2016 Chardonnay, day 71: more MLF

All four 5 gallon carboys now fermenting again.

2016 Chardonnay, day 70: Malo?!

It's turned sharply colder here in new Amsterdam, the heat's been on in the house every morning and on and off through the day, the cellar (with furnace) is hanging around 69/70 F.  Mornings are 5 degrees cooler upstairs.

Not much has been happening with the wine, but this evening I decided to get down on my knees to see if any potassium bitartrate crystals were forming as they have in the last few years.  (See particularly the picture in the December 1 post from 2013.)  Nope, no crystals, but... two of the 4 five gallon carboys have become active again!  I'm hoping it's malolactic fermentation kicking in on its own and not a dead mouse or something worse.  Not popping the bubblers, but steady streams of gas.

Will keep a careful watch to see if the others join them.  If they don't, we'll try to keep them separate at the next racking.

2016 Chardonnay, day 44, racked

Different levels of clarity.

Jon, Jim and Ron came over to help rack.  We went from 21 gallons to 20.  The first three carboys were all very much alike, but the fourth had much looser lees, clouded when we brought it over to the workbench, and you can see from the photo that the new cb that it went into is much less clear than its fellows.

Taste: still grapey, very tart, but very good for only a month and a half into the process.  Am hoping that some of the acid falls out over the winter, as it has with prior years' wines.  Did not measure.

About 16 ppm free SO2 - will measure again in a few days.  We were pretty good about not agitating the wine much during racking.  Will have to make a decision about whether to leave it alone or not.

Looking back at racking histories

Year	Date pressed	Days in primary	Days to next racking	Days to next racking	Days to next racking
2016	10/1/2016	8
2015	9/19/2015	7	11	64
2014	10/5/2014	6	7	75	115
2013	9/22/2013	6	8	56
2012	9/29/2012	7	8	82	78

Holy mackerel.  

Turns out that I've had a language shift that's created a racking shift.  2012 through 2015 when we took the must out of the primary and into carboys it was active enough so that we left air-gaps and a couple days later, as things calmed, we topped them off.  In those years, 7 to 11 days after topping off, we racked the wine and I called that racking it off its gross lees.

2016, with a different varietal, when we went from primary to carboys we topped immediately, and I also dumped the bottom couple inches of must calling them (in my mind) the gross lees.  Whatever!  But it means that if we rack this weekend we'll be at 40 days where we'd previously been at a max of 11.  I'm fine with it - things are looking beautiful.

2016 Chardonnay, day 42: moreso

07:00

Same vessel as in the last post, 17 days later.  Transparent now, still.  Not completely clear but ready to rack this weekend.  The larger carboys are all in similar states.

The 2015 wine we did not rack in November, but waited until Dec. 12.  2014 we waited until Jan. 3.  2013, Dec. 1.  2012, Jan. 5 but we did not start winemaking that year until Oct. 13.  Going to have to make a chart of all this.  Maybe we'll convince ourselves to wait a couple more weeks?

2016 Chardonnay, day 25: settling

21:00

All of the CBs are settling at about the same rate as this jug - an inch or so of dead yeast and particles, the wine translucent now but still far from transparent.  And all of the gassing appears to have stopped - no more fine bubbles running up the sides and necks of the vessels.

2016 Chardonnay, day 19: free SO2

06:30
Steady, lazy, medium sized gas bubbles still making their way up the necks of the carboys.  No hurry, nothing frantic, no movement of the airlocks.

Thought I would take a look at free SO2, and true to what the man said about the EC-1118 yeast, it created a bunch of SO2.  I wasn't careful in my measurement and will go back, but the untreated wine is between 20 and 30 ppm.

2016 Chardonnay, day 15

09:30
The top quarter of each vessel is brightening and less custard-like.  Less ongoing ferment than I would have guessed at, but still some.  It's going to be much warmer outside through much of the coming week and that will push the cellar temp up a bit.  Test for free SO2 and decide whether to up it to help prevent malo?

2016 Chardonnay, day 13: collar and boot

22:00
Steady but light advance of gas up the necks of the vessels.  Minutes between burps of the airlocks.  A thin collar, and a boot of settling yeast bodies and solids.

