Joe wrote "I have heard of people letting their Baco hang longer for a late
harvest
> wine. Have you tried this? Do you pick at optimum Brix/TA or do you let
> them hang to soften the acid?"

Joe - I try to let the Bacos hang until the brix is around 24 and TA is
1.00% or below.
By the time they get to 24 brix some berries are falling off the clusters so
I pick. I
would like to let them go so TA falls but they are very soft and some
raisins start to
form. I don't believe I've ever picked below 0.9% TA. It's always a
struggle to end up with a Baco wine with acid in the 0.6 to 0.7% TA
range, but that's the way Baco goes here in the KC area. I get quite a lot
of acid
precipitating out during fermentation and cold conditioning so these grapes
must have
a lot of tartaric.

Bill Frazier

William Frazier wrote:

> Joe - I try to let the Bacos hang until the brix is around 24 and TA is
> 1.00% or below.
> By the time they get to 24 brix some berries are falling off the clusters so
> I pick. I
> would like to let them go so TA falls but they are very soft and some
> raisins start to
> form. I don't believe I've ever picked below 0.9% TA. It's always a
> struggle to end up with a Baco wine with acid in the 0.6 to 0.7% TA
> range, but that's the way Baco goes here in the KC area. I get quite a lot
> of acid
> precipitating out during fermentation and cold conditioning so these grapes
> must have
> a lot of tartaric.

Have you ever used calcium carbonate to reduce acid?

My Baco I purchased this year came in at Brix: 20.2, pH: 3.22, acid:
14.2

Of course I'm planing MLF for it... hopefully that has an affect, as
it's tart right now.


--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields

Hi Charles

Sounds like you are also in Niagara.

I am planning to pick my Baco soon. They still look healthy and they look
ready. I have been waiting as Bill suggested to pick them as late as
possible to help decrease the acid and maybe raise the brix a bit. But in
the end I think they will be similar acid readings to what you have.

There have been a lot of good discussions on acid reduction techniques on
this forum. I am thinking of using Potassium carbonate or Potassium
bicarbonate. I don't have any experience with either I usually accept the
acid, adjust the brix and blend appropriately later.

But I have heard that potassium precipitates easier than calcium carbonate
after cold stabilization.

Bill has a wealth of experience with Baco and I think he suggested acid
reduction techniques in an earlier post.

Joe

"Charles" > wrote in message
...
> William Frazier wrote:
>
> > Joe - I try to let the Bacos hang until the brix is around 24 and TA is
> > 1.00% or below.
> > By the time they get to 24 brix some berries are falling off the
clusters so
> > I pick. I
> > would like to let them go so TA falls but they are very soft and some
> > raisins start to
> > form. I don't believe I've ever picked below 0.9% TA. It's always a
> > struggle to end up with a Baco wine with acid in the 0.6 to 0.7% TA
> > range, but that's the way Baco goes here in the KC area. I get quite a
lot
> > of acid
> > precipitating out during fermentation and cold conditioning so these
grapes
> > must have
> > a lot of tartaric.
>
> Have you ever used calcium carbonate to reduce acid?
>
> My Baco I purchased this year came in at Brix: 20.2, pH: 3.22, acid:
> 14.2
>
> Of course I'm planing MLF for it... hopefully that has an affect, as
> it's tart right now.
>
>
> --
> charles
>
> "Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
> forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
> - W.C. Fields

Joe wrote:

> Hi Charles
>
> Sounds like you are also in Niagara.
>
> I am planning to pick my Baco soon. They still look healthy and they look
> ready. I have been waiting as Bill suggested to pick them as late as
> possible to help decrease the acid and maybe raise the brix a bit. But in
> the end I think they will be similar acid readings to what you have.
>
> There have been a lot of good discussions on acid reduction techniques on
> this forum. I am thinking of using Potassium carbonate or Potassium
> bicarbonate. I don't have any experience with either I usually accept the
> acid, adjust the brix and blend appropriately later.
>
> But I have heard that potassium precipitates easier than calcium carbonate
> after cold stabilization.
>
> Bill has a wealth of experience with Baco and I think he suggested acid
> reduction techniques in an earlier post.

