2018 Winery and Vineyard

New for 2018, a glycol chiller to enable cold fermentation and subsequent cold aging!!! The chiller has a 3 gallon capacity and was purchased from Ss brewtech. This chiller has four input/output ports capable of chilling up to 4 tanks. The plan for 2018 is to use the chiller with my 300 liter and 220 liter tanks.

This chiller project was a bit more involved than I expected. Trying to get a chiller meant for beer to work with stainless steel wine tanks took a bit of doing; a bit of trial and error. For wine the heat exchanger I decided to go with is the snake shown in the image to the right that is suspended below the tank lid. I performed four different test runs with water to work out the bugs. So hopefully no surprises with the upcoming 2018 harvest.

Year #5 for the Safari Creek vineyard, much more mature than 2017.

I am expecting this to be my first sizable crop; >500 pounds.

The 2018 harvest: 2,954 pounds((mouse bottle to see award)

August 21 - Pinot Gris - 254lbs (Knightsen) [Brix: 21, pH:3.55]
      ==>Award Winner: 2019 Sacramento Home Wine Club Jubilee SILVER medal in Rose' category

August 24 - Sauvignon Blanc - 940lbs (Placerville) [Brix:24, pH:3.3]

August 31 - Chardonnay - 500+200lbs (500-Safari Creek; 200-Brentwood) [Brix:21.5, pH:3.66]
      ==>Award Winner: 2019 CCWG SILVER Contra Costa County category

September 2 - Zinfandel - 200 lbs (Oakley, 150 year old vines) [Brix:26.5, pH:3.34]

September 8 - Petite Syrah - 260 lbs (Brentwood) [Brix:22, pH:3.6]

September 14 - Syrah - 600 lbs (Davis) [Brix:26.5, pH:4.0]
      ==>Award Winner: 2019 Sacramento Home Wine Club Jubilee BRONZE medal in Rose' category