California Vineyards
Many of us at Vint Hill Craft Winery and Tin Lizzie Wineworks are sourcing grapes from California. Kathy and I just returned from California where we visited vineyards and wineries in Suisun Valley,...
View ArticleCalifornia Grape Harvest
On a recent visit to California we had the opportunity to video tape harvest. Kathy and I helped Basignani Winery in Maryland, harvest Marechal Foch grapes in 2007. The workers in California put us to...
View ArticleSorting the Grapes on a Double Sorting Table
Not all winemakers sort grapes brought to the winery from the vineyards. Of those that do sort grapes, some wineries will use a single sorting table while others may use a double sorting table. One of...
View ArticleSorting Table Part 2 and a Bit of Chemistry
A large group showed up last Saturday at Vint Hill Craft Winery to sort the Cabernet Sauvignon that had earlier arrived from Arciero Vineyards in Paso Robles, California. Rather than dumping the...
View ArticleTin Lizzie Wineworks: Grapes Arrive
Grapes have arrived at Tin Lizzie Wineworks in Howard County, Maryland. Dave Zuchero and Rob Pearre had been waiting at Tin Lizzie all day. By 4:20pm when I arrived, the 18-wheel truck still had not...
View ArticleDestemming and Chemistry at Tin Lizzie Wineworks
After waiting for the grapes to arive from Stagecoach Vineyards in California via New Jersey it was time for the vintners to process their grapes. The first group destemmed Syrah. They were interested...
View ArticleTin Lizzie Wineworks Pressing the Must
A week after crushing the grapes and adding yeast to the must, it was time to press the mixture. The liquid is now wine. In order to extract more wine from the must, rice hulls were added to the must...
View ArticlePressing the Must at Vint Hill Craft Winery
Pressing the must was a breeze using Vint Hill’s neumatic press. Cleaning up took longer than pressing. Using the forklift, DJ lifted a fermentation bin and dumped the must into the wooden slat press...
View ArticleRacking to a Barrel at Vint Hill Craft Winery
After a few days in a tank we racked our wine into a French oak barrel. We also helped to rack other wines into other barrels. The easy job was to place a wand (a long tube attached to a pump) into...
View Article