2016 Chardonnay, day 11

06:00
Brix -1.4

Things are in that steady hypnotic state of fine bubbles racing up the necks of each carboy but hardly ever popping the airlocks.  All the vessels behaving similarly.  Reading was from carboy A.

It's 48 F outside and we haven't let the furnace come on yet.  Didn't take the temp of the cellar, but it's cool down there.

2016 Chardonnay, day 9: less than zero

09:30
Brix -0.5

Still steady CO2, but today is the day to move to carboys.

(Elvis less than zero)

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15:00
Et voila.  Brix -0.8.

We racked the primary ferm into 4x5gal+1gal+1x.750ml.  Tossed what must have been between 2 and 4 liters of muck from the bottom, which we never would do in the leaner Muscat years (and, just as Lori said I would, I already regret it.

Using the silicon drilled cup-shaped stoppers this year rather than either the traditional rubber stoppers or the plastic caps with 2 spouts.  The later I've lost some faith in - I feel like they don't always give as tight a seal as you would want after primary fermentation and settling.  The former I would have used but didn't have enough of them this morning and when I ran out to Pagano at Terminal Market the silicon is what he had left in size sevens.

Chardonnay, with some old Primitivo and Cab Franc behind it.

There was very little foaming going on in the primary tank or noticeable in the carboys, so we filled them very near to full.  Plenty of gassing, though.  If there's no yeast foaming in an hour or two, we'll finish topping.  (OK, I reserved an itty bit of the muck to do this with.)

An hour of work, and now the months of staring begin.  Typical thick cidery color.

2016 Chardonnay, day 8

08:30
Brix 2.65

Steady pumping of CO2 - glad to see it, that makes us comfortable targeting tomorrow for going to smaller vessels.  Still, we decided not to disturb things too much, did not open the tank except through the taps, left the (no longer frozen) ice block in, etc.  Time to rearrange things in the cellar, make for 5 carboys, and let the troops know there's a little work to be done on Sunday.

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23:30
Brix 1.2.

Steady CO2.  Tomorrow seems like the right day to condense into CBs.  Monday at the latest.  Tasting the rough wine is not so pleasant - it's lost most of the cidery-sweetness of the middle ferment, and is now alcoholic and acidic.  (Always worried about the acid, these last 3 or 4 years.)

2016 Chardonnay, day 7: long and short

06:30

Happens every year.  The long scale hydrometer says we're below 5 and the short scale disagrees.  So, I'm going to call it:

Brix 5, temp 74 F.

Swapped the cooler.  Yeast are in their oozy, sticky state.  CO2 is constant and strong enough that there's no need to transfer to smaller vessels yet.  I made a raucous sound recording of it and will try to post it.

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22:00
Brix 3.85.

Which is to say that the reading moved from 3.7 to 4 over the few minutes that the short scale hydrometer was in the tube.

Under 5!  Steady pumping of the bubbler has stopped, but still plenty of ferment, heavy yeasts, CO2 production and noise.  Looks like we should move to carboys or whatever the next vessel will be late tomorrow or Sunday.

2016 Chardonnay, day 6

06:00
Brix 8, temp 72 F.

Calmer yeasts, but still pushing the bubbler every couple of seconds.  Sadly realizing I may have misread some of the previous temps.  Note to self: going back to a digital thermometer next year.  Smells are intense and sweet still.  And we're staying faster than last year's fermentation.

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21:30
Brix 5.5, temp 72.

Steady CO2 production, yeasts are very wet and sticky.  Still a heavy fruit smell from the must.  Swapped the San Jamar.  May be trying the short scale hydrometer in the morning.

2016 Chardonnay, day 5, exploding marshmallow

06:00
15 Brix, 72 F

Wetter, stickier foaming.

Cap was askew and barely hanging on to the bubbler.  Very deep, active, wet chuffing.  Yeast had overflowed the bubbler and settled on the tank.

