Spring '17 White Wine Project

The pails of frozen must left the freezer in Chicago on Wednesday, and wouldn't you know it, on Thursday, I got an email from Brehm about their Spring sale offerings. Mostly some older vintage stuff, but out of Chicago, there were a few pails of Pinot that were priced nicely, I would have added them on and saved on some shipping..........oh well.

The Chard and the PG are due here today, it'll be time to get things kicking this weekend as the pails thaw, hope the advertised numbers hold.

The must is thawed, but still quite chilly, should be able to pitch later on this evening or tomorrow. Stirred and warmed some small samples and ran my tests.

Carneros Chardonnay numbers super close to those given on the site:

BRIX 23.6, pH 3.53, TA 7.6

Columbia Gorge Pinot Gris had a little variance, but I think for the better:

BRIX 22.8, pH 3.16, TA 7.6

While the BRIX might be a touch high for whites, I'm not going to make any changes yet.

Got home yesterday evening and the must had warmed to 60F, moved the pails into the wine room, also at 60F, pitched the yeast and covered them for the evening. Used CY3079 on the Santo Giordino Chardonnay, and ICV-D47 on the Underwood Mountain Pinot Gris.

Racked all four out of their buckets this morning into glass carboys with airlocks, they are already showing some activity, slowly moving the liquid higher on the discharge side, with the occasional bubble escaping. I expect a long, slow ferment at 60F, and have plenty nutrients on hand, as the CY3079 is a nutrient hog. VP41 on hand with Acti-ML for rehydration and Opti'Malo Plus nutrients for MLF.

CY3079 is billed as a short lag phase/fast starter, and it hasn't disappointed, even at 60F. Nice thick brown foamy cap on top with pretty good CO2 discharge from the bubbler. Also billed as a nitrogen hog, I decided to feed it tonight, after some mental gyrations, hit it with a half dose of DAP to give it a solid boost. I'll switch to Fermaid K or O down the line and keep a nose out for any stinky discharge.

D47 in the PG is puttering along, little bubble action on the surface, maybe a bubble in the airlock every few minutes.

I've not fermented at these temps, so experience isn't telling me what to expect, but it's feeling pretty good right now......

Sounds like it is going well. Nice cool ferment.

Everything is continuing to progress as expected, very slowly. The PG / D47 wine took a little longer to get going than the Chard/CY3079, so it's a bit behind. The chard was as 1.070 this morning, the PG around 1.085, at my normal fermenting temps, they'd both be nearly dry by day 5.

Took a quick whiff as I checked them this morning and was pleasantly greeted by really aromatic fruity pineapple and citrus notes, more concentrated than I've ever experienced in a wine that I was making. Suppose it's a combo of the low temps and fermenting in the carboys under airlock, but it's a good thing. Sorta thought that when I pitched yeast last Saturday they'd be close to dry by this weekend, that won't happen, but I've nothing but time.

Still chugging along slowly, today is day 15, and the AF finish line is in sight. Both wines are now at 1.010, still showing good fermentation activity, no off smells at all, and very fruity aromas.

Once dry, will let the PG sit a while to settle, then rack the two PG carboys and wii probably end up with a 6 and 3 gallon carboy of that varietal, it'll stay in the wine room at 60 to clear and bulk age.

The Chard will be brought out into the house to warm to the mid 70's, will add MLB to both carboys, and rack with the lees into fresh carboys. While MLF is progressing, will be gently stirring the lees back into suspension every day or two, a little battonage will also help the MLB along.

Glad to hear things are going well. How about the color? It should be noticeably less dark by now, although it will be more obvious once settled. You've got me thinking about Chardonnay now.....

stickman said:

Glad to hear things are going well. How about the color? It should be noticeably less dark by now, although it will be more obvious once settled. You've got me thinking about Chardonnay now.....

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Yes, the color has lightened very noticeably in all four carboys, more of a whitish tan color, as opposed to the brown color in the photos above. They both smell awesome, I'm glad I decided to do this little spring white project.

Today is day 18 of this project, both wines still at 60F in the wine room, the Chard was down to .992 and still active, the PG just under 1.000 and active as well. Great smells, no off odors at all, as expected, at cool temps and good nutrient protocol.

