Red Winemaking Progress

A little over 40 days ago the first of the red wines were pressed and placed in demijohns under an air lock. Oak chips had been added to the demijohns. The Chambourcin had American Oak chips added at the rate of 3 grams per litre. In addition some American Oak dust had been placed in the must during fermentation. The Pinot Noir pressed a couple of days later had 3 grams each of American and French Oak added.

American Oak imparts a sweeter flavour and is higher in Oak aromas and adds more vanillin flavour.

French Oak imparts more subtle and spicy flavours.

Now 40 days later the wine has settled out a lot of sludge which is a mix of dead yeast cells, small pieces of pulp and grape skin and other bits suspended in the wine. This first racking is designed to take the wine off this sludge called, gross lees, so that it doesn't impart any bad flavours from this debris. After this racking the wine will continue to settle suspended particles but these fine lees are unlikely to be detrimental to the wine. Usually I don't rack again unless there is a significant build of lees. Most other winemakers rack every few months but my preference is minimum intervention.

This week is ideal for racking because the Bio Dynamic calendar shows the moon in the correct place for this type of work. It is the period where the moon is in descending or waning. During this period there is the least amount of turbulence in the wine.

Racking is merely siphoning the wine into a fresh demijohn using  food grade tubing with an attachment which sits in the bottom of the demijohn keeping the tube away from the lees.

The end result is a little less volume of liquid than in the input demijohn. This is where the extra small containers of topping up wine come in handy. They are handled gently to ensure none of their sludge enters the fresh demijohn. This first racking leaves behind a significant amount of sludge.

As part of this process the wine is sampled and tasted. I add some French Oak chips at 3 grams per litre to the Chambourcin to balance the wine but the Pinot Noir is excellent even at this early stage.

In future I'll use French and American Oak in a 50/50 mix as standard practice as it seems to provide the best result with the least amount of fussing.

Both these wines are in the only two 34 litre demijohns we own. There is just on 40 litres of Chambourcin in total when the topping up demijohns are included. The decision here is to transfer it to two 20 litre demijohns and reduce the number of containers from 5 to two.

I'm strapped for enough topping up material for the Pinot Noir and am faced with a dilemma. Use smaller containers and have a several batches or add another wine to the Pinot to top up the single large demijohn which is the former Chambourcin 34 litre which is now empty and cleaned.

I opt for using some Merlot in the Pinot. It is only a small percentage and Merlot and Pinot make a good combination. The 8% adulteration will not have negative consequences and having a single large container will make later handling simpler.

As usual there is plenty of cleaning after the event but it is satisfying to know that these wines are progressing nicely and early indications are that it will be one of the best vintages to date. The experimentation over the years is paying off with various techniques and practices becoming standardised as a preferred flavour and style evolves.

The remaining red wines were pressed two weeks after these and will now be racked in April during the appropriate moon cycle.

Chambourcin, Mulch Silage and Hay

Today was the big day for our Chambourcin. It has finished fermenting and has been slumbering on the grape skins and pips. 22 days have passed since the yeast commenced its work. Gradually after the bubbling finished the skins settled and fell to the bottom of the container. CO2 gas has been dribbled in once every day to protect the wine from nasties. The surface of the wine had a lovely clean crisp shimmer as it sat under the plastic wrap covering the drum. And today the pressing began at 4.30, well really a bit after. I made coffee first.

There was very little to press. The juice flowed out as the contents were scooped into the basket press. The skins were broken down to such an extent that they oozed out all moisture. A 34 litre demijohn was filled quickly after adding some American Oak chips at 3 grams/litre. Only a little pressure was required to fill a 5 litre demijohn and then a bit more for the two litre and finally some real pressure to take out the last litre. And all done. In a few days the Pinot Noir will reach its 22 days and undergo a similar treatment.

Because we are working the garden beds it seemed like a good time to collect some mulch silage that a nearby farm was offering at $30/bale. We organised it on Monday and confirmed again on Tuesday we would be arriving on Wednesday. The bales are a few hundred Kilograms dry and their tractor is required to load.


