2022 Durham NC Crush

[winemaker81]

The dregs from the Grenache and Tempranillo has been in a secondary fridge for a month. I literally forgot about them. So I poured them off, not knowing if setting on the gross lees for a month did anything bad.

The Grenache cleared VERY nicely:



The lees are VERY firm and I was able to pour off all but a tiny bit, netting 700 ml wine (just short of 3 cups):



It looks like a rose, and doesn't have a lot of nose. The taste made me think of a rose at first, but it has a backbone that rose lacks. It's long on the finish. I'm seriously thinking about bottling 3 gallons unblended. This is very young, and I already like it a lot.

The Tempranillo?

This didn't work so well. The lees was also well compacted, and pouring off was easy, but I immediately smelled H2S. Although I netted 500 ml wine, I dumped it. There's not enough there to consider messing with H2S.

Note to self: If I encounter H2S in the future, dump the gross lees ASAP.

 

[winemaker81]

A few weeks ago I had to juggle containers to ensure each container is full for long bulk aging. The Rhone Blend is in a 23 liter carboy with 1 oz medium toast Hungarian cubes, as are the Merlot kit/Grenache pomace and Merlot kit/Tempranillo pomace. All excess wine is in 4 liter jugs, no oak.

The 2020 Meritage and Meritage Plus (bottled last February) are showing a more pronounced oak than they did at bottling time. It's not overpowering, but the oak is more prominent than desired. It's a surprise, and we're hoping the oak character will recede, as we prefer oak as a seasoning, not a flavoring.

At this time we haven't added oak cubes to the barrels -- both are 12+ years old and totally neutral. We are debating on adding 3 oz cubes to each (54 liter / 14.25 US gallons), and are also considering adding no additional oak.

The Grenache will blend blended with the Rhone Blend, eyeballing it at 80/20, and we may add some of the Blend to the Tempranillo (blind tastings next fall). The Blend has oak, so that may be sufficient. We've got time to think and consider, so there's no rush.

 

[VinesnBines]

We've got time to think and consider, so there's no rush.

One of the best things about wine making.

 

[winemaker81]

My son & I got around to topping the barrels yesterday, and this morning I updated my online notes, including the In Detail blog regarding the 2022 grape wines. All were badly out of date, as we've been traveling on weekends. Fortified with a few cups of coffee, I got them updated.

A few things of note:

The barrels are neutral, and we had not added oak cubes this year. After 6 weeks in barrels, the barrel samples were darker than the top-up samples. The difference is much, and is noticed only when compared side-by-side against a white background, but it's there. This is the Tempranillo (barrel sample on right):



The barrel samples are distinctly different in taste, as they have more tannin (felt on the inside of the cheeks) and structure. The Grenache has a stronger aroma. Here's the Grenache, again with the barrel sample on the right:



Both top-up containers (4 liter jugs) had a fine layer of tartrate crystals. I was a bit heavy handed when added tartaric acid pre-ferment, and it shows. 58 F (14.5 C) is sufficient to form crystals.



The 2020 wines (bottled Feb 2022) developed a pronounced oak flavor months after bottling. We decided to go light on oak this year, and added 2 oz medium toast Hungarian cubes to each barrel yesterday.

 

[winemaker81]

Today a friend helped me top barrels. Not that I really need all that much help in topping barrels, but the quality control part is more fun with a friend.

He was surprised at the differences between the Tempranillo from the barrel and from glass (topup wine).



The barrel wine (left) is a bit darker, and after 10 weeks in barrel it is less fruity but smoother.

The Grenache has a slight difference in color, and the taste is very different. I'm planning to bottle at least 8 liters as a varietal. It looks like a dark rose, but it's clearly a full bodied red wine. The barrel wine is better than than topup, but both are good.

I zinged my friend on the FWK Blackberry. He doesn't like sweet wines. I prepped him, stating the Blackberry is 5% RS, but that he needed to try it.

The look on his face was worth it. He showed a wide range of feelings on his face, mostly surprise. In his words, the wine was sweet as it hit his tongue, but the sweet disappeared and it was tart. He was surprised because he likes it.

I destroyed his preconceived notion -- mission accomplished!

This illustrates why I continue to try Muscadine and Scuppernong. I don't like either grape. But some day I might find one I like. I won't know if I don't try.