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.

2008 Cab S / 2009 Merlot blended

The last 5 gallons of the 2009 Merlot (which was a blend itself) went into the 15 gallons of 2008 Long Island Cab. S, that's been in our 100 liter tank.  With any look we can rig up some fittings to bottle from the spigot at the bottom of the tank.  The more sooner the more better, and then we can move 15 gallons of the 2010 Primitivo into the tank.

And, speaking of the Primitivo - I just bottled 3 gallons.  It still smells poopy, and I still like it. 

Another shot at Long Island

Lori and I were walking in Red Hook today and passed by the wine makers at Dwight & Van Dyke.  There was a small gathering in the garage, and as we passed we asked each other when we'll ever approach these folks with the idea of our buying LI grapes with them. 

Well, we got to the corner, chatted, turned around and asked one of the guys - who was attaching a propane tank to what looked like a serious commercial grill - if he was one of the wine makers.  It was Mark Snyder.  We pitched our idea, and it turns out that Red Hook Winery commits to entire blocks from different LI vineyards, so there's no help we can offer them by increasing their purchase, but Mark very graciously offered to look at the idea of Red Hook Winery carving out a portion of their grapes for us to buy.  (All discussed while guests waited...)  MS's card in our pocket, we floated down the street.

In our quick conversation: what varietals, who've we bought from in the past, what quantity are we looking for... I'm dreaming Cab. Franc (and I'm guessing Lori is not). 

And then, a few hours later and back home, after bottling the rest of the 2010 Muscat, it was time to taste the 2008 North Fork Cab. S. that we made with the grapes purchased in Greenport from Michael Kontakostas.  I drew off about a pint.  Guess what?  Pretty damned good.  What a long road this has been.   Deeply colored but maybe a little brown at the edges - we know we've lost the seal a couple of times in the years this wine has been in our 100 liter tank.  A little crud under the tank lid, but no recurrence of the film yeast we had a year ago.  Cherry and licorice, very smooth, and none of the aftertaste that seemed to plague us in the first year.  Shockeroo, this is really pretty good.

And certainly good enough for Lori to play with blending, which she's wanted to do with this wine for a while.  Winning the blending race so far: 3 parts 2008 North Fork Cab. S,, one part 2009 Merlot blend (all Antelope Valley, 70% Merlot, 20 % Cab. S., 10 % P. Syrah.

Good things come to those who wait.

2009 Merlot blend, SO2, MLF and topping up

Been meaning to do this for over a month - checked the SO2 levels on the remaining bulk 2009 wine (5+5+1+1), and as expected it was pretty much depleted.  Added 10% solution to get it to about 40 or 50 ppm, opened a bottle we corked in August of 2010 and used it to top off, and replaced the airlocks with solid stoppers.  (Well, really I replaced the airlocks in the orange 2-way caps with solid covers.)

Also tested for MLF (Accuvin) and it looks like that was complete.

My only hesitation in this was whether to bottle one of the carboys instead of capping it: decided to pass on that, and count on what's already bottled plus the 2010 Muscat (plus maybe some of the cal-blend Grimaldi-Savino?) to entertain the wine party crowd in June of 2010.   (If I were less lazy maybe I'd do an MLF test on the August bottle I just opened as a topper?)

2009 Merlot, 13 months in

We still have 12 gallons of the 2009 Merlot blend in bulk - two 5 gallon carboys of free run, and two 1 gallon jugs of pressed.  Since we have fresh Accuvin tests laying around, I thought I'd poke into one of the carboys and take a look - these wines had never had free SO2 or malic acid or PH tests done before.

• Free SO2: about 23 ppm.  That's how I interpret the color chart.  I would have thought lower, but if that's right, I'm happy and ready to boost it.
•  TA: 6.5 g/L.  Low end of the acceptable range for red.
• PH: 3.8.  Really?  Really?  (Presque Isle, darn it, send my darned meter so I don't have to do the color chart for this one, eh?).  Well, if it's true, lots of SO2 to add.
• Malic Acid: 30 to 50 mg/L. 

As a newbie to testing, I'm surprised the PH is so high if the TA is so low.  Happy about the malic acid level. 

I think I'll wait on the delivery of the PH meter before adding SO2.  And we can decide then, too, whether to bottle or leave the wine in bulk.

Let's get a little geeky, 2010 vs 2009

Yeah, baby, that's what I'm saying.  You see it more clearly in the second two charts, where the temps and Brix are done separately.  But with the Montrechet yeasts added in jumbo quantities and with crush, temps shot up above 80 and Brix shot downward.  (Day 5 for 2009 Brix is an estimate - may well have been zero-ish already.)  Will updat ethe charts as we go into days 6 and beyond.

