2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Blush

So I got Cabernet Sauvignon when I thought I was getting Cabernet Blanc. The white grapes were really picked over. I decided to make a blush of it. The grapes turned out the be dry, so there was not much juice. 72 lb yielded 4.5 gallons. I am going to use the skins in the Merlot.

As always, the grapes are pressed immediately after crushing. The juice was 26.4 Brix which will make 13.8% alcohol -- good to go!

2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Blush Recipe

72 lb Cabernet Sauvignon (4.5 gallon of juice)
4 g pectic enzyme
6 g yeast energizer
1 packet Red Star Premier Crevee

2015 Primitivo Zinfandel

I found some grapes labelled Primitivo which is the Italian name for Zinfandel, as shown by DNA some time ago. The lady at the counter knew this. The grapes were great though. I did a taste test with the Cab Sav and my Merlot, and the Primitivo was winner.

The grapes were juicy so the sugar was a little low at 24.4 Brix. I added sugar up to 27% Brix or 14.2% alcohol.

2015 Zinfandel Wine Recipe

108 lb Zinfandel Grapes
2.4 lb sugar
11 g yeast energizer
1 pack Red Star Montrachet

Almost the same recipe as last year. 

2015 Cherry Wine

I have a lot of cherry wine on hand from last year, but the cherries were on sale at the store, so I bought a few bags. These were California Cherries, and not too sweet. 


2015 Cherry Wine Recipe

11 lb Sweet Cherries (stemmed, and sliced, but with pits)
1.5 gal water
6 lb of sugar (!)
1 t yeast energizer
1 t pectic enzyme
yeast - Red Star Cravee


This made 10 L of wine which is aging well. 

The flavor was better without heating the cherries, but I probably had a lower yield of juice. 

Here is the wine label for this batch:

2015 Raspberry Wine

My brother Glenn made an excellent raspberry wine two years ago, so when raspberries were on sale, I bought 3 cases and here we are. I do have a couple raspberry bushes but they don't produce anything like what I needed.

This has about twice the level of raspberries compared to the online recipes. I wanted a stronger raspberry flavor. I can always dilute it at the end.

The plan is to ferment to dryness, and then mix back with either more sugar or a white grape wine. I plan to try both, but there will only be about 3 gallons total. I am a little concerned that I should add more water, but we will see.

2015 Raspberry Wine Recipe

9.75 lb water (1 gal + .6 qt)

15 lb raspberries (Well-Pict from California, with a handful of my homegrown raspberries)

7.3 lb sugar

1 lime - juice only

1g wine tannin

4 g pectic enzyme

5 g yeast energizer

1 Premier Cuvee

The sugar content was measure by refractive index at 27.7% sugar (25 brix.) This should give 13. 1%.

2014 Zinfandel Wine

As mentioned, I was a little late to the store, and it was picked over. I did get some juicy Zinfandel grapes. Very juicy as the juice was dripping out of the cases after I stacked them.

2014 Zinfandel Wine Recipe

108 lb Zinfandel Grapes
4 lb sugar
11 g yeast energizer
1 pack Red Star Montrachet

I would have added a little more sugar, but I was all out.

2014 French Colombard

I went to my local wine & grape and they were picked over. The season was early this year, so I missed the best selection. I needed some white grapes, so I got French Colombard. The first two cases were great, but that third case had too many dried grapes -- some of those clumps ended up in the red wine. I thought that these raisins are not going to contribute anything if they don't soak in the juice, but the white wine got pressed immediately.

2014 French Colombard Recipe

108 lb French Colombard Grapes (Uva de Puglia, Escalon, CA)
2 lb sugar
7 g pectic enzyme
11 g yeast energizer
1 packet Red Star Premier Crevee

Last time, I included several kinds of tea to try to add some floral notes. I have not decided to do that so far. This juice had a good flavor.


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April 2016: I racked this 2-3 times, and it has a good flavor with good clarity. Not too light. Fruity, but not floral.

2014 Ruby Cabernet

I went to the local wine grape outlet, and it was packed. I just wondered around tasting the different pallets of grapes. The Ruby Cabernet was something special-- it had a nice intense flavor. It was not so sweet though, so it needed a lot of sugar.

144 lb Ruby Cabernet Grapes  (Uva de Puglia Escalon California)
11.1 lb sugar
16 g yeast energizer
2 packs of yeast
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after fermentation
1 vial of malolactic bacteria (WLP675 from White Labs)


I have a handheld refractometer for measuring the refractive index, so I can track the sugar content pretty well. I added the sugar, and the refractive index did not go up as predicted by my calculation. This apparently is because there was some crystalline sugar still present. After waiting overnight, I ended up with the target number. On the other hand, I had already added more sugar by then -- so the indicated recipe will be stronger than I had planned.

After primary fermentation, I pressed it and put in glass demijohns.  I added the Malolactic bacteria. The hope is that I won't get sourness or off flavors that have affected previous vintages.