2013 Grape Crush Photos

[Steve Kroll]

I thought I would share a few photos from this year's grape crush. Me and two other guys brought in 1.3 tons of wine grapes that were grown Washington's Yakima Valley.

Below is Rob, Doug, and myself.

 

[Steve Kroll]

The truck loaded with grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre (a French grape).

Syrah grapes...

http://i892.photobucket.com/albums/ac125/SteveKroll/2013_Crush3.jpg

 

[Steve Kroll]

People sometimes ask how much wine I make. In good year, I might make as much as 150 gallons. This year, I'm on track for about 100 gallons. This will yield 500 bottles of wine.

While that sounds like a lot, my wife and I only drink a glass or two a day. We go through about 200-250 bottles a year. We also make wine for family members. The in-laws get about 50 gallons. The rest goes in storage for longer term aging. Some of my oldest bottles are around 12 years old now, and still completely drinkable.

 

[Rocket_J_Dawg]

Wow Steve. That is a whole lot of grapes. Good luck with the crushing.
Seeing as the wife and I go through at least 50 gal of wine a year, maybe we should consider a move to Minnesota..

 

[Hoot]

That's a lotta grapes! For a second or two, I had visions of Lucy and Ethel, barefoot in that big ol' wooden vat.

 

[pacanis]

lol, I remember that episode, Hoot.

 

[Oldvine]

That's how all of our grapes go... packed and shipped to the home wine guy. One year they went to the Azores. Old vines, hand picked and packed in California. While yours are not our grapes, it's still a treat to see the welcome grapes receive. Thanks.

 

[Andy M.]

Steve, I'm thinking some slightly modified snow shoes will really speed up the crushing process...

 

[Steve Kroll]

No feet actually touch the grapes. We have a crusher/destemmer (the red thing behind Rob in the photo) that... well, crushes the grapes and removes the stems. It's a pretty neat apparatus and saves a lot of work. Ours is a hand crank job, but if you switch drivers (crankers?) regularly, it's not too bad.

I once watched a crew in Europe do the crushing by foot. Most of them wear wading boots. While there's always the "I Love Lucy" image of stomping the grapes - which is a hilarious episode, by the way - it's a lot more work than you might think. Imagine trudging through knee high wet cement for an hour and you kind of get an idea of what it's like.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Wow Steve, impressive! Have fun making that wine...even though it will be more fun drinking it later.

 

[Dawgluver]

Whoa! Have fun Steve!

 

[taxlady]

Neato. What do you do with the leftover grape skins and pulp?

 

[pacanis]

Neato. What do you do with the leftover grape skins and pulp?

I was just wondering the same thing.
Around here they spread the pumice back around the vineyards like fertilizer. Some farmers refuse it because they don't want to chance introducing something to their own vineyards from someone else's.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Neato. What do you do with the leftover grape skins and pulp?

I would love to be able to compost it but, unfortunately, with two dogs around I don't, for fear they might get into it. There's a lot of alcohol in those leftover skins, and grapes aren't really good for dogs anyway.

What I sometimes do is add a few pounds of the spent grape skins into fruit wine batches to give them a little extra structure and color. For example, although you would think it would be bright red, strawberries actually make a very light colored wine - almost clear. By adding some of the spent grape skins in while it's fermenting, it makes it look more like the natural color of a strawberry without changing the flavor.

Beyond that, they just go into the garbage.

 

[taxlady]

I would love to be able to compost it but, unfortunately, with two dogs around I don't, for fear they might get into it. There's a lot of alcohol in those leftover skins, and grapes aren't really good for dogs anyway.

What I sometimes do is add a few pounds of the spent grape skins into fruit wine batches to give them a little extra structure and color. For example, although you would think it would be bright red, strawberries actually make a very light colored wine - almost clear. By adding some of the spent grape skins in while it's fermenting, it makes it look more like the natural color of a strawberry without changing the flavor.

Beyond that, they just go into the garbage.

Too bad you don't have city compostable collection.

 

[Whiskadoodle]

Nice

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Beautiful, Steve!

 

[GA Home Cook]

Steve - I did a stint in Italy a few year back and was introduced to what you do with the left over skins and pulp. It's called Grappa. It is a distilled liquor from the leftovers from wine making. Some of the Grappa is ok - some is down right awful. It is customary to have a small amount of Grappa at the end of a meal.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Steve - I did a stint in Italy a few year back and was introduced to what you do with the left over skins and pulp. It's called Grappa. It is a distilled liquor from the leftovers from wine making. Some of the Grappa is ok - some is down right awful. It is customary to have a small amount of Grappa at the end of a meal.

Oh yeah, I've been to Italy a few times. I learned all about that grappa stuff the hard way!

 

[Mad Cook]

Steve - I did a stint in Italy a few year back and was introduced to what you do with the left over skins and pulp. It's called Grappa. It is a distilled liquor from the leftovers from wine making. Some of the Grappa is ok - some is down right awful. It is customary to have a small amount of Grappa at the end of a meal.

Is it legal to distil alcohol at home in the US? It isn't in the UK.