Pinot Noir Fermentation

I mentioned previously having picked Pinot Noir (for the first time). Just 30 KGs to perform a trial. The Baume was 12.7 and some berries were a little shrivelled. The bunches were collected from the western side of the rows where they were getting that extra bit of sunshine. The pH level was 4.14 which was adjusted with Tartaric Acid to 3.6. One of the side effects of some weeks of very high temperatures, the day before was 40 degrees C.

20% good quality whole bunches were selected and placed at the bottom of the fermenter and the remainder destemmed. At this stage 50ppm of Potassium Metabisulphite was also added. The fermenter was placed in an upright freezer and the temperature lowered to 10 degrees C and held at that for 48 hours. L2323 yeast was rehydrated in some warmed must then progressively lowered to 15 degrees C and the fermenter inoculated. Some yeast nutrient had been added would be topped up again in three stages.

Once fermentation was well under way the fermenter was place back in the freezer and the temperature adjusted to float between 14 and 18 degrees C. A previous experiment with some Tannat grapes showed better colour and flavour occurred using Header Boards in the fermenter rather than plunging the cap several times each day. I've jerry rigged an equivalent setup which successfully keeps the berries submerged under a thin layer of fermenting must. So to wrap up, picked 22/1/13, cold soaked until 24/1/13 and fermenting slowly for 9 days so far and not quite through two thirds of the sugar. When it reaches two thirds complete I'll stop the refrigeration and allow it to complete fermenting at a higher temperature to try and ensure a dry finish.

Fermenting using Header Boards

 

100 litre containers for transporting grapes and fermenting bigger batches

Limes

Ripening Limes

The lime tree is shedding its fruit. Although it is only a relatively small tree the fruit is prolific. We store it in two ways. The first is storing only the juice in ice cube trays until we run out of trays. The trays are wrapped in food grade plastic after they freeze to prevent evaporation. The second storage method is to wrap each piece of fruit in a piece of newspaper and keep in a cardboard box in a cool place. Most of the fruit seems to survive in good condition for a very long time.

Lime juice stored in ice cube trays. In the background both cultured and sweet butter as well as cream cheese, Ricotta and buttermilk scones

2013 Vintage

Well 2013 vintage in the Hunter Valley NSW Australia is shaping up to be another disaster. The whites are mostly in. I managed to get some Chardonnay, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc from a good vineyards. Also a little Pinot Noir.

It's surprising how some vineyards are so generous in allowing amateurs to pick (and pay) for a few small quantities of grapes for home winemaking. It always seems to be the viticulturists who are happy to oblige and generous with their time. Some liberal and sincere praise for their efforts in producing a quality product does not go astray. I suspect sometimes that the vineyard's winemaker may not offer as much praise. I'm of the opinion which is shared by many that it's easy to make good wine with good grapes. The winemakers skill is required to make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

Picking grapes from a large commercial vineyard isn't simple. Got to remember the samples taken by the viticulturist reflects an average from the entire variety.

Last year we picked the Chardonnay from the short bottom rows to save the vineyard having to run a picking machine through them. Well that was a mistake as being at the bottom of the hill they were maturing in a slightly cooler environment and consequently the sugar levels lagged behind. This year we picked the same stand but did an entire row half way up the hill with a good result. With the Semillon where the tests showed sugar a little short of desired levels we picked ripe bunches only from all over the plot, again a good result.

Didn't quite get it right with the Sauvignon Blanc as we picked from the eastern side (sun rising end) instead of the western end and so the sugar levels were a little lower.

The whites were destemmed, sulphured to 50ppm and the berries chilled to 10 degrees Celsius in 100 litre plastic containers using old freezers. Upright freezers seem the best. About 16-20 hours on skins before pressing. The yeast was acclimatised to a lower temperature and the must inoculated. After about 24 hours, when things were fermenting well the must was gradually cooled to between 15 and 20 Celsius. A timer on each freezer kicks in and cools. How often is adjusted depending on outside temperature and heat generated by the fermenting must. The must is in demijohns with an airlock and a temperature probe against the glass. A little yeast nutrient was added in three stages.

About two thirds through the fermentation the freezers are turned off and the fermentation finishes at a higher temperature. Racked and American Oak chips added this year to the Chardonnay and Semillon. Now its just sit and wait.



Pinot Noir in Crusher Destemmer

 



Crusher Destemmer and Basket Press

 





Demijohns in Freezer

50 Litre Fermenter in Freezer





Kim Chi and Sauerkraut

Found a good recipe for Kim Chi "How to Make Kim Chi". Tested it today but because the Chinese Cabbage (Wong Bok) wasn't ready used a normal cabbage with great success. Even though it is only just made it already tastes fantastic. Will definitely be making a lot more. Didn't have any apple or pear to add the final garnish but will try that another time. Possibly this variety of Cabbage which we forgot to record has its own sweetness.

