600: Virtually no change in the last 7 hours in the Merlot. 71.5 F and 21 Brix. Three inches of cap and plenty of bubblegum underneath and audible action, but really the numbers are what you'd expect at the end of day 2 or start of day 3, not at the start of day 7.
We've ordered enough MT to treat the batch as stuck. We would do that tomorrow at the soonest. We can also try heating batches of the must to 90-95 F and re-integrating them with the whole must (Crowe). And I've taken a cup of the Cab Frank, which is still full of happy critters even though it's down in the zero Brix range, and laid it into the Merlot: maybe they'll make friends and play.
When we were all researching our situation yesterday Lori found this post from a Yakima Valley winemaker (John Rauner) and sent it around in email. Keep in mind, our grapes are from the same region, and our Brix and pH are also just as he describes. I'm excerpting:
The Merlot that we make at the Yakima River Winery in Washington's Yakima Valley is a big, extracted, full-bodied wine. We age half of the wine in two-year-old barrels and half in new barrels for two years. The Yakima Valley Merlot has a red raspberry and brown spice (nutmeg-clove and cinnamon) flavor.
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To make a wine like ours the grapes need to be very small, with a sugar level of 23.5° to 25° Brix with a pH of 3.2 to 3.4 and a total acid of 0.78. The higher Brix level gives the wine a richer mouthfeel than wine made from grapes at 22° Brix. If your pH is too high -- 3.7 to 4 -- you might want to blend in 20 percent Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Sauvignon; this will lower the pH.
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Don't worry about the sugar as much as the pH...
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...Try to ferment your Merlot at 82° to 86° F (28° to 30° C). This will give you good color from the skins and a rich mouthfeel.
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[sjl: He describes his MLF process here. Ours is different. but that's still in the future.]
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Push down the skins during the fermentation three times a day to keep the cap (fermenting skins) wet. A good yeast for a complex Merlot is Pasteur Red, while EC1118 creates a cleaner, fresher finish. It's best to stay away from Montrachet, because it produces hydrogen sulfide.
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I like to keep Merlot on the skins for 14 to 21 days during fermentation. When fermentation is complete, keep your must covered with carbon dioxide. One indication that fermentation is complete is when all the skins sink and no more carbon dioxide is given off. But probably a more reliable way to tell is to use a pill test, taste the wine, or test the Brix with a hydrometer. Press and settle out, then rack within 24 hours to your oak barrels if you have the quantity or to carboys if you lack sufficient quantities (settling is when all the solids drop to the bottom of your carboy, and racking is when you remove all the clear wine from the solids).
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Even though our temps are nowhere, it's interesting to hear him keeping the juice on the skins for as long as he does. Because, brothers and sisters, it seems like that's where the wine is taking itself.
1700: Yes, OK? I took off early from work to stare at the wine.
Merlot is 72 F, 3 inch cap. Seems less audible, but n the other hand it seems literally warmer above the cap than the temp would indicate. Not just wishful.
And Lori just texted this:
Spoke with our vineyard - good news - we're not stuck! Took notes...
And this just in from Lori:
I spent about 20 minutes this afternoon speaking with Matt, a winemaker at Two Mountain winery in Washington, the source of our grapes from M&M. Here's some of what he said:
That Washington grapes are not like California grapes. (He said he just met with someone from Gallo who said they purchased land near Two Mts. The Gallo man said, I want to do a cold soak" Two Mt man said- "No need for that- these are Washington grapes!"
I read to him specifics from our blog re the progress of the fermentation and he didn't feel it was a problem at all. He said he has 12 tons of grapes doing the same thing right now in the winery. He said that after 7 to 9 days of no brix movement at all, that's when he might worry.
He said that as long as there is a cap and some bubbling, it's still fermenting. It may seem slow, but it should be fine. Suggested that normally with Washington grapes, they try to wait until the grapes are warm before adding yeast.
To remedy, he suggested a few things:
- to add Ferm-aid or another yeast nutrient.
- to put a space heater near the container to warm it up.
He loves to talk about it and said if we're nervous in a few days and after doing the above, to not hesitate to call.
I love it!
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