Wine on a boat?

Last November we started making wine on the boat, yes we have a floating winery.   The process and equipment really is not that bad to store and use.  We made three types, a White Zinfandel, Argentina Malbec (my favorite), and a German Liebfraumilch.  We bottled close to 90 bottles and that is a lot of glass on a boat.  So this year we decided to use a collapsible bag that holds 1.5 liter.  We will still actually bottle some to give away like we did last year.  They are great gifts and we even took one to a wine tasting in Galveston.  It was the first wine that ran out with quite a few talking about it. It was funny watching them study the label to find out what winery it came from.

 White Zinfandel     
The process is fill a 5 gallon container with the juice and yeast, maintain a tempature between 70-75 degrees and after 7 to 10 days you can rack it (move to the main carboy) for secondary fermentation. The whole process takes about 4 to 5 weeks.  The whites you can drink right after you bottle them, but the reds need to age about 3 months.
      
 Mixing for primary fermentation Racking to carboy Degassing before clarifing the wine

 
    
 Wine bubbling during fermentation  Preparing for bottling Finishing up the bottling


We have a Chardonnay brewing now, with another Malbec for sure, and a third has yet to be decided.  Maybe some tropical fruit type? Respond back with request and the winner will get a bottle for a prize!  It is a fun hobby and creates really cool gifts for friends and family.

This year we have been so busy on boat projects I have not blogged that much and really need to get back on it.  So I will have several new ones coming out every few days till I get caught up.

Living life the only way we know how on S/V Imagine.

Ken and Carol

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