Home Winemaker Happenings

Owned and operated by Jim and Judi Brady who, after making home wine for the past 30 plus years, decided to plant their own vineyard and go commercial with their winemaking in 2010. It really means a lot to actually grow your own grapes so that you have total control of the most important part of winemaking. You can’t make great wine out of bad grapes so if you start with quality grapes you have a much better chance of making a great wine. The soil at Roadrunner Ridge Winery is composed of clay and rocks on a hillside at 1,500 feet, hence the Rocky Hill Vineyard name. Afternoon breezes cool the grapes and the cool evenings due to the coastal influence is a big plus for quality.

Vineyard tours are available by appointment only.

Time for Class!
Continuing efforts on Wine Education Winemakers Offer Free Introduction to Winemaking Presentations at OC Fair

The Orange County Wine Society Winemaker Group gave 5 seminars at the Orange County Fair on Winemaking Basics during July and August. Kevin Donnelly was joined by Raj Upadhyay, Rob Romano, and Jim Graver in presenting the one-hour discussions which ranged from selecting the fruit from the vineyard or the grocery store, crushing and pressing, aging, and bottling the wines. The presentations included information on the prime time to pick grapes, the additives including SO2 and acid, yeasts and malolactic fermentations, glass, stainless steel or oak, and filtering vs. fining.

We talked about how the OCWS Winemaker Group can help purchase grapes, corks, and bottles at great prices, and gave some beginner hints on how you can get started for as little as $200. The class was attended by over 35 people and we hope has sparked interest in people to join this wonderful, thousands-of-years-old tradition.   Thanks to Kevin Donnelly for leading our wine education efforts.

Medal Count Grows for OCWS Winemakers

Last month, we reported the success of the 34^th Annual Homewine Competition at the OC Fair, where 186 winemakers from all parts of California entered a total of 667 wines. Our OCWS group has 40-50 active winemakers and some have won some distinguished awards at our OC Fair and other competitions. Last year, Ed Szubielski won national attention when he took first place as Grand Champion in the national competition of Winemaker’s Magazine. He beat 4,474 wines with his Santa Barbara Syrah.

Already we can report the following medals from the California State Fair…

· Michael Salas – Double Gold (99 Points) 2006 Syrah, Santa Rita Hills. Bronze 2007 Petite Sirah, San Miguel

· Less Silver - Silver, 2008 Sonoma Red Meritage

· Kevin Donnelly - 3 Silvers for 2009 Estate Ruby Red Grapefruit, 2009 Estate Limon wine, 2008 Merlot 8% Cabernet Sauvignon

· And from the San Diego Fair, Ron Gray reports great news with a Best of Show for his Cabernet Sauvignon (which also swept the categories and garnered a gold for Cabernet Sauvignon, Best of Class for Cabernet, and Best of Division for the reds). His 2008 Petite Sirah earned a gold at San Diego. Plus, 4 Silver medals for other wines.

It’s time to jump in with both feet to make wine!

Now is the time to join the OCWS Winemaker Group. We will be combining forces within our group to make selected purchases of grapes. If you are considering making wine, please read through the following articles on planning for the crush, winemaking manuals, and winemaking mentors. Feel free to contact us or just attend one of our quarterly pot lucks which are open to all OCWS members.

Again this year, Rich McCormick and Rob Romano are leading the Northern and Southern crushes.

We are pleased to advise that we will be purchasing top-quality grapes from the Van Alyea Ranch/Lambert Ridge Vineyard in Sonoma County. Chris Van Alyea, Winemaker at Christopher Cameron Wines, continues his support of our Winemakers Group by offering Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Sirah, and Chardonnay from his family’s vineyard in Sonoma. This is a terrific opportunity. If interested in participating in purchasing with the NorCal Crush, please contact Rich McCormick at rdmccormick@cox.net.

Much closer to home, we will continue to source grapes from long-time OCWS friends Todd and Rosie Boorman of the Boorman Winery in Murrieta. Last year, we were able to get top notch Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot.  If interested in participating in the SoCal crush please contact Rob Romano at  ocws@dementedfermenters.com for more information.

Other members buy individually or in smaller groups, and we are always acting as a clearing house for availability of grapes. If interested in other varietals and sources, please contact Jim Graver. We will attempt to match you with a source. A listing of grape sources is also available from Rob Romano.

Getting Ready for the Crush

Professional winemakers develop a “crush plan” each session to help them through the hectic crush season and most home winemakers benefit by making a crush plan. The first step in developing a crush plan is to decide what styles and quantities of wine will be produced. Then, the winemaker can select the varieties and quantities of grapes and any special supplies needed.

When purchasing outside fruit, consideration should be given to harvest criteria, picking, cost of the fruit, transportation, etc. Hot fermentations are often disastrous, so always try to avoid warm fruit. Talk to the grower about your needs. If the grower continues to provide warm fruit year after year, find another supplier. However, be realistic, sometimes picking grapes late in the day is unavoidable. Picking times are determined by grape varieties, vineyard location, weather conditions, and many other factors. So, conscientious winemakers follow fruit development carefully so they will be ready when harvest time finally arrives.

Well before harvest time, all of the winemaking equipment should be assembled and carefully inspected. Any needed repairs should be made and then the equipment should be carefully cleaned. Tanks and containers should be checked for leaks and then cleaned. Special attention will be needed when barrels have been stored empty. Arrangements for borrowing or renting winemaking equipment should be made several weeks ahead of crush session.

Supplies such as tartaric acid, citric acid, yeast, ML culture, sulfite, calcium carbonate, bentonite, gelatin, Sparkolloid, other fining materials, TSP, a sanitizing solution, filter materials, and laboratory chemicals should be checked. Suppliers become very busy at crush time so any needed supplies should be ordered early. The minimum supplies needed for starting a small fermentation is TSP, sanitizer solution, sulfite, tartaric acid, and wine yeast. Purchasing supplies in larger quantities can result in significant savings, so home winemakers often get together and order winemaking supplies in commercial quantities each season.

Winemaker Manual by Lum Eisenman

Most home winemaking books are written like cookbooks. They contain winemaking recipes and step-by-step directions, but little technical information is included. The goal of these books is to provide enough information so the reader can make a successful batch of wine.

This book is an attempt to provide beginning home winemakers with basic “how to” instructions as well as providing an introduction to some of the more technical aspects of winemaking. However, the technical material has been concentrated in a few chapters, so readers can easily ignore much of the technical content until an interest develops.

There is a link to this book on-line on the OCWS website under winemaker’s newsroom www.winebook.webs.com/winebook.pdf . Lum is a winemaker, has been a member of the Winemaker Group, mentor, instructor, judge (both the Homewine and Commercial Competitions), former vineyard owner, and has a great deal of knowledge and expertise that he decided to share with other winemakers with this book.

Check it out!

The Winemakers Group Equipment Rentals

The OCWS Winemaker Group has a variety of winemaking equipment available for rental to members of the group. Following is a list of available equipment and the rental rates per time allowed…

The money collected for rentals and testing will be used to buy necessary chemicals, repairs, and more equipment as the funds become available. Durations of rentals are determined by the equipment demand at the various times of the year, (i.e. during harvest season, more members will need the crusher/destemmer and basket press more frequently).

To rent the available equipment, contact Jerry Guerin at jeromeguerin@earthlink.net. Equipment must be returned clean and in good shape for the next person to rent.              

Wine Making Mentors

Who can I contact if I have any winemaking questions?  Whether you are a new winemaker or not, we have many mentors available to help you with your winemaking. We are here to help. Feel free to contact…

For the Winemaker Group,

Rob Romano