terroirdejeroir
Senior Member
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2012
- Messages
- 311
- Reaction score
- 62
The Sonoma Edition will be my first attempt to make a grape wine that hasn’t already been “pre-engineered”. According to George’s web page the pails have “been balanced for sugar, acid, and pH” so I am assuming I don’t need to adjust those parameters, just take a hydrometer reading and let it ferment. I think I understand how to properly sulfite, fine, degas etc., but I have questions on two topics: oaking and MLF.
I don’t really have any knowledge of what type(s) of oak would be best to use with this juice and how best to apply the oak. I generally like more of a peppery sort of flavor, so I think I would probably want to do a medium toast plus, but that is just a guess. From the descriptions in the oak thread it seems like Hungarian would be a good fit. Do I need to apply oak during primary fermentation or can I just do it during bulk aging? Do I need to do both? I have enough three-gallon carboys that I could split the batch and try two different oaks. Seems like that would be a good learning opportunity.
I don’t know whether I should attempt MLF as I have seen conflicting information on that. One of the forum threads said not to attempt MLF on any juice that has been acid balanced. A subsequent commenter stated that MM said the Sonoma edition was just pure juice that hadn’t been modified except for the addition of yeast. If I do need to do MLF I would appreciate any wisdom on how best to do that. Some sources I have seen suggest to do it concurrently and some say to do it as soon as primary fermentation is complete.
I would really appreciate some guidance on this from someone with prior experience on this product. Even better, I would love to correspond with someone who is ordering the same bucket and has a clear idea of what they plan to do.
I don’t really have any knowledge of what type(s) of oak would be best to use with this juice and how best to apply the oak. I generally like more of a peppery sort of flavor, so I think I would probably want to do a medium toast plus, but that is just a guess. From the descriptions in the oak thread it seems like Hungarian would be a good fit. Do I need to apply oak during primary fermentation or can I just do it during bulk aging? Do I need to do both? I have enough three-gallon carboys that I could split the batch and try two different oaks. Seems like that would be a good learning opportunity.
I don’t know whether I should attempt MLF as I have seen conflicting information on that. One of the forum threads said not to attempt MLF on any juice that has been acid balanced. A subsequent commenter stated that MM said the Sonoma edition was just pure juice that hadn’t been modified except for the addition of yeast. If I do need to do MLF I would appreciate any wisdom on how best to do that. Some sources I have seen suggest to do it concurrently and some say to do it as soon as primary fermentation is complete.
I would really appreciate some guidance on this from someone with prior experience on this product. Even better, I would love to correspond with someone who is ordering the same bucket and has a clear idea of what they plan to do.