The Sauerkraut technique is from a Russian country girl who lived on a farm near Smolensk before WW2. Her family made barrels of this each year to see them through the Winter. Very simple, just cut up the cabbage into strips add just enough salt so that you can taste the salt and scrunch the cabbage until it is well bruised and oozing liquid. Put it into a glass jar, stuffing it in with a wooden spoon so that no air holes can be seen. Put a glass jar on top with some weight so that the cabbage is covered with its own liquid and leave it for about a week to ferment then seal the jar and refrigerate - it is ready to eat but will keep forever. Three variations than can be tried are 1) a table spoon or two of finely chopped carrot. 2) Caraway seeds to taste. 3) Dill seeds.

Chopping Cabbage for Sauerkraut - by not making it as fine as the shop bought product a better mouth feel can be achieved.

 





Sauerkraut Beginning Ferment

 

Kim Chi freshly made

Vintage Recording

One of the most useful tools for me has been maintaining a Vintage Book i.e. notes from the year as well as specific notes on each wine with dates, fermenting times, methods, pH, temperatures, sugar, yields etc. As much detail as possible. It is very useful when tasting the wine later to see the effects of small changes. The other important part is setting out a vintage plan i.e. which varieties to be picked and volumes. As the picking day approaches a decision is made on which yeast may be the most suitable and which wood if any will be used. The yeast choice is a bit haphazard. It is influenced by which yeast may have been used last vintage as well as grape maturing conditions and particular flavours to be extracted. It's just as well the  some planning takes place as you can imagine the chaos that would ensue without planning. Too many grapes and not enough storage capacity. As it is there has been a little scope creep each year, especially when a new and tantalising grape variety is offered. A close look at the 2013 Plan shows a goal of 350 Kilograms but an Actual picking of 443 Kilograms.



Vintage Book





Wine Making Notes



2013 Vintage Plan

Vineyard

A couple of years ago the old vineyard trellising was feeling its age. Because of the shallow soil metal end strainers were the only viable solution unfortunately the cost was going to be between $500 and $1000 to buy enough galvanised steel pipe to complete the project. The idea was shelved until we stumbled across a large quantity of short off cuts at the local garbage dump shop. At the cost of $1 each we took the lot. By the time the entire vineyard was re-trellised a great deal of skill was acquired welding pipe together to achieve a suitable length. In the end not only was the trellising completed but there were enough off-cuts to complete other fencing as well as a few odd jobs and all that for $60.

The rag tag vineyard which originally had patchy trellis put in as a temporary measure to see if grapes would survive now has a pleasant symmetry about it. The wire stays on the slanted strainers were use to avoid having to put in diagonal pipe stays. The strainers are filled with cement as they would otherwise bend as the wires were tensioned. Each strainer is concreted to bedrock and each wire stay is attached to a piece of pipe also concreted to bedrock. To achieve the same angle we built a portable wooden jig to support the strainer until the concrete had set, Small nuts are welded to the strainer to stop the wires from slipping.

Each of the uprights in the row has a netting spreader installed to keep the netting away from the fruit as the birds sit on the net and try to reach the fruit.

Once the trellising was completed a new drip irrigation system was installed to increase the water capacity. Most recently the weed mat was removed and guards installed around each vine. The weed mat had helped reduce the weed competition while the vines gained some maturity but was now too overgrown.

The end result has been positive for the fruit. Yields have increased and there is less disease as a result of the additional height and the better netting.

Weed Mat and Chickens

Winter has started and while working in the vineyard this week removing the last of the weed mat and rocks originally put there to hold it down the chooks joined in scratching around the vine stems cleaning up grubs. They are good company and will work right alongside to make sure they don't miss out. Not using a chicken tractor has its downside i.e. the girls frequently dig cavities in the grass to get to soil for their dirt bath. There is the occasional lurch you step into a deep hole but it doesn't seem fair to confine them as they love ranging over the Vineyard, Orchard and Nuttery. The freedom does mean they can get close to every tree and into every corner. The trees have benefited now for over 20 years of droppings spread widely. The grass is also lush which is not such a wonderful benefit but then mowing from time to time adds mulch. Sir Albert Howard was not an advocate of having grass grow under trees and his trials showed a distinct advantage for tree with bare soil under their drip line. The weed mat originally provided that clear ground as well as stopped the chooks scratching away the copious amounts of cow manure that was deposited under the trees in their youth. But eventually the wee mat became over grown and slowed the penetration of water. Last Winter with a supreme effort all the weed mat and accompanying rocks were removed. So for now the mature trees will have to learn to live with the grass at their feet.

Weed mat overgrown

 



After removal of wed mat