2011 Fresh Grapes From California via FVW's

[ibglowin]

Well press for 2011 is a wrap!

Yesterday was a holiday for Veterans day so a perfect time to press. The 2 batches I inoculated with BDX (Bordeaux Red) yeast needed those extra days to finish out. They were both at 0.998 but it took them 3 extra days and a brew belt to finish just in the nick of time. A good friend of mine came over yesterday and I had everything pretty much set up and ready. We started at 11:30AM. Temp was around 40 and it was cloudy...... Was sunny all week long and come time to press....... Oh well, I fired up the propane patio heater as well as an electric heat dish and we went to work.

This was my first use of the #30 ratchet press I picked up from the Winemakers Toy Store this Summer. It performed perfectly and was just the right size. So glad I didn't order the #25 as this thing took the complete batch in one shot and pressed it to perfection. We had beautiful press cakes each time.

I was totally blown away with not only the aroma of the wines but also the flavor and color. Amazing looking stuff! No comparison to the Cab and Merlot I made last year from Deming, NM. If this turns out as good as its starting out I may have to rethink where I source my fruit from next year.....

It warmed to the low 50's by the afternoon and the sun broke through the clouds a number of times and it turned out to be the perfect afternoon. We finished right at about 4:00. We would have run out of time if we had had another. 7 was perfect for that amount of time.

So what was the finally tally?

8.5 Gallons Petit Verdot
8.0 Gallons Merlot #1
8.5 Gallons Merlot #2
7 Gallons Cabernet Sauvignon #1
7 Gallons Cabernet Sauvignon #2
7.5 Gallons Malbec
7 Gallons Cabernet Franc

Total 53.5 Gallons!

Sorry, no pics of the press! It was just the two of us and we were working as fast as we could before we ran out of daylight plus it was a messy operation to say the least. Soooooooo glad we were out on the patio! Sure made clean up easier to just hose down the table and patio.

All wine is resting in the winery for a few days before the first rack and MLB addition. My back is TOAST today!

 

[ibglowin]

Another long day in the winery (Sunday). I don't know how Rich and Al do this! It took me from noon to almost 9:00PM to rack off the gross lees on all the carboys and containers, combine them into a Primary, add malo nutrient and MLB then rack back to cleaned carboy and smaller vessel for topping off down the road.

Not quite sure how you guys do the volume you have in a single day(s) and move the next day!

Nice to have a much more consolidated lot to deal with after yesterday.

 

[ibglowin]

Forgot to mention that after racking I am now down to about 46 gallons. One full 6 Gallon carboy on each and anywhere from 1.5G extra to only about 1L extra on some of the varietals.

I just realized all my carboys are full and I can't vacuum rack as I need another carboy to pull into! I guess this is how carboys keep multiplying!

 

[grapeman]

Mike you can get by with one extra racking. Using an autosiphon, rack off the bit of sediment into a fermentation bucket and snap the lid on. Clean the carboy pulled out of and begin cycling through them. You will end up with one empty carboy after the final cleaning. Then put your vacuum racking cane in the bucket of wine and draw back into that last carboy, top up and you are done!

Alternately, pour a glass of wine and put some Barry White on and let the carboys multiply away!

 

[Runningwolf]

Rich that is good advice for most folks but alcheapo needs to just go out and buy more carboys. Lol I ended up getting five new six gallon carboys this year.

Mike you asked about doing large quanities. In most instances it means bigger equipment. Wish you were here to help me bottle today. Doing close to 200 cases. Using a 6 spout gravity bottler. Like I said before, set up and clean up takes the same amount of time as doing it in your basement.

 

[AlFulchino]

i employ simple tried and true practices Mike

i go slow, steady and deliberate...day in and day out things have a way of getting done...and along the way....i drink wine....when the days add up and time passes, somehow, someway, it all turns into wonderful wine

big equipment...little equipment...no matter....its all about time and steadiness and making sure you enjoy yourself along the way...

 

[AlFulchino]

ps...barry white is not on my ipod

 

[ibglowin]

Best use of a Barry White song EVER! Ally McBeal

 

[ibglowin]

Checked pH levels today post fermentation.

Cabernet Sauvignon #1 = 3.55

Cabernet Sauvignon #2 = 3.67

Merlot #1 = 3.32

Merlot #2 = 3.34

Malbec = 3.41

Petit Verdot = 3.83

Cabernet Franc = 3.59

Will probably do a preliminary MLF test sometime this weekend.

 

[AlFulchino]

Mike, thanks showing me why i never watched ally mcbeal beyond about 1.5 second!