As with all good plans that go off the rails they were called away from their farm on urgent contract work and the person remaining on the farm was not familiar with the loading tractor. Not wanting to waste the trip we turned our plan around and collected a load of Lucerne for the farm across the river – 53 bales. This was going to be another job for the afternoon. After unloading across the river and going home for coffees and cake it was back again for another 59 bales. A good job and the boss was pleased to be able to stock up. Hay is not cheap and in short supply at 15.50/bale. No need to remind every one that a bale of Lucerne weighs 25 kilograms and 112 bales lifted twice equals 5600 kilograms. Sleep came easily that night. A good way to get some exercise if you want it.

We will pick up our mulch another day.

2014 Vintage Update

Shiraz, Merlot, Tempranillo

After having frozen these three batches to below 0C it was time to defrost them so as to add the yeast. It took all day and night to have the temperature rise into the high teens early twenties. This morning The yeasts were rehydrated in grape juice taken from each batch that had been warmed to 38 C. Then after allowing the fermenting yeasts to cool to within 10 C of the main batches these starter batches were added back.

Two new yeasts are being tried both from Vintners Harvest an American company. The yeasts were sourced from a local home brew shop.

The Shiraz has VR21 which will go up to 15% alcohol the Shiraz has a high Brix reading of 24 and will need this.

“ Exceptional strain for full fruit red varietal wines with good structure, balance and colour. Excellent strain for red country wines.” Says the manufacturer.

The Merlot and Tempranillo have R56.

“Perfect for rich full bodied red wines with exceptional full flavoured complexity”

Chardonnay

The Chardonnay was racked after the intial fermentation slowed. Now it rests in airlocked demijohns, occasionally giving off a little CO2 as the last bits of sugar are consumed by the yeast cells. Some of the demijohns wee racked to remove the gross lees and now it was time to try some further experiments. Some of the batches that had good skin contact now had few American Oak chips added. Just to see if there would be any flavour improvement. And yes an un-oaked demijohn was kept of each as a comparison.

Sauvignon Blanc

These batches are in demijohns under refrigeration to keep the fermentation temperature between 12 and 15 C. They are bubbling away slowly. The airlocks aren't bubbling because they don't have water in them. Instead there is a little wad of cotton wool. This was recommended in one technical reference to enable H2SO2 to more readily escape. And it is escaping. There is a distinct rotten egg smell when the doors of the refrigeration units are opened.

Rose

These draining's from the Shiraz, Merlot and Tempranillo batches are all fermenting under airlock also under refrigeration. Once they are nearly finished they will be racked and a little addition of oak chips made just to add another dimension.

Chambourcin

Has pretty much finished its fermentation but some skins are still apparent on the surface. The goal is to have these skins in contact with the wine for a minimum of 22 days before pressing and storing in demijohns with Oak chips to settle and age. There is a plastic sheet covering the container to keep out bugs and every day a little CO2 is squirted over the surface to add some further protection against infection. This is the nervous part of the process. While it was madly fermenting the CO2 gas produced as a by-product protected the wine but now the only protection is the small amount of Potassium metabisulphite that was added at the crush and the daily burst of CO2.

Pinot Noir

The fermentation has slowed but not finished. The skins rise but not much and a once or twice daily plunging occurs. This is also now under plastic protection and also getting a whisp of CO2.

Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Chambourcin - update

The Chardonnay is out of the chilling units. Once the Brix got down to below 15 i.e. it was a third of the way through the sugar it was time to let it come back to the ambient temperature and ensure a robust ferment finished of the sugars.

This didn't take long and when the airlock slowed to an intermittent gurgle it was racked into clean demijohns fully filled to eliminate any air. It will now rest until bottling in a few months.

 

Chardonnay - various test batches

This was an opportunity to perform an early tasting. All the now four batches have slightly different characteristics and nothing unpleasant. A very pleasing progress report.

The Pinot Noir had its chilling unit turned off and in the morning the yeast was rehydrated. A  Specific Gravity (SG) test showed a potential alcohol level of a touch above 16%. I couldn't bring myself to adulterate the must with water. I'll take a chance all will be well. The BDX yeast is rated to 16%. An interesting test.

