When making red wine, there's really two methods for cap management: punch downs and pump over. For the home winemaker, punching down the cap with your hand or tool is the most realistic. Punching down the cap back into the juice is very important as it help extract good color and tannins as well as it stirs the lees and yeasts at the bottom of the fermentation vessel keeping things even.

Punch down tools can range from your hand, a spoon or a fancy stainless steel device at the pretty penny cost of around $80-$100. Here's a few of the standard one for sale at MoreWinemaking.com.

I didn't really feel like dropping that kind of money but I'm also really tired of use my steel spoon which doesn't reach the bottom and thus my hands and finger tips get horribly stained.

Making a PVC punch down takes about $4 in parts and some creative thinking which I'm happy to reveal.



I used half inch PVC pieces so it would fit in my smaller fermentation bins and still move the lees and grapes. You'll need x4 tee-joints, x4 elbow-joints, 6-8 ft of 1/2" PVC tubing. The handle length can vary based on what's comfortable for you. For the handle, you'll also need x2 caps or plugs.

First, lay out the pieces so you're clear how it'll look. Space out the pieces to the desired distance. I chose to leave a half inch between the pieces so the punch down portion would be small enough to fit and move lees at the bottom of my brutes.



For my half inch distance between pieces, you'll need another half inch on each side for the PVC to tighten on to. Thus, cut a 1.5 inch piece of PVC in between the tee-joints and the elbow-joints and 4.5 inches in between the elbow joints.

Next, use PVC etching to prime the pieces then PVC glue to make it stick together. Do the two end piece first so assembly later is easier.



Next, prime and glue the middle parts with a tee-joint in the center facing up. This is where the shaft will be.



Finally, add your shaft and handle.



Let it set for a few minute to completely dry. I would submerge the end into a bucket of still water to make sure there's no air leaks. You don't want must getting inside and grow some funky stuff.

Like any tool, make you keep it clean and sanitized before using it on your must.

The half inch shaft is light and flexible for a manageable 32-gallon brute of must but you could increase yours to whatever you want. Hopefully, this illustrates the beauty of PVC and a little creativity can go a long way.

Anyone that has improvements to this design or other ideas, please feel free to share!

When the home winemaker decides to take the lepa into actual barrels there's a million decisions before them: what type of oak, what toast level, new or recooped, the list goes on. But one can easily get so caught up with the details around barrel and oak selection that they forget a very simple, yet pivotal decision that would render all other question useless until figure out... how the hell are you going to keep a barrel horizontal for months at a time?

Now I know there are MANY barrel racks out there and the most popular among wineries are the 7" Western Square steel racks or MoreFlavor has single steel racks for about $99 plus shipping.

I recently acquired three 15-gallon barrels and needed a rack but I wasn't about to drop another $300 just for some racks. I searched high and low for a cheaper solution but only could find crappy used steel racks that would cost the same to have them shipped or I found crappy wood cradles that would shatter if the barrel was filled with wine... which they will be.

I opted to build my own racks.



I went to my local Lowes store and bought some standard 2x4 stud beams and caster wheels that could hold 125 pound each - plenty for a full barrel.

I measured where the steel rings were on the barrel then made my measurements. For my 15-gallon barrels, I made each cradle 21 inches long by 15" wide. I then cut wedges with a 12 degree angle (thanks to my father's table top circular saw) then screwed and nailed everything together for some serious support.

They may not be the prettiest racks but they'll wheel around which will make racking and topping up a snap! Rather than bringing everything to the barrels, I can take my barrels where I need.

I'd love to see and hear about what other people have done to solve this barrel cradle dilemma. Does everyone just suck up the cost and buy the steel racks or has anyone else made a cradle like mine?

I've just locked in another 350 pounds of Syrah from Bennett Valley. So, lined up we've got Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah both from Bennett Valley and Zinfandel from Sonoma's Dry Creek Valley.

I'm still hoping to make a Malbec and maybe even a white to be determined but that depends if I can find a good source and can figure out the logistics. Now that I'm going to mix in new barrels to the process this year, plus increasing productions... (my wife is already rolling her eyes)... it's a container management issue.

In the next couple weeks, I'll be working on articles with growers, coopers and more winemakers. Lots of site updates in the works for June too -- hence the quiet nature these days.

I am SUPER excited this morning. I received an email explaining that one of their regular buyers had to back out from purchasing some Cabernet Sauvignon and would I be interested in buying it.

So this year, I'll be making 350 pounds of Cab Sauv as well as 350 pounds of Zinfandel. Both from Sonoma County, both I'll be hand picking myself.

I would like to also make a Malbec and have inquired with Tzabaco Rancho Vineyards but haven't solidified anything yet.

I'm also tempted to grab some Syrah from Bennett Ridge as well but that's starting to become a lot of wine. I'm planning to acquire barrels this year too so with the madness of over tripling production size, I'll be figuring out life with barrels. This will be an exciting year for wine making no doubt.

I've recently acquired a source for Zinfandel crop this year that caters to the home winemaker. You can "cherry pick" the best fruit by picking it yourself for .75 cents per pound. Since it's Zinfandel, the grower worries about uneven or unripe fruit so he'll let you pick what you want, when you want.

For the home winemaker looking for a new experience dealing with harvest, this is a great opportunity. I'm committing to about 350 pounds which I'm intending to track the growing conditions throughout the year.

If you're interested to know more, just drop me a line: ryan@vinesugar.com

I was talking with a fellow winemaking friend, now recently turned grape grower. He informed me that a single vine will produce about 1 gallon of must/juice.

The reason I found this interesting is that while I'm not buying or making a vineyard any time soon, I will likely plant vines in my backyard eventually and it's good to know how much wine I can make off them.

I always thought it would be fun to try a "field blend" that way and make something totally unique.

I was just at my favorite wine supply shop, MoreWine! and noticed they had a 40L Speidel bladder press on sale 50% off! These normally go for around $1,200, so half off is a crazy good deal. This was their rental they supplied folks last year and it was in great condition. All the parts were there and in working order. I immediately called my father (who I make wine with) and we decided to split the cost.

Score! WOOHOO!

We had been debating whether to make our own to save money or settle and buy a basket press but even they weren't cheap. Even though we still dropped a little more money and could have bought two small basket presses, the bladder method is much more ideal for making wine. It's a more gentle press which yields more fruit juice than tannic juice.

I can't wait for this year's harvest... though with the way the Bay Area's weather has all the plants screwed up, I'm not sure how well the vineyards will handle this unusually warm winter... more on that later.

I just enjoyed my first bottle of wine sealed with a Zork and I was so impressed, I'm looking into using this technology for my own wines which I'll bottle towards the end of summer.

Now sure what the hell a Zork is? Check it out here. Or watch this:

The winemaking facility in San Francisco, Crushpad, has a dedicated website that focuses on customers making wine with them - enter Crushnet.

The "winemaker minutes" video collection is AWESOME and so addictive. I can't enough... Here's a great example and a very informative bit on building a Cabernet Sauvignon wine.



Great Job Crushnet! Keep it coming!