Sunday, September 15, 2013

Attending to past sins

5 hours in the cellar this morning and it looks like we're in shape to at least make white wine next weekend - grapes and time providing.

Spent a chunk of time going through past posts and other notes and see that our white wines seem to loose about 10 to 15 ppm per year in carboys. Seems to be true regardless of fermentation with or without skin contact, and whether or not the wine was left on its lees. With zero proof or correlation to the reds I decided to treat them the same way, so where we've raised them by N in the past I figured a year later we were N-10 to 15. Sue me.

Made a new batch of 10% solution, and this time did it in a wide jar so I could easily draw off by the ml instead of pouring out into spoons.

Added 3 ml 10% solution to the 3 gal WA Merlot.
Added 14 ml 10% solution to the fusti of WA Merlot.

Took a taste of Peter's unchapatized 2008 LI Cab S. Remember, these grapes measured a very low brix, and finished ferment in 3 or 4 days. Bernardo and I decided to chapatize and restart the fermentation, Peter didn't. (Lori would have stopped me if I didn't decide so quickly.) Got this wine to my lips and gasped That's Not Wine!! It was something like wine, but I don't know what exactly. Down the drain I sent it.

Then there was a 5 gal CB of my chapatized version. It was wine, but it was not good. Salute!

Then there was a 5 gal mystery CB. Salute!

Then there was a 3 liter growler of 2006 Zin that I decided to re-oak as an experiment, then forgot about. It has a bubbler n it that, no surprise, had gone dry. Salute! and the glass was so stained that I pitched it.

Then there was a 1 gal bottle of the 2009 Merlot / Cab S / P Verdot blend that was overflow from one of the rackings. Another dried out bubbler. Idiot. Too bad, because this was good party wine. Salute!

Then I tasted the two remaining 2010 Primitivo carboys. The first one, honest to god, seemed to have zero barnyard odors and I quickly decided to rack it. The second was not so completely clear (this was the CB I referred to as Charlie in all of my notes) and I decided to add so2 and set it aside. I also decided to raise the so2 in the bottles I was making - I did that by mixing 10% solution with wine, and that adding that mixture to each bottle before filling.

I've got to say that I was not so confident in the lack of barnyard odors during the bottling, while there was lots or aerating happening, but I persevered. It left me less sure of what I would do with the 2nd cb of primitivo, long term.

What was left to deal with was the 8 gallons of cab f. But by now it was 1 PM, I hadn't showered or eaten yet, and called it a day.

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