First noticeable temperature rise, 4 degrees.  2 Brix dip in last 7 hours.  Though it will add again to the overflow I swapped in a cold San Jamar - would loved to have put in 2 and try to dent the temp., but there just isn't the headspace with so much foam.

Tracking very closely to last year's Muscat, which was 14.5 B at 81 elapsed hours since pitching yeast.  We're 15 B at 79 elapsed hours.

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20:00
10 Brix, 68F.

Constant, quick bubbling but it did not overflow the it had last evening.  The entire house smells intensely of ferment.

Replaced the San Jamar, even though we seem to have finished the big blow.  33% sugar burn in the last 14 hours.

That suddenly bolts us ahead of last year's wine, which took about 15 hours longer to make the drop to 10 Brix.

2016 Chardonnay, day 4: the big burn begins

05:30
Brix 18, 68 F.

Bubbler is pumping and fouled.  The entire 10 liter head-space in the tank is foam.  The airtight plastic bag holding the icepack is puffed like a balloon.

Initial Brix reading was 19, but the longer it stayed in the tube the lower the reading went - I think it was being bubbled up.  I'm splitting the difference of where it started and ended and calling it 18.  This is burn of 24% of the sugars from the last measurement just 6.5 hours ago.

Though it will add to the overflow, I've replaced the San Jamar - but not the bagged ice-pack.

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23:00
Brix 17, 68 F.

Wild and wooly.  Overflowing yeast.  but surprisingly little dip in the last 17.5 hours.  What's happening?!  Swapped the SJ.  Lots of cleanup.

2016 Chardonnay, day 3

06:00
23 Brix, 68 F.

Much heavier shag.  Swapped a single San Jamar.

31 hours since pitching the yeast, a 2 Brix (8%) fall in sugar content.  That's tracking very close to the behavior of the 2015, 2014 and 2013 Muscats.  (The 2015 Muscat had a huge burn-off in the following 15 hours.)

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23:00
24 Brix, 68 F

Deep shag.

So, OK, here's the deal.  The 6 AM reading was taken directly in the primary ferm tank and I read it as best I could through the foam.  The 11 PM reading was taken in the standard tube because the tank was so wild with big-bubbled fermentation that it came all the way up to the bubbler.

Swapped out both the San Jamar and the chem ice pack.  No sign that they are keeping the must at less than ambient temp, but who knows if they are helping keeping it from going above that temp?

And here's where we have an excellent difference from last year.  At 48 hours in 2016 we've just begun to move the needle, but in 2015 we'd blown off 10 Brix, well over a third of the sugar.

2016 Chardonnay, day 2

07:00
Brix 25; wine temp 68 F.

Ferm @ 11 hours

Fermentation has taken hold quietly.  No obvious difference yet to sugar.  Five degrees warmer over the last 15 hours, but that may just be coming to the ambient cellar temp rather than heating from the fermentation.  Did not put any ice blocks in: maybe will think differently after coffee?  (EC-1118 temp range is 50 to 86 F.)

11:00
Added one San Jamar ice block.

20:00
25 / 24.9 Brix, 68F.

Not much change.  The yeast foam is shaggier, but not crazy.  No heat.  Changed the (completely melted) San Jamar ice thingy.

2016 Chardonnay, day 1

It begins to begin.

7:00
Forecast has changed so that it looks like there will be no rain - and no tent to put up.  58 F at 7 AM, going to a high of 64.  The grapes have been in the Mini overnight with lots of ice blocks - sort of a cooler on wheels.  Jake and Liz brought them down yesterday, arriving at 3 PM.  They look very, very good.  Sorting should be quick.  No measurements taken yet.  Plenty to do.

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Dare I say it?  Yes.  Awesome day 1!

The crew started gathering at 10, were eating the first focaccia by 10:30, and were hauling gear shortly afterwards.  We decided on one sorting table, put the destemmer in the usual place, and put the bladder press out by the curb.  Wheeled the car down to the house and only took crates out of it when they were needed for sorting.  Sorting went fast because the grapes were so good.  Backup was in destemming, because that could not go faster than the pressing.

90 liters of juice!  wildly more than yields from Muscat in prior years.  Was it the nature of Chardonnay?  Or just the relative quality of the grapes?

