2022 Spring Ferment (All Frozen Must)

[crushday]

I decided to do another spring ferment this year.

1. Rattlesnake Hills Malbec Drum (Brix: 24.6, pH:3.36, TA: .54), Bravo
2. Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel Drum (Brix: 23.6, pH:3.75, TA: .75), Avante
3. Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel Drum (Brix: 23.6, pH:3.75, TA: .75), Avante
4. Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 12 buckets (Brix: 29.1, pH: 3.93, TA: .52), Avante (add 0.75 gallons of water per pail?)
5. Knights Valley Syrah 4 buckets (Brix: 28.1, pH: 3.57, TA: 6.26), Bravo (add 0.66 gallons of water per pail?)
6. Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 4 buckets (Brix: 29.1, pH: 3.93, TA: .52), Bravo (add 0.75 gallons of water per pail?)
7. Zinfandel/Malbec/Syrah/Cabernet Port, Avante (fortified with grape brandy)

Items 1-4 will be fermented as is. Items 5/6 will be fermented together and will eventually become the 2022 Synergistic blend. I’ve been fermenting 50/50 of something for this annual blend. Item 7 will be a Port made from 1 gallon from each from the Malbec and Cabernet, 0.5 gallon from the Syrah and 1.5 gallons from the Zin.

I need to lower the pH of the Zin (I think).
I need to lower the Brix of both the Syrah and Cab with acidulated water AND lower the pH.

Here are my calculations for the adjustments:

Need to acidulate the water: 22.4 TA per gallon of water

Zin 50x.7=35g (132.5Lx4 [to lower .4 pH] = 530gm* per drum
Cab 80x.6=48g (181.7Lx6 [to lower .6 pH] = 1090.2* / 16 = 68.13gm per pail)
Syrah 20x.6=12g (45.42Lx6 [to lower .6 pH] = 272.5* / 4 = 68.13gm per pail)


*From MoreWine: 1.0 g/L addition of Tartaric acid will increase the TA by about 1.0 g/L and will decrease the pH by 0.1 pH units.

I’m shooting for a starting pH of 3.3 knowing it will creep up during ferment to approx. 3.6 (is this sound?).

TA Needed:
336gm (acidulated water)
530gm per zin drum
1362.6gm for all buckets


Had to put 4 buckets in the back seating area inside the cab:

 

[ChuckD]

I’m curious, how long does it take to thaw a drum of frozen must?

 

[crushday]

I’m curious, how long does it take to thaw a drum of frozen must?

It’s a very good question and the answer is dependent on ambient temperatures.

One of the exceeding advantages of frozen must is the ability to perform a cold maceration (cold soak) to get things started. Because I want a cold maceration on this must, I’m setting the temperature inside my fermentation room at 60 degrees. At this temp, the drums won’t be fully thawed until Wednesday or Thursday next week or five to six days.

The pails, being smaller in volume, will naturally thaw quicker. To bring some parity, I don’t have the pails in a heated environment. Normal temps in my area are mid 40s highs and low 30s overnight at this time of year. My garage will kinda stay pretty steady between the low and high. I’m attempting to cause the buckets and the drums to thaw at the same speed. Rarely works exactly, however.

I’d be very happy making my adjustments next Thursday and pitching yeast Friday or Saturday.

 

[ChuckD]

If you stacked the pails in tight clusters equal to the drum volumes and tarped them they would probably thaw at about the same rate.

I won’t have my own grapes for a few years so I’m thinking about buying some buckets to start working on my process. First I need to start tasting wines to see what kind I want to get.

I assume you have a winery with those quantities?

 

[crushday]

If you stacked the pails in tight clusters equal to the drum volumes and tarped them they would probably thaw at about the same rate.

I won’t have my own grapes for a few years so I’m thinking about buying some buckets to start working on my process. First I need to start tasting wines to see what kind I want to get.

I assume you have a winery with those quantities?

Fair assumption, but no. I consume a modest quantity and give the rest away. Mostly to my family, employees and clients. 95% is carried away as gifts.

 

[ChuckD]

Fair assumption, but no. I consume a modest quantity and give the rest away. Mostly to my family, employees and clients. 95% is carried away as gifts.

Nice… I need to get better friends!

 

[CDrew]

That is a lot of wine. Your acid and water adjustments *look* right but I did not re-run the calcs.

Subscribing to your thread!