I'm actually up in Kitchener, my grapes are from Niagara though. I too
have never done acid reduction like pre-fermentation but I am going to
attempt it. I shall let everyone know how it goes

What is the outlook on the chardonnay down your way? I am really
interested in getting some for a nice barrel fermented chard but I'm not
sure if this is the year or not.

It was a hard winter for some. But I find me and most others not too far
from the lake were o.k. There may be a slight reduction in harvest (10-15%)
for some varieties and some of the reds will have high acid but I think
Chardonnay had a good year around here and it should start next week.

How much are you interested in?

Joe

"Charles H" > wrote in message
...
> Joe wrote:
>
> > Hi Charles
> >
> > Sounds like you are also in Niagara.
> >
> > I am planning to pick my Baco soon. They still look healthy and they
look
> > ready. I have been waiting as Bill suggested to pick them as late as
> > possible to help decrease the acid and maybe raise the brix a bit. But
in
> > the end I think they will be similar acid readings to what you have.
> >
> > There have been a lot of good discussions on acid reduction techniques
on
> > this forum. I am thinking of using Potassium carbonate or Potassium
> > bicarbonate. I don't have any experience with either I usually accept
the
> > acid, adjust the brix and blend appropriately later.
> >
> > But I have heard that potassium precipitates easier than calcium
carbonate
> > after cold stabilization.
> >
> > Bill has a wealth of experience with Baco and I think he suggested acid
> > reduction techniques in an earlier post.
>
> I'm actually up in Kitchener, my grapes are from Niagara though. I too
> have never done acid reduction like pre-fermentation but I am going to
> attempt it. I shall let everyone know how it goes
>
> What is the outlook on the chardonnay down your way? I am really
> interested in getting some for a nice barrel fermented chard but I'm not
> sure if this is the year or not.
>

Joe wrote:

> It was a hard winter for some. But I find me and most others not too far
> from the lake were o.k. There may be a slight reduction in harvest (10-15%)
> for some varieties and some of the reds will have high acid but I think
> Chardonnay had a good year around here and it should start next week.
>
> How much are you interested in?
>
> Joe

Not quite sure yet... 60 to 110 litres worth of juice, a bit more if
it's not cold settled.

--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields

Charles

At this time I only sell grapes not juice but I will check around. It now
looks like the chardonnay won't be ready until next week at earliest.

Joe

"Charles H" > wrote in message
...
> Joe wrote:
>
> > It was a hard winter for some. But I find me and most others not too
far
> > from the lake were o.k. There may be a slight reduction in harvest
(10-15%)
> > for some varieties and some of the reds will have high acid but I think
> > Chardonnay had a good year around here and it should start next week.
> >
> > How much are you interested in?
> >
> > Joe
>
> Not quite sure yet... 60 to 110 litres worth of juice, a bit more if
> it's not cold settled.
>
> --
> charles
>
> "Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
> forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
> - W.C. Fields

We picked the baco yesterday and crushed today, The readings we

Brix 19
TA 1.40%


"Joe" > wrote in message
.. .
> I may be getting some late harvest baco noir or cab franc. They are being
> picked late since the acid is high and the brix low. The flavour seems
o.k.
> It has been that kinda of a year in the NE.
>
> Does anyone have a recipe for late harvest wine they can share?
>
> Other suggestions for making the most of high acid low sugar grapes?
>
>

Joe wrote:

> Charles
>
> At this time I only sell grapes not juice but I will check around. It now
> looks like the chardonnay won't be ready until next week at earliest.

The weather is looking really nice for the next so I think I will look
into getting some... would you mind emailing me prices and such? Just
remove the spam. before my name! :^)

--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields