Pinot Noir

[distancerunner]

We got confirmation yesterday for our order for twenty eight lugs of Pinot Noir from the Suisun Valley. We're excited! And a bit intimidated to be working with this grape.

The plan is to draw off ten percent of the juice for rosé. We're also considering addng some whole clusters to the fermentation, probably between twenty and forty percent.

The reds that we've made for the last couple of years have been fermented with Renaissance Avante. This has been excellent.

For Pinot Noir, the yeasts we're considering are Renaissance Brio, Lallemand RC212, and Lallemand AMH. If you've used these yeasts, can you tell us the pro's and con's? If you've had success with others we'd like to hear about that, too.

 

[winemaker81]

RC212 has high nutrient requirements -- I'd double the normal amount of nutrient to avoid H2S. Good yeast, but it requires care.

 

[winemaker81]

Have you considered fermenting in multiple batches, each with a different yeast, then blending post fermentation?

 

[CDrew]

I have such confidence in the Renaissance yeasts, I'll vote for the Brio. Just the freedom from worry about H2S would be enough to use the Brio and I'm sure it has other desirable attributes as well. Disclaimer-I've not actually used Brio, but the the 4 others from them I have used are all great.

That's 1000 pounds of grapes. Nice big year.

 

[distancerunner]

Brio seems to be the way to go. The Pinot will have about ten per cent of the juice drawn off for rosé. Renaissance recommends Brio for both. So we'll see.

That's one of three projects. It's the big one. We're buying six lugs of Sangiovese to make Brunello again. That will get Avante. And three lugs each of Alicante and Muscat. Again, Avante.

First time doing my grandfather's blend with grapes since 2002. Looking forward to tasting those cradle flavors. Maybe look for an old whiskey barrel...nah. It'll do fine in glass. Or at least close enough to slake my thirst with this nostalgic blend. Pap's probably sitting up there shaking his head.

 

[Ohio Bob]

Not this thread, but elsewhere I saw a tip about soaking cubes in whiskey before adding to the wine. I like it and I think I might try it. I’ve also seen commercial packs of whiskey, gin, cognac flavored cubes. Got to believe there is a big markup on those. Can’t be to hard to recreate your favorite.

 

[winemaker81]

Not this thread, but elsewhere I saw a tip about soaking cubes in whiskey before adding to the wine. I like it and I think I might try it. I’ve also seen commercial packs of whiskey, gin, cognac flavored cubes. Got to believe there is a big markup on those. Can’t be to hard to recreate your favorite.

Consider a long soak, e.g., start now for next fall's wine. I suspect that doing a short soak might be the equivalent of pouring whiskey into the wine, whereas a long soak will emulate the whiskey barrel, e.g., embed the whiskey deep in the wood, so it will take time to extract it.

 

[distancerunner]

Not this thread, but elsewhere I saw a tip about soaking cubes in whiskey before adding to the wine. I like it and I think I might try it. I’ve also seen commercial packs of whiskey, gin, cognac flavored cubes. Got to believe there is a big markup on those. Can’t be to hard to recreate your favorite.

My grandfather's barrels were neutral by the time he'd made his best vintages. But some of the old timers bought "new" whiskey barrels every year or two. They swore there was still whiskey in the barrel. Kind of unlikely but who's to say?

 

[winemaker81]

My grandfather's barrels were neutral by the time he'd made his best vintages. But some of the old timers bought "new" whiskey barrels every year or two. They swore there was still whiskey in the barrel. Kind of unlikely but who's to say?

For the first usage, there probably is some whiskey trapped in the wood, although I don't expect an ABV bump from it, just flavoring.

 

[distancerunner]

For the first usage, there probably is some whiskey trapped in the wood, although I don't expect an ABV bump from it, just flavoring.

Exactly!

 

[winemaker81]

My grandfather's barrels were neutral by the time he'd made his best vintages.

I lucked out -- a couple I knew were getting out of winemaking and I purchased their 54 liter barrels, both of which were 10 years old. I love neutral barrels because I can leave the wine in as long as I want, without over-oaking the wine. As I've mentioned in numerous posts, I like oak cubes because I can finely tune the amount I add without worry.

Experience is leaning me towards the value of barrels being the evaporation, which concentrates the non-water/alcohol constituents. I don't want oak flavoring -- to me oak is a seasoning, an influencer not a direct flavor.

That explains (well, to me) your grandfather's best vintages.

 

[cmullin]

How much toast do you like on the oak cubes? Or does it depend on the wine?

 

[winemaker81]

How much toast do you like on the oak cubes? Or does it depend on the wine?

I typically use medium or medium-plus. Light toast I'd use only on very light wines, and I've never tried heavy toast. I may buy half a pound just to play with a few gallons.