Potassium Bitartrate crystals, ah

Mike bottled his and Pam's 2009 Syrah today.  Hardly any sediments other than Potassium Bitartrates that fell out.  I couldn't remember their name or what causes them, so went back to Crowe (205-206, 267-268) and got the refresher course and how commercial wineries cold-stabilize their whites to deal with these salts and all that jazz.  Not a taste issue, just cosmetic.

Muscat, you have my full attention right now

Well, it's kind of interesting to me.  What happened?  The temperatures from one year to the next were just about identical, but the fermentation rates were as different as they could possibly be.  Same yeast  and same grape - but possibly a good deal more yeast in 2010, though not more than manufacturer's recommendation.  And 2009 was in 2 half filled glass carboys while 2010 was in a single 2/3 filled 100 liter Graf poly fermenter with a good fitting lid and bubbler. 

Will have to comb the hand-written notes for more 2009 detail.  I know we combined the half carboys on day 8 and I have a posted note that says we were "approaching" dry then.  Really?

2009 yield notes for the Merlot blend

As we're getting ready for 2010, here's a red wine yield guideline:

2009:

• 7 x 36# Merlot +
• 2 x 36# Cab S. +
• 1 x 36# P. Syrah
• ------------------
• 25 gal. pressed, fermented juice
• - 1.5 gal. in 1st rack
• - 1.5 gal. in 2nd rack and carelessness
• = 22 gal. finished wine
• = 100 to 110 bottles

10 cases require five 5 gal carboys plus smaller vessels.
10 cases require either a 50 gal primary, or two smaller primaries

A funny thing happened on the way to dumping the 2008 Cab. S.

Prepping the cellar for the 2010 production.

We have a plumber coming in (Jimmy) who is going to put a spigot in the front of the cellar so we can have a hose more easily up front, replace a few valves, extend some pipes to the back cellar well so we can turn things on and off from out back, and put in a slop sink.  The sink should save a hell of a lot of trips up and down the stairs.

I bottled another cb of the 2009 Merlot blend, and it's tasting very nice.  Will be the main red for next year's party.

And then came the biggy:  the dumping of 60 liters of the 2008 Cab. S.  Lori said, Let's just taste it once more before we dump it.  Because, you know, stranger things have happened.  I mean, if the British secret service could plot the death of Princess Diana...

And guess what?
It's wildly improved.  All the aftertaste issues are gone.  The taste is almost OK.  Color is good.  Alcohol is good.  So we're not going to dump it.  I cleaned the tank, added a very little KSo2 and sealed it back up.  Maybe we'll taste it again on it's 2nd birthday, about 40 days from now.

(Mike's June notes)

Pamela and I had been tasting both our Grenache and Syrah. I like the Grenache but think the Syrah leaves as awkward aftertaste. Pam doesn't like either. The Syrah was made from juice rather than fruit so who knows. We used a medium toast on the Grenache but I decided to use a heavy toast on the Syrah. Nothing like a little makeup! Anyway, we bottled some of the Grenache over Memorial Day weekend so that we might serve some at the June 5th party. Notice the copper color below. Pam hates it but I think it has character.

One guest suggested we give it a slight chill and pass it off as a rose and viola', success! Nothing like a little packaging.

We just lost a gallon of the 2009 Merlot, and here's how

I think it was the day after the party last weekend I noticed that the solid rubber cork on one of the 2009 Merlot overflow gallon jugs had popped off.  I don't know how long it had been off - maybe minutes, but maybe up to 12 hours.  I reset it.  The next day it was off again and I replaced the rubber stopper with another.  This morning it was off again, and I'm going to assume the jug is oxidized (and, well, I'll taste it to be sure). 

It's the only 2009 container that had a solid stopper rather than an airlock.  It's possible the neck on the jug id bad (I doubt it) and it's possible the wine is more active than it appears, which was the case with our 2006 Zinfandel.  It's also possible that if the wine was more active, it was just that jug, and not the full batch - we've seen that before, too, particularly with Bernardo's 2008 Cab. 

I'm guessing the wine is active, and probably the whole Merlot lot.  Which is fine - it's all still in bulk - except for whatever might still be remaining of what we bottled for the party.  I'm betting that gets a little frizzante in the bottle over the next few months. 

Of course, unlike in 2006, in 2009 we added bugs to force the completion of the malolactic fermentation, so my theory should be wrong.  (See October 3.)

Will check late summer.

More party prep: 2009 Merlot labels

Hadn't realized that there were no Merlot labels made - what was I thinking?  The above is based from the sheet music for the Merry Widow - below.

2009 Muscat bottled

Bottled.  Tastes right for the grape, very clear without fining.  Two cases.  Labeled and ready for the party.  Mike & Pam had a taste, too, when they came over today to check on the grenache and syrah.