Pinot Noir with the cap of skins formed

Pinot Noir after plunging, the fermentation very active

 

 

The Chambourcin slowly increased in temperature peaking at 31 C briefly. Because we were going away for a day a header board was inserted so as to negate the need to plunge. This worked well and it was removed the next day. The temperature commenced dropping but the Brix level was still high. Rather than risk a stuck ferment a little yeast nutrient was stirred in to feed the yeast cells. This worked a treat and 12 hours later the ferment was vigorous but not foaming any longer and the temperature rose.

Chambourcin, note the deeper colour and less vigorous activity as it moves past the half way in fermentation

 

 

 

Pint Noir, Chardonnay, Chambourcin Update

The Pinot Noir is resting in a freezer at 4 C and is now just entering its 4th day. Tomorrow Friday it will be time to let it regain its warmth and introduce it to some yeast. I'm still undecided what to do about the high Brix reading of 26. First up, tomorrow I'll perform a Specific Gravity test to confirm the reading. The previous readings were with a Refractometer which may not be completely accurate. 26 Brix converts to 15.6 % alcohol which is at the upper limit tolerance of the BDX yeast I'd like to use. If the yeast fails to convert all the sugar the wine may end with too much residual sugar. Not what was being planned. The options open to me are do nothing or add water to dilute the sugars. I've been trying to keep this batch of wine as natural as possible. The fruit is perfect and any interference can only lead to potential disaster - well maybe not just a lesser quality than would be possible.

The Chardonnay (in demijohns) is still fermenting in various cooling units (freezers) at 15 C. There are three batches B1 is pure fresh juice, B2 is juice soaked on skins for 16 hours, B3 is juice soaked on skins for 26 hours and there is a B4 which is a few litres that continued to be pressed out over 24 hours. I just wanted to see how much fluid would extract if the skins were loosened and pressed a second time.

The Chambourcin is fermenting nicely. The temperature has been rising at a steady rate. Ideally I would like not to exceed 30 C and it is just below that now. As it is fermenting the skins rise to form a cap. This cap prevents the heat from escaping. By plunging the skins back below the juice the heat is released. During the day the plunging is performed every couple of hours or pretty much whenever I walk past. Today we are both away for 8-9 hours and I'm worried that the temperature may shoot up. I could use the last spare freezer to help dissipate some heat. Decisions.

Chambourcin - Post Cold Soaking

The Chambourcin has been sitting for 3 days in the freezer at 2 C . It was turned off on Sunday night and early Monday morning the door opened. After returning from picking Pinot Noir the Chambourcin in its fermentation container was put out in the sun for a few hours. The yeast rehydration process commenced while the Pinot Noir was run through the crusher/de-stemmer.

BDX yeast produced such a good result last year that it was an easy choice this year.

The American Oak chips were passed over a coarse sieve and the dust separated. Some years ago we stopped adding Oak dust to the fermentation as it was not available. It dawned on me recently when reading an article on adding Oak that sieving the chips might provide the necessary material. I've always felt that some Oak dust in the fermentation would impart some interesting tones to the wine.

The American Oak dust went in at 3 grams/litre. The litre calculation is based on a 60% yield from the 70 odd KG of fruit.

By bedtime the Chambourcin had started fermenting gently at about 22 C. The goal is to get it up to 30 C.

Chardonnay and Chambourcin

Somehow I woke at 1.30 am.

The lounge room in dark

Going into the cave

The passion was there. Fed the cat (Lucinda) on the way to the cave and started the process of pressing Batch 3 (B3) which had soaked on skins for 36 hours. The hope is that it does not turn out to be fantastic otherwise this early morning pressing will have to become the norm.

B2 had started fermenting well and was despatched to the freezer to idle along at 15 C.

The pressing went on all day as a background task.

The vet called to say Belle (the cat) was making a good recovery. we will collect her on Sunday.

Nets up on the Chambourcin

The last row of Chambourcin was picked and the entire 71.2 KG went through the crusher/de-stemmer with a goodly lot of whole bunches kept. This time I didn't weigh the whole bunches so can't record percentage. It truly was a gut feel occasion. This is regrettable in hindsight.



