> The distributor may have made a mistake but I
> thought I heard him say the brix was 26. I like
> 23 a LOT better than 26 Brix. If I wanted 26 or
> higher, I could get Central Valley California
> grapes and for less money.
>
> I have found that some growers and distributors
> error on the high side when it comes to talking
> about the amount of sex they get and the Brix of
> their grapes
>
> There are other locations located around the US
> that sell South American grapes. There was a
> list in I believe it was last month's "Wine
> Maker" Magazine - it may have been two issues
> ago.

the grapes may have been 26 before shipping.

wrote:

> On Apr 26, 2:48 pm, "Paul E. Lehmann"
> > wrote:
>> I picked up my Malbec grapes today from mdcrush
>> in Mt. Airy Maryland - about 30 miles from
>> where I
>> live. They were in a refrigerated cooler he
>> had on location.
>>
>> I bought 5 lugs at 22 pounds (10 Kilos each)
>> each for a total of 110 pounds or 50 kilos.
>> The price was $142.50
>>
>> The grapes were of good quality and no mold or
>> rot.
>>
>> The price is a little high - but local growers
>> are charging almost the same thing here in
>> Central Maryland and Northern Virginia - and
>> you don't get a reusable lug.
>>
>> The lugs are plastic and are reusable and
>> stackable. I am going to use them when I
>> harvest from my backyard vineyard this fall.
>>
>> They had a stemmer crusher on location for use
>> for free but I have one at home so I brought
>> them home.
>>
>> Here are the chemistries that I measured at
>> home after crush.
>>
>> Brix 23.0
>> pH 3.5
>> TA 0.063
>>
>> I think this will make an excellent wine.
>>
>> The distributor may have made a mistake but I
>> thought I heard him say the brix was 26. I
>> like 23 a LOT better than 26 Brix. If I wanted
>> 26 or higher, I could get Central Valley
>> California grapes and for less money.
>>
>> I have found that some growers and distributors
>> error on the high side when it comes to talking
>> about the amount of sex they get and the Brix
>> of their grapes
>>
>> There are other locations located around the US
>> that sell South American grapes. There was a
>> list in I believe it was last month's "Wine
>> Maker" Magazine - it may have been two issues
>> ago.
>
> the grapes may have been 26 before shipping.

I doubt it. I can't think of a mechanism that
would cause a decrease in brix - except for
grapes hanging on the vine during a rainy spell.

The distributor said, after I told him my
readings, that my readings were more accurate
because he just checked a couple individual
grapes on a cluster which is not a very reliable
way to check brix.