 

[Wade E]

Mike, thanks showing me why i never watched ally mcbeal beyond about 1.5 second!

I hear you there and second and third that Al!!!!!!!!!

 

[ibglowin]

Update on these. I stirred all the carboys well this weekend. They all have a ring of tiny pinhead sized looking bubbles sitting at the top of the carboy. Since the carboy temps are ~67 degrees I thought I would give them another week before I did a first MLF test. I think the stirring helped bring them all to life as some didn't have much sign before that.

I purchased a single package of MLB that was supposed to be enough for 66 gallons. I broke that up into smaller 210mg lots and added along with a dose of Opti Malo nutrient. Fingers crossed that I don't have to go back and purchase a pack for each carboy at $21 ea!

The Petit Verdot has been bubbling like crazy the whole week. It was 1.000 when we pressed so I am guessing we have some secondary fermentation still going on as well on it.

Trying hard to bottle a batch a week of stuff I have ready but been putting off so I can free up some bench top room and get those carboys off the floor. Just a little worried abut a bottle slipping off a wine rack and bouncing up and hitting one of them.......

 

[rhoffart]

Good luck with the MLF on the Merlot. Mine is being a stubborn little child. One Cab is going crazy and has 1/8" of bubbles and the other Cab is slow going ... but is going. I think I need to buy a brew belt for the Merlot.

 

[ibglowin]

What are your carboy temps? MLF doesn't need to be warm like aerobic fermentation does. 65-70 is usually perfect. You added a boatload more tartaric than me. Whats the pH? That pH may be too low.

 

[rhoffart]

What are your carboy temps? MLF doesn't need to be warm like aerobic fermentation does. 65-70 is usually perfect. You added a boatload more tartaric than me. Whats the pH? That pH may be too low.

Yea, too much ... it's at 3.2 but there is a little (very little) activity in the afternoon when the house get to 72 but none at all in the morning at 68. I'm thinking if I keep it 72 - 75 it will keep going.

The Cab right next to it with the same bacteria is rockin and rollin with the same PH. The Cab with the 3.4 PH is the slow one ... go figure.

If it's not going in a week I might try some ALPHA

 

[Rock]

Yea, too much ... it's at 3.2 but there is a little (very little) activity in the afternoon when the house get to 72 but none at all in the morning at 68. I'm thinking if I keep it 72 - 75 it will keep going.

The Cab right next to it with the same bacteria is rockin and rollin with the same PH. The Cab with the 3.4 PH is the slow one ... go figure.

If it's not going in a week I might try some ALPHA

Try this instead it worked for me a couple of times,get a small oak spiral leave it in the cab that is going real good next day take it out and put it into the de-mi that shows slow or no sighn of ml.Guaranteed take off.

 

[Randoneur]

I always add a few oak cubes when I add the MLF culture. I think it helps the bacteria growth. The spiral is a great idea to use to transfer the culture. You could also pull out a cup of wine from one to the other.

 

[ibglowin]

UPDATE:

Stabilized the first 2 (of the 7) wines that showed the most signs of MLF completion via chromatography test. The Malbec and the Cab Franc. Racked the fines once more and sulfited finally. Moved them both into barrels (23L Vadai) I had a left over glass of Cab Franc that had nowhere to go and it sure as heck wasn't goin down the drain so gave it a go....

All I can say is wow! This has no oak still and the taste is fantastic and its only 3 months old. It has a slight green pepper hint but its not to the point of being obtrusive by any means. I think the oak will put that firmly into the back ground even further. These will stay for at least 4 months in the barrel.

I may need to pick up a 3rd Vadai to get all 7 through the process by next year's crush.

Darn, I just hate it when I have to order another Vadia barrel!

 

[rhoffart]

Way to go. All mine are stabilized and I had a bit of my Cab ... the one in the video at 3.24 and it was one of the best Cabs I have had, the Wife said "it's ready to drink" and she wanted more. Now the Merlot is a different story ... it tastes green and bitter, more what I expected at this age.

I can't wiat

 

[grapeman]

Sounds great Mike. I wish I could buy oak barrels whenever I ran out of room!

I tried some of the Marquette wine yesterday from my 3 year old vines. I hadn't expected much, but it is pretty darned good. I had a bottle of 2008 Lincoln Peak Marquette from Chris Granstrom (Vt) New Years. This Marquette I tried was almost identical in taste- and Chris took best red in show in the 2009 Intenational Cold Climate Wine Competition with his wine. I only got 90 gallons of that this year, but the other barrel of my older Marquette is showing even more promise!

I tell you this Mike because if I remember right you got a dozen of those from me when you planted! Are you excited yet?