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The sugar came in at 24 Brix which for what was trying to be achieved  was absolutely perfect. Now wait for it ... the pH was 3.5 the exact mid range of what is recommended. How satisfying. The pressure is on now. The fruit is perfect and only the wine maker can stuff it up.

temperature control

The goal is to let it soak at 5 C for 2-3 days. A little sulphur has been added just 50 ppm. A plastic wrap has been place over the container with the temperature probes poking through. A little CO2 would be just the ideal protection while the soaking process occurs. Some ingenuity here. Using the newly acquired soda stream with a plastic tube to provide a dosage of CO2. Rather than buy bottles of soda water we now make our own and avoid the disposal issues associated with buying the stuff.

The mighty Sodastream

The SodaStream gadget is impressive. 2-3 presses on a bottle of water and you have a refreshing bubbly drink. And in this weather - what can you say. The CO2 bottles can be exchanged at both Big W and Kmart at a reasonable price making it very easy to maintain. The bottles are of a special type but spares are cheap and we also purchase a spare CO2 cylinder for convenience.

Tempranillo and Chambourcin, Petit Verdot

The Tempranillo was 11.4 Baume and pH of 3.63. About 10% good quality whole bunches were left at the bottom of the fermenter and the rest run through the crusher destemmer. Overnight the temperature was lowered to 10 degrees C. This morning approximately 5 litres of juice was drained off to make rose and increase the skin to juice ratio.

Have been trying to leave the Chambourcin to the last minute to maximise sugar and skin colour. The weather has been cool in the Hunter and ripening has been slow. The weather beat me though as heavy rain was forecast for the weekend. Picked on Thursday and got 40 kilograms. Was expecting 50-60. Last year there was 120 but this year I pinched out the second flower on each spur hoping for better maturity. Well the sugar level was 23.5 Baume and pH was 3.5. Couldn’t have asked for a better result. After 24 hours the juice is almost black. Started fermentation immediately with BDX yeast and some nutrient. Once it was all going I bled off a couple of litres for Rose and put the lot into the freezer to bring down to 21-24 C range. This is very exciting.

Up at 4 am to pick some Shiraz from a vineyard an hour away. About an acre of vines was being left because of bird pick and botrytis but there were plenty of good bunches to selectively pick. Took off 65 kilograms and was then told that there was a suspicion that this was not Shiraz but could well be Petit Verdot. It was being DNA tested at the moment. What great news if it is Petit Verdot, yet another variety to play with. Got it fermenting with BDX yeast and the next morning bled off 5 litres for Rose and started chilling it.

Wine Making

Everything is progressing well. The Sauvignon Blanc ferment came to halt which allowed me to rack it into clean demijohns and it is now aging and settling. 

 The Pinot is still bubbling away but now under airlock. The header boards mean that the juice at the top isn’t representative of the entire batch in terms of sugar levels. Once each day I take out the header boards and give the barrel a good stir.

 The Shiraz, Muscat and Tempranillo are about two thirds through the fermentation process and are out of the their chiller units and finishing off at the ambient temperature. Only the Merlot is under refrigeration. The electricity bill will be phenomenal .

 The Chambourcin in our own vineyard is in the low 20s (Brix). I’d like to get it up to 24 if possible. This week is cloudy but hopefully not a lot of rain. Could be another week or two before harvest.
The Tannat which we are buying is in a similar position to the Chambourcin.

 An interesting observation was the effect of hot days on pH. The Pinot was harvested following a 40 plus day. The pH was 4.1. The other reds were harvested later after a week of rain and cloud and the pH was 3.6. Had it been our Pinot instead of an hours drive away I would have waited and harvested at a more optimal time. Anyway there is nothing that Tartaric can’t fix.

 I’ve been able to taste some samples of the whites as they were being racked and they show a lot of potential. Good nose, a little bite but that should settle out.

From left to right 1) pH Tester, 2) Small digital scales for measuring from 0.01 grams to 20 grams, 3) Digital scales for up to 5KG.