Last year I wanted to try making an Asoleado wine in a similar method to what I learned and tried in Chile, but from MN grapes.
I started with approximately 120lbs of frontenac gris grown about two hours from my house. Why this variety? It is what I could get.
In Chile they now hang the grape bunches on wires strung under porches to let them dry. I set up high tensile wire in my sunroom strung between 2x4's screwed to the walls. We then reviewed every bunch to make sure grapes were firmly attached to the stem and started hanging them on the wires.
After about 80 lbs, one of the 2x4s split in 3 and it all came crashing down to the floor. There are still screws in the wall. The sunroom also has carpeting. My wife was less than content. The kids laughed.
To salvage the situation we raided the shelving out of the greenhouse to make makeshift tables. Then we reviewed all the bunches for loose grapes, which there were a lot, and put the intact ones on the tables to dry.
The loose grapes were crushed, pressed, and fermented separately.
The grapes sat out there for about 3 weeks until they looked and tasted right. Definitely sweeter, slightly wilted. The kids and I then picked all the grapes off the stems and pressed them.
Once pressed I moved the must to a used MN rye whiskey barrel. Why? It was available and half the price of a new barrel. Plus the barrel and the whiskey were made in MN, so I went with it. I also figured that the whiskey would have sucked out a good amount of the oak flavor which would be very good for my purpose.
That barrell came with a note about not fermenting in the barrel. Cesar said it was important that Asoleado is fermented in the barrel due to the interaction of increased pressure with fermentation. I looked at the barrel construction, felt safe enough, and poured the must in. I'd estimate it was a little less than 4 gallons in a 5 gallon barrel.
To keep the bung in, I wrapped zip ties around the barrel. The barrel was placed in a semi protected space just in case. It built up pressure fast. The next day pushed the zip ties to the side and the bung shot up and smacked me in the forehead. I'm glad it was silicone. Translating from Chile, they use cement to keep the bung sealed on the barrel, at least that would be the literal translation. I haven't figured out what that actual "cement" is as it would need to hold under pressure.
After about a week fermentation was over. (This was done in the basement at about 65 degrees) I checked it, it looked and smelled good, then sealed it back up in the barrel.
In Chile they would leave this wine in the barrel undisturbed for 2 years. About 50% would be lost to evaporation. The resulting chilean wine is oxidized, very thick, sweet but balanced by high acidity.
After 3 months I decided to open the barrel and check progress. I didn't know what to expect for evaporation rates in my 5 gallon barrel compared to 52 gallon barrels in SA. I had about 2.5 gallons of wine left with little white bits floating on top. Fearing the worst I transferred to a 3 gallon carboy which I topped off with the other fermented frontenac gris I had on hand and sulfited.
Trying it now, it is still sharp. My wife can detect the flavors of late harvest that she likes along a with just a hint of whiskey. She also tastes a bit of "fermentation and vinegar like it's not ready yet". I couldn't get a good picture deep in the barrel to be 100% certain that it wasn't flowers of wine, but if it was it wasn't much showing.
I'm going to let the wine sit in the carboy and revisit when it gets close to a year. I also didn't like the plain frontenac gris after fermentation, but it was definitely improved 10x when I bottled it and am looking forward to opening one of those at closer to 1 yr.
The barrel has a sulfite solution in it now, I will be disassembling and refurbishing in the near future.
With other projects I have followed advice and instructions.on this forum with good success. This was my personal experiment, and I'm now ready to get other opinions. I know this project went against many of the typical winemaking processes, but I have also have also tasted the results from when it works.
I'm ready to get thoughts from others. What do you think, how do I do this better? The end result should be a sweet dessert wine similar to a late harvest.
![IMG_20200920_190835.jpg IMG_20200920_190835.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/winemakingtalk/data/attachments/68/68869-0ce244ac6ecf1644f9ce0041e88cd116.jpg)
![IMG_20200923_200152.jpg IMG_20200923_200152.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/winemakingtalk/data/attachments/68/68870-79b9238d6549e057038a38edd1ebb215.jpg)
![IMG_20210118_171414.jpg IMG_20210118_171414.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/winemakingtalk/data/attachments/68/68871-845dae9e14b5b0bd73d7db87141e59fd.jpg)
I started with approximately 120lbs of frontenac gris grown about two hours from my house. Why this variety? It is what I could get.
