3,000 Pounds of Grapes

Bramkamp — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:07:14 GMT

This year we loaded up 3,000 pounds of grapes into two trucks and brought them home to ferment in the garage - or rather, in bins in the garage. THe grapes are from Napa Valley, Cabernet. The grapes tasted so good! And the fermenting is wild and fast because of the hot weather.

This is our earliest crush. We'll probably press the grapes this Saturday and put it in the two recently emptied barrels, under the house.

In the mean time, we spent three days - well into the night - bottling a barrel of Malbec and a barrel of Petit Shirah. The wines tasted marvelous as we bottled, part of the fun. But now it's all in bottle shock and we won't be able to drink it for a nother few weeks.

Yes, my hands are purple, but not my feet. We dont' stomp, but I do enjoy punching the cap down every morning and evening.

From Under The House

Bramkamp — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:57:00 GMT

Welcome to our home wine making project.

Our wine makers are Andrew Hutchins and Gary Gouger
Who, during a particularly good night at the Harvest Fair Awards, said out loud - we can make wine!

Andrew buys the grapes - either through referrals or through Craig's List.
He takes our son's truck and a rental truck out to the vineyard and some of the vineyard workers help load up a ton of grapes into the trucks.
That's the end of the help. We then coerce friends and family members to help stem, crush and clean by offering last year's vintage which is in bottle form.

Once the stemmed, crushed grapes ferment - in our garage - we crush again using the traditional basket press. The juice - wine by now - travels through food grade hoses, across the garage floor and to the barrels stored under the house.

We cannot stand upright under the house. But the stereo system is lovely and there is running water.

All together Andrew and Gary have won 17 awards for their wine. I help by drinking as much as I can.

Catharine Bramkamp

3,000 Pounds of Grapes

From Under The House