The Chard was moved this morning out of the wine room and into the kitchen, where it will slowly warm today to 74F, tonight I will mix up my VP41/ActiML concoction and inoculate along with OptiMalo. Since the 6 gallon carboys have a little over 5 gallons of wine in them, they will be consolidated to a single 6 gallon, a 3 gallon, and probably a 1 gallon. All of the lees will remain in the carboys and will be gently stirred back into suspension a few times a week during MLF. Looking forward to getting a little taste of this wine this evening before MLB goes in.

PG will remain in the wine room, airlocked in the same carboys it was fermented in. When it's dry and begins to settle a bit, will hook the vacuum pump up for a little degassing, then vacuum rack into 6, 3, and 1 gallon glass for clearing/aging. Will sneak a little taste of PG in a few days.......

Am I right in reading that you racked all of the lees over in the Chardonnay? I'm picking up a bucket of Chardonnay tomorrow and plan to do mlf on it.

Rodnboro said:

Am I right in reading that you racked all of the lees over in the Chardonnay? I'm picking up a bucket of Chardonnay tomorrow and plan to do mlf on it.

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I have not done it yet, but that is what I will be doing. My intention is to MLF and age on the lees, but that is a wine style decision, not a requirement. You could just as easily do MLF without aging on the lees, or skip both.

Chard was up to room temps yesterday evening, right at 74F, VP41 and all the fixins are on board. Will keep it in the carboys til it's bone dry, then rack / consolidate into some topped up vessels.

The PG is still bubbling along in the low .99's, and should finish up pretty soon, been racked off of lees once, and has a light dusting again, starting to slow and show signs of clearing.

Chard is very inactive except for little MLF bubbles. The top half gets clear between stirring the lees back into suspension. It's very counterintuitive to keep stirring it all back up, but I'm staying the course. Will probably run a chromo in a few weeks and see how it's doing.

Both of these wines are smelling super.

Finally back from traveling, gave the Chard a nice gentle stir, and in the wine room, was surprised to find the PG still fermenting after 4 weeks. Down to .992 and still moving right along, looks like it's going dry as a bone.

Just a little update on these two whites. Ran a chromatography on the chardonnay this weekend, really just to do it, it's got a lactic spot and a slightly fading malic spot, looks like it's got a bit to go yet and will check it again in July.

The Pinot Gris had a bit of sediment in the bottom and is still pretty hazy after it's last racking and vacuum degassing. Went ahead and racked off of the sediment, into to new carboys and added a half dose of bentonite since I didn't use any during primary fermentation.

Both wines are continuing to have a really nice nose, with notes typical of each varietal. The Chard is starting to take on a bit of the yeasty / bready aroma typical of a stirred lees Chardonnay.

Johnd said:

was surprised to find the PG still fermenting after 4 weeks.

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Personally, I am the complete opposite. If my Pinot Gris takes less than 4 weeks I would be surprised. Of course, I ferment mostly at temps in the upper 50s to low 60s.

Johnd said:

The Pinot Gris had a bit of sediment in the bottom and is still pretty hazy after it's last racking and vacuum degassing. Went ahead and racked off of the sediment, into to new carboys

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If not aging the Pinot Gris on the lees, I assume then you are working for a minerally (Italian) style, rather than a fruity (French) style.

balatonwine said:

If not aging the Pinot Gris on the lees, I assume then you are working for a minerally (Italian) style, rather than a fruity (French) style.

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At this stage of the game, I've not been able to discern much minerality out of the wine, but it is quite fruity and aromatic.

balatonwine said:

Personally, I am the complete opposite. If my Pinot Gris takes less than 4 weeks I would be surprised. Of course, I ferment mostly at temps in the upper 50s to low 60s.

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Due to my location, fermenting at lower temps in a basement or cellar hasn't been and option, without an artificially controlled environment. Until recently, all of my fermenting has taken place in my home at 70-75F, but now that I have a large temperature controlled wine cellar, I have that option. Nice, long, slow, cool ferment on both the PG and the Chard, quite nice......