Hi all,

I have the option of purchasing these varieties of grapes: Grenache,
Carignane, and Alicante (which I'm assuming is Alicante Bouschet). I'll
only be purchasing 100 lbs, so not enough to ferment separately, and do
bench trials for blending. Anyone have advice as to what proportions of
these grapes would work well? I was thinking 2/3 Grenache, 1/3 Alicante
Bouschet (which is a teinturier... lots of colour). These are grapes
imported from Sonoma Valley.

Also, any other advice for fermenting wine from these varieties? I have
a few yeast strains in mind, but the one I actually use will probably
be more a product of availability. I don't know the TA's yet, but I'm
assuming they will be on the low end of desirable acid... would it be
advisable to put it through a ML fermentation, and add tartaric acid
back if it drops too low?

Thanks

If you want my opinion, get all grenache. Alicante is good for blending
with heavier grapes but I wouldn't blend it with grenache. Just my 2
cents. BTW, don't worry about the TA and just make sure the PH of the
starting juice is below 3.5. You could go lower with the PH. If it
turns out too acidic for your taste, the tartaric acid can be taken out
with no problems. You don't want to end up in a situation where your
adding acid after fermentation is complete. It just doesn't taste
right. It's better to add too much before fermentation and take it out
later than add acid later. BTW, only use tartaric acid.

Bob


Trav77 wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have the option of purchasing these varieties of grapes: Grenache,
> Carignane, and Alicante (which I'm assuming is Alicante Bouschet). I'll
> only be purchasing 100 lbs, so not enough to ferment separately, and do
> bench trials for blending. Anyone have advice as to what proportions of
> these grapes would work well? I was thinking 2/3 Grenache, 1/3 Alicante
> Bouschet (which is a teinturier... lots of colour). These are grapes
> imported from Sonoma Valley.
>
> Also, any other advice for fermenting wine from these varieties? I have
> a few yeast strains in mind, but the one I actually use will probably
> be more a product of availability. I don't know the TA's yet, but I'm
> assuming they will be on the low end of desirable acid... would it be
> advisable to put it through a ML fermentation, and add tartaric acid
> back if it drops too low?
>
> Thanks

100 lbs? Get some more carboys and triple that!

Your own tastes need to be your guide, but there are a number of Rhone, and
"Rhone-style" wines made with Grenache and Carignane that are delicious.
Never had any belnded with Alicante.


> Hi all,
>
> I have the option of purchasing these varieties of grapes: Grenache,
> Carignane, and Alicante (which I'm assuming is Alicante Bouschet). I'll
> only be purchasing 100 lbs, so not enough to ferment separately, and do
> bench trials for blending. Anyone have advice as to what proportions of
> these grapes would work well? I was thinking 2/3 Grenache, 1/3 Alicante
> Bouschet (which is a teinturier... lots of colour). These are grapes
> imported from Sonoma Valley.
>
> Also, any other advice for fermenting wine from these varieties? I have
> a few yeast strains in mind, but the one I actually use will probably
> be more a product of availability. I don't know the TA's yet, but I'm
> assuming they will be on the low end of desirable acid... would it be
> advisable to put it through a ML fermentation, and add tartaric acid
> back if it drops too low?
>
> Thanks
>
>

Ric wrote:
> 100 lbs? Get some more carboys and triple that!

I've got plenty of carboys, but I'm a poor, poor, poor grad student. So
that should read: "100 lbs? Get some more money and triple that!" ;-)

Thanks for the advice. I think I might go with the 2/3 Grenache, 1/3
Carignane blend.