Old Vine Zinfandel Port

[ColemanM]

Nailed it!!! Bench tests on the fortification of my Zin port conclude that it tastes super good!! Yes, I could have gone without the water additions, though I don't feel it will be too detrimental to the final outcome. 3.7 gallons wine fortified with .53 gallons brandy unfortunate doesn't get me over the 20 liters needed for a barrel. Hmmmmmmm. That's my next hurdle. Anyone try the American oak 10liter barrels before? Maybe wait til next year for more Zin grapes. Decisions.

 

[marino]

I have my labodega port kit in a 10L Vadai. The oak impact has been very soft. Spent 3 months in on first oak and it is almost imperceptible. I'll be getting a 20L soon so I can combine batches.

 

[ColemanM]

Nice!! I didn't realize vadai had a 10L barrel. I'll look into that.

 

[ColemanM]

Thanks Coleman, just saw they were sold out. I was going to try your project. I really only got into wine making for the port

Have you thought about a Durrell vineyard Syrah that they have? I need to hold off for about 3-6 months. But I'd love to hear about what you ultimately decide to do when you make your port.

 

[marino]

The thing that kills me is that there's a $10 difference between a 10L and 20L. With the stand and a silicone bung, I paid less than $180, shipped to Boston, ma

 

[marino]

Have you thought about a Durrell vineyard Syrah that they have? I need to hold off for about 3-6 months. But I'd love to hear about what you ultimately decide to do when you make your port.

Is this something I buy from them? Never heard of this place. I gotta wait until spring--I need a break from cleaning carboys!

 

[ColemanM]

Yup it's 2012 Sonoma coast Syrah from the Durrell vineyards. 135 + 30 shipping. I got 3.75 gallons bulk aging wine, on average, from my cab and merlot from WGDirect. I have a ratchet press, but still expect to lose about 1/4 gallon over the year racking? Just tossing that out there if you are concerned about $/bottle and/or have no press.

 

[ColemanM]

Update: soooooo good I had to order another "lost in the shuffle" pail that they had on hand. I need a full 7 1/2 gallons to put in a like barrel and never think about until my children are of age. Unreal product from WGD!! More info to come.

 

[marino]

So do they always have these syrahs from different years, or did you just get the lucky stock?

Congratulations on the score!!

 

[byathread]

Starting SG from what I could gather was 1.130 and is currently at 1.038 and very slowly going down. It looks like the drop in SG dramatically slowing but it's hard to tell with the amount of solids in the sample must. I tasted it and lo and behold it tasted dang close to the 2011 vintage port I prematurely (at least 5 years) opened. I am hoping it will putter out around 1.020+ so I have time to fortify it, otherwise I will have to use sub par store bought brandy.

So, just curious what your final gravity was before fortifying? What about the TA?

 

[ColemanM]

Fortified and held steady at 1.034 not sure of the TA but I will check on it when my second pail of grapes arrives on Friday.

 

[ColemanM]

So do they always have these syrahs from different years, or did you just get the lucky stock?

Congratulations on the score!!

I actually bought another OV Zin not a Syrah, but I just racked my cab and merlot into their long term vessels and I realize...$99 for the cab is a screaming deal!!

 

[ColemanM]

So my second pail of OVZin has been fermenting for two weeks now. Started at 1.130 with two packets of BM45 yeast rehydrated in 10 g of ferm aid o. Added a few additions of ferm aid K and DAP over the next 8 days. Temp in the mid 80's. Really slowed down last Sunday and has dropped from 1.064 to 1.052 in the last 7 days so I pressed the grapes last night. This time around I added no extra water or acid. Since the 1.034 first port is too sweet for my taste, I am planning on trying to finish this almost dry by adding ec1118. Anyone see a problem with that? I will try to make a quart starter. Since it's already about 10% ABV. Rehydrate yeast. Steep feed must to it over the next day. Then pitch. Really getting excited about this one! Super dark and earthy fruity. Will mix well with the last one and be enough to fill a barrel for a year or so.

 

[sour_grapes]

I am planning on trying to finish this almost dry by adding ec1118. Anyone see a problem with that?

I recently did something similar. I made an Amarone (WE SI), and I used BM45 yeast. The untweaked version of this wine is probably close to the alcohol tolerance of BM45. In addition, I added (a la Joeswine) 20 oz of Zante currants. This should bump the ABV another 0.7 or so. Therefore, I made a starter of EC1118, which I added to secondary (i.e., after the fermentation was pretty far along). It finished to dry.

I do not know whether this was necessary or not. That is, I did not wait to see if it stalled; I just went ahead and did it as a prophylactic measure.

 

[syncnite]

OV Zin Port - Me Too

I also bought a couple buckets from WGD a few months ago. I asked them to hold them until December and so I'm just now fermenting.

One is the 2013 Syrah and the other is the OV Zin - the same wine that you bought. I don't want a lot of port, so I took out 1.5 gallons of Zin must to ferment separately and end up with 1 gallon of port. I just inoculated with yeast 2 days ago. Now the fermentations are off to a good start.

Before pitching yeast, I measured the Zin at 31 Brix. So the Zin to become table wine, I watered back with acidulated water. But the small batch to become port, I did not water back. In fact, I'll step up the sugar a little pretty soon. I intend to halt the fermentation by adding cognac at a certain point - still deciding exactly at which point. I was planning on 10 Brix, but I'm not sure if that's too sweet.

 

[richmke]

The BM45 yeast is rated for 15 to 16% ABV. That implies the SG 1.13 should ferment down to between 1.015 to 1.010, or lower. However, the grape skins could add another 0.01 to the SG. 1.052 seems a little early for the yeast to konk out.

 

[ColemanM]

I'll try heating it up and give it a few more days then.

 

[marino]

Colman, I just checked WGD. What do you think about a Carignan port? I'm not familiar with this grape, but it has higher Brix than the syrahs from 2013..

 

[ColemanM]

I've never even heard of that grape. And most info that I read was lacking at best. Not sure the flavor profile of the grape. If I were you I would grab a bottle of it at a store and see what it's all about. Sorry I can't help, but I know they come from the same vineyard as the Zin and they were quality!

 

[ibglowin]

It's not the brix so much that your looking for in order to make a good port. It's a dark inky black must. Something that will still be quite dark even after you fortify. Think of Petit Syrah. Syrah. Zinfandel....