In Chile they now hang the grape bunches on wires strung under porches to let them dry. I set up high tensile wire in my sunroom strung between 2x4's screwed to the walls. We then reviewed every bunch to make sure grapes were firmly attached to the stem and started hanging them on the wires.
After about 80 lbs, one of the 2x4s split in 3 and it all came crashing down to the floor. There are still screws in the wall. The sunroom also has carpeting. My wife was less than content. The kids laughed.
To salvage the situation we raided the shelving out of the greenhouse to make makeshift tables. Then we reviewed all the bunches for loose grapes, which there were a lot, and put the intact ones on the tables to dry.
The loose grapes were crushed, pressed, and fermented separately.
The grapes sat out there for about 3 weeks until they looked and tasted right. Definitely sweeter, slightly wilted. The kids and I then picked all the grapes off the stems and pressed them.
Once pressed I moved the must to a used MN rye whiskey barrel. Why? It was available and half the price of a new barrel. Plus the barrel and the whiskey were made in MN, so I went with it. I also figured that the whiskey would have sucked out a good amount of the oak flavor which would be very good for my purpose.
That barrell came with a note about not fermenting in the barrel. Cesar said it was important that Asoleado is fermented in the barrel due to the interaction of increased pressure with fermentation. I looked at the barrel construction, felt safe enough, and poured the must in. I'd estimate it was a little less than 4 gallons in a 5 gallon barrel.
To keep the bung in, I wrapped zip ties around the barrel. The barrel was placed in a semi protected space just in case. It built up pressure fast. The next day pushed the zip ties to the side and the bung shot up and smacked me in the forehead. I'm glad it was silicone. Translating from Chile, they use cement to keep the bung sealed on the barrel, at least that would be the literal translation. I haven't figured out what that actual "cement" is as it would need to hold under pressure.
After about a week fermentation was over. (This was done in the basement at about 65 degrees) I checked it, it looked and smelled good, then sealed it back up in the barrel.
In Chile they would leave this wine in the barrel undisturbed for 2 years. About 50% would be lost to evaporation. The resulting chilean wine is oxidized, very thick, sweet but balanced by high acidity.
After 3 months I decided to open the barrel and check progress. I didn't know what to expect for evaporation rates in my 5 gallon barrel compared to 52 gallon barrels in SA. I had about 2.5 gallons of wine left with little white bits floating on top. Fearing the worst I transferred to a 3 gallon carboy which I topped off with the other fermented frontenac gris I had on hand and sulfited.
Trying it now, it is still sharp. My wife can detect the flavors of late harvest that she likes along a with just a hint of whiskey. She also tastes a bit of "fermentation and vinegar like it's not ready yet". I couldn't get a good picture deep in the barrel to be 100% certain that it wasn't flowers of wine, but if it was it wasn't much showing.
I'm going to let the wine sit in the carboy and revisit when it gets close to a year. I also didn't like the plain frontenac gris after fermentation, but it was definitely improved 10x when I bottled it and am looking forward to opening one of those at closer to 1 yr.
The barrel has a sulfite solution in it now, I will be disassembling and refurbishing in the near future.
With other projects I have followed advice and instructions.on this forum with good success. This was my personal experiment, and I'm now ready to get other opinions. I know this project went against many of the typical winemaking processes, but I have also have also tasted the results from when it works.
I'm ready to get thoughts from others. What do you think, how do I do this better? The end result should be a sweet dessert wine similar to a late harvest.
![IMG_20200920_190835.jpg IMG_20200920_190835.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/winemakingtalk/data/attachments/68/68869-0ce244ac6ecf1644f9ce0041e88cd116.jpg)
![IMG_20200923_200152.jpg IMG_20200923_200152.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/winemakingtalk/data/attachments/68/68870-79b9238d6549e057038a38edd1ebb215.jpg)
![IMG_20210118_171414.jpg IMG_20210118_171414.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/winemakingtalk/data/attachments/68/68871-845dae9e14b5b0bd73d7db87141e59fd.jpg)