Oaking the 2009 blend

Very late, we've added 3/5 of the total oak to the 4 carboys of Cheatle / Lewis / Sclafani blend.  French medium toast.  Will add the remaining needed 2/5 within a couple of days, unless I totally spaz out. 

No oak to the Muscat - if one of the partners wants to experiment with this we need to break down the carboy to a 3 gal and two singles.  Might be fun to try a little light oak there.

(Mike and Pam oaked their Grenach last week with medium French, and the Syrah with heavy French.  Pam's not at all happy with the Syrah or what she said was it's pukey aftertaste.  So Mike is nuking it. )

2009 Muscat 2nd racking

Second racking this morning, + KSO2. 

Tasting - much relieved, color great, taste right where you'd hope, adjusting for it being 10 AM and still a little dog-mouthed.  At the end of the first racking we topped off with a 750 of Muscat that we set aside as overflow at pressing, but didn't taste that 750 before using it: the tail end of it was very tart, very fizzy, and I worried I'd squirreled the carboy.  Plus intermediate tastings weren't comforting.  But this morning's wine was all happy.  Lost less than a liter in the racking, and will cold-stabilize another of the 750 set-asides and use it to top up this afternoon - unless the partners would rather use part of a commercial bottle.  I'm happy either way.

So, excellent color, good acid (by measure and taste), taste where I was hoping it would be.  Not all that much nose - not nearly as much as the just fermented juice.  Clear enough so that we might skip bentonite?  Definitely imagining it all going in the summer party, chilled and saving lives.

2009 Muscat titratable acid: 7 g/L

Used the Accuvin titratable acid test this evening on the Muscat.  7 grams per liter as tartaric acid - which means that we are in the target range for whites - 7 to 9 g/L. 

Last wine making supplies purchase of 2009

Just put in an order at Presque Isle for:

• 3/8th inch tubing - 10 feet of it and we can cut it to size as we want.  Some of the last tubing we bought got left in a bucket of water, and while it's still fine to use, the clear vinyl has turned cloudy.  Yuck;
• Solid rubber stoppers in sizes 6.5 and 7, 4 each.  It's finally occurred to me that the 2 year old Sangiovese and other old carboys really don't want a gas-lock on them any more - they want solid stoppers to hold off evaporation.  Got the two sizes because it seems that the 5 gallon carboys have changed in recent years.  Who knew?
• Titratable Acide tests from Accuvin.  This is a splurge, especially since the shelf life of the tests is only 6 months and I'm buying them now, after fermentation.  But it might be an interesting learning experience for us to match acid measurements against what we taste.  I'm betting Syrah the juice Mike & Pam have fermented will measure very low and, who knows, maybe can be touched up with just a bit of tartaric acid.  (Smart money might be against me.)
• Bentonite: the Muscat wants fining.  Whether now at 2nd racking or at a third racking, I dunno.  
• Narrow gauge hydrometer.  This will be fun for next year.  Measures from 5 to -5 brix.  Might even be interesting to look more closely at the Muscat to see how dry it really is.  I don't see it changing anything we do, just knowing a bit more.
• Corks, 1.75 inch amalgamated.  These are the cheapest natural corks PI sells, and just fine for a few years or more.  If the Grimaldi Savino gang wants to shoot higher, go for it.  I did in the 2nd year of our winemaking.  Only bought 100, at about 26 cents each.  

That's it.  Still need to make oak decisions pretty soon, and a bunch more corks later.

Time to start thinking about the 2nd racking

Kids, it's time to think about the second racking.  It's already been a month since the first racking.  How much longer to we want to go?  Xmas week?  A full two months to the 9th or 10th of January 2010?

And for the Syrah - do we need to do a second racking at all?

For the Muscat, when do we fine?  Before 2nd racking?  Before 3rd?

With the second racking, it's also time to be looking at oak for the reds: Barrel Mill spirals?  Stavin cubes?  I don't think any of our batched are big enough for a half-barrel, and would we go smaller?

1st Racking - Rhone Blend

We started by racking the free run Grenache. Tasted vibrant and I am thinking of making some Rose to drink next summer. Needed to top it off with a 750 Rose 100% Grenache from Tavel. That still left the carboy a little short so we topped it off with the Pressed Grenache/Syrah juice.

Next we racked the remainder of the Pressed Grenache/Syrah juice. Between what we used to top off the free run Grenache and this racking we were short probably about a magnum. Topped this carboy off with the 100% Syrah juice. Steve seems fascinated and off balance by the fresh juice start.

That left racking the 100% Syrah juice. This didn't taste a vibrant as the Grenache but had some nice depth. Rather than top it off, we chose to transfer this to one 3-gallon and one 1-gallon carboy. Hopefully we can get a few bottles of pure Syrah to experiment with.