Took five early refractometer readings from a single cluster (the one we used for focaccia) and they ranged from 23.8 to 27.8  Whacky.

At 3 PM from juice: 25 brix, 3.86 pH, 63 degrees F, uncertain acid readings, but the seemed low.  Repeated around 7 PM and we opted to add about 130 g. of tartaric.

At 7:45 we hydrated 20 grams of EC-1118 and pitched it.

But about the day: Ron Rosansky, Jim Paul, Michael Gramaglia and Christina Dolce Vite  were the new kids in the barrel and they worked like banshees.  Pietro and Mihai did the side-job of hauling new cabinets into the cellar.  Carmelo made the transition from little kid onlooker to active participant.  Because the grapes were great sorting went fast.  Plastic crates meant wildly quicker breakdown.  Clean-up and hauling back to the cellar never went faster than ever.  We were at lunch by two and up from it at about 4:30.  Fab!

2016 Chardonnay: grapes purchased

Yesterday we purchased 12 36# lugs of Lanza Chardonnay that should be arriving at Musto today.  Yeast and a few odds and ends should arrive today from Presque Isle.  And we're hoping that Presque Isle will have a record of the steel tank we purchased from them (or did we purchase it from Texas?) so that we can get a new gasket and possibly a new pump so that our steely Chardonnay really will grow up in steel.

More Chardonnay yeast considerations and sources

• Chardonnay yeast chart at Wine Business
• Lalvin tear-sheet on EC-1118
• WineMaker Magazine article on Chardonnay from different regions, with different yeasts

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4 PM: OK, the decision is made.  Lalvin EC-1118 to support our non-malo approach.

Which yeast for our Chardonnay

From More Wine's yeast matching guide for Chardonnay:

• ICV-D47: Complex white with citrus, dried apricot, pineapple and floral notes. Lees contact gives ripe spicy aromas with tropical and citrus tones developing, along with nuts. Adds volume/mouthfeel. Barrel fermentation and lees aging recommended. Good single-strain or as a blending component. 
• T306: Exotic fruit and pineapple, with elegant white fruit notes in Chardonnay. Contributes to mouthfeel and lees aging is recommended. Good as a single-strain or as a blending component. 
• CY3079: Classic white burgundy: rich, full mouthfeel with aromas of fresh butter, almonds, honey, white fruit, flowers and pineapple. Barrel fermentation and lees aging recommended. 
• QA23: Usually used in terpenic whites, it enhances the floral, aromatic aspects of a grape. In Chardonnay, floral, white peaches are emphasized with an equal clarity in both aroma and taste. Great as a “top-note” in a blend. 
• BA11: Fresh fruit aromas of orange blossom, pineapple, and apricot develop, along with clean aromatics, lingering flavours, and an intensified mouthfeel. 
• Rhône 4600: Apricot and tropical fruit with enhanced mouthfeel contribution. Delivers fat roundness and balance along with light esters. Good as a blending component. 
• ICV-D254: Usually used as a blending component, D254 gives stone fruit flavours, aromas of nuts, smoke, and sourdough, along with a creamy mouthfeel. Good for adding complexity and mouthfeel to a blend. 
• ICV-GRE: Brings fresh melon foreword along with good mouthfeel. Also effective for reducing herbaceous and vegetal notes in under-ripe fruit.

What about us folks who don't want their Chardonnay to taste like butter?

Back from... where?

Man, more than nine months since the last look at the blog.

After much travel and many busy weekends, it suddenly looks like we will not skip winemaking this year, but will get Chardonnay grapes from Musto's Lanza vineyard in Suisan Valley.  With luck Cousin Jake will drive them down to us on this coming Friday, and we'll be crushing on Saturday, October 1.  He's driving a car, not a rig, so we're not sure how much he'll be able to haul, but we're still hoping for 500 to 600 #.

Our first venture away from Muscat for our whites.  We know we'll be in steel or glass.  We know there won't be any oak.  We don't know what yeast we'll use, or whether we will try to kill malo or just let the wine and the cellar do what they want.

Yippee!