Yeast selection

Hi everyone,

I'm making my first wine in approximately a week or two. I will be fermenting the hybrid grape Marquette. I just want to create a very basic sweet wine to be drunk immediately after fermentation. I don't even want to put it through MLF. Having said that Marquette is a low tannin red. It brixes very high though (26-28). Does anybody have experience with this particular grape or any recommendations based on given parameters? Right now it would seem rc212 is the way to go but I'm not sure. Thank you ahead of time for your replies.

RC212 should be a safe bet. Out wet July here in Indiana did a number on my Marquette (black rot), and this was supposed to be my first yield, so I can't speak from experience. The only caveat is off the top of my head I don't recall the alcohol tolerance of RC212. If you use a high alcohol tolerant strain with a brix that high, the only way you will end up with a sweet wine may be making it almost a port style.

Did you check your acid yet? That brix sounds awfully high. I wonder if it would have done well to pull them earlier.

spaniel said:

RC212 should be a safe bet. Out wet July here in Indiana did a number on my Marquette (black rot), and this was supposed to be my first yield, so I can't speak from experience. The only caveat is off the top of my head I don't recall the alcohol tolerance of RC212. If you use a high alcohol tolerant strain with a brix that high, the only way you will end up with a sweet wine may be making it almost a port style.

Did you check your acid yet? That brix sounds awfully high. I wonder if it would have done well to pull them earlier.

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Hi. lol. black rot got me too. I think this was a record wet July. I have not checked acid yet. I'm basing it mainly off pH. I have tested acid before in past years and it maintains a good balance with pH. I have heard that during ferm, Marquette must has a habit of jumping up in pH. Google "fermenting Marquette grapes and the 2nd or 3rd link down is a link to U of Mn's enology page.

RC212 is my "go to" yeast. One thing from experience, H2S can/will rear its ugly head if the yeast is not properly fed. If you do go with RC212, make sure to feed it a proper amount yeast nutrient.

Been growing Marquette for 4 years now. 71B is your friend with this variety.

I prefer 71b for Marquette. It brings out wonderful fruit and helps reduce the malic. This may be especially important if you are not doing MLF.

After looking at it, 71b sounds pretty good. Thank you again!

I ended up using ec1118. Some untimely rain made me pull early and I pulled them last friday. pH jumped up so I had to (3.8). It's fermenting quickly. There were a lot of herbaceous aromas at crush but with the addition of sugar, aroma and taste improved greatly. I think it will turn out nicely.

If possible consider transferring the must to another container and leave the seeds behind. Might help in getting an early drinker especially if these were not quite ripe.

I bottled last Friday. I turned out ok, imo, for my first time, It was drinkable. I definitely need to recalibrate my refractometer. I didn't add enough sugar to make it sweet and it turned out semi-dry. I didn't put it through MLF and I think that and the little residual sugar made it a little unpalatable but there were no off-flavors to speak of. It did have good body and better tannins than I expected. I think this lesson will definitely help me next year.

marquettematt said:

I bottled last Friday. I turned out ok, imo, for my first time, It was drinkable. I definitely need to recalibrate my refractometer. I didn't add enough sugar to make it sweet and it turned out semi-dry.

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You cannot (easily) use a refractometer to measure sugar content if there is also alcohol in the solution. (Both sugar and alcohol alter the index of refraction of the solution, so they both affect the reading.) See this page: http://valleyvintner.com/Refrac_Hydro/Refract_Hydro.htm

Spaniel, How'd your Marquette turn out? Have you been tasting yet?