 

[Nebbiolo020]

Should use RP-15 on that zin, but I want to hear how it turns out. Huge Zinfandel fan though I will add your zin has a surprisingly low brix especially for old vine my 2021 zin was sitting at 25 ish brix when picked and cold soaking brought it up to like 27.

 

[Johnd]

I decided to do another spring ferment this year.


View attachment 85339

You have more energy than me!! I’ve still got ‘18 to bottle (out of the 60 gallon barrel, and in carboys, plus three leftover 18 carboys) and 19 to bottle (still in a 60 and a 30 gallon barrel). Haven’t imported grapes in two years………

 

[BarrelMonkey]

That's a big springtime project!

I am a relative beginner here but if it were my wine I'd be hesitant to make such a drastic change to pH/TA, particularly for the zinfandel. In that case TA is already fairly high, and targeting a .4 unit drop in pH will of course push it higher. Acidity might not change as much as you think during fermentation. Ideally, I'd do it stepwise - eg add half of what you think you need, then retest brix/pH after it's had time to mix in.

What brix are you targeting for that cab and syrah?

 

[crushday]

Should use RP-15 on that zin, but I want to hear how it turns out. Huge Zinfandel fan though I will add your zin has a surprisingly low brix especially for old vine my 2021 zin was sitting at 25 ish brix when picked and cold soaking brought it up to like 27.

I appreciate the yeast suggestion and, I would typically use Rockpile. Avante is not a yeast I’ve used for Zin before but wanted to try it. I’ll have an empty 225 Frenchie soon that the Zin is going to take up residence in.

Once everything is thawed, I‘ll check the Brix. What the lab got is more than likely different than what’s sitting here.

 

[NorCal]

Nice kick-off to the new year! I’ve seen the pH of musts react differently to the same addition of tartaric. I’m assuming due to the buffering capacity of the solution and it can make a big swing if you hit a tipping point. I’ve added little at a time until I hit the point that I wanted.

 

[crushday]

Nice kick-off to the new year! I’ve seen the pH of musts react differently to the same addition of tartaric. I’m assuming due to the buffering capacity of the solution and it can make a big swing if you hit a tipping point. I’ve added little at a time until I hit the point that I wanted.

NorCal, it’s a bit of a different subject but I wonder if we, as winemakers, make too much of manipulating the must/wine instead of just gladly accepting what nature presents us. This notion has been at the forefront of my thinking the last couple of days…

On the more conventional approach, I had never considered staggering the additions, rather choosing to rely on my early memories of helping my mother bake in the kitchen. If a cake recipe called for 2 cups of sugar, all 2 cups went in at the same time with no consideration of how that much sugar might interact with the other ingredients. Understandably, this illustration looses some relevance as no straight line of comparison can be drawn.

Perhaps I will acidulate the water and add the remaining TA in equal parts over five days at morning punch downs. Worth a try…

 

[stickman]

I generally don't like using a rule of thumb for pH. I typically blend the batch and then pull off a 5gal pail, make any brix and pH adjustments to the pail, then use those numbers to scale up for the remainder of the batch. Just my opinion, but I would normally start between 3.5 and 3.6 pH, any lower than 3.5 and you risk the pH dropping further as the tartrates fall out near the end of primary.

 

[BarrelMonkey]

NorCal, it’s a bit of a different subject but I wonder if we, as winemakers, make too much of manipulating the must/wine instead of just gladly accepting what nature presents us. This notion has been at the forefront of my thinking the last couple of days…

I agree to a certain degree, though there are cases (such as your very ripe cabernet) when we need to give nature a helping hand. And to build on your cake analogy - in that case, the ingredients are well defined, and one cup of sugar is likely to behave the same as the next. Grape must is a much more complex beast!

 

[crushday]

Just my opinion, but I would normally start between 3.5 and 3.6 pH, any lower than 3.5 and you risk the pH dropping further as the tartrates fall out near the end of primary.

Worse yet, the bottom of the bottle. Most casual wine drinkers have an unfounded fear of wine diamonds.

Stickman, your modified “pump over” system affords you the opportunity to isolate five gallons of wine for your adjustments. Unfortunately, my system isn’t as complex.

 

[Tim3]

Sounds like an awesome project you're starting! When I run the numbers, below is the water and acid additions I would likely make. These water additions will bring you to the upper end of what's acceptable for the posted varietals from an ABV perspective. The Cab, for example, would reduce brix to 26.5 for a final ABV of just over 15%. As Norcal stated, add half of the acid and retest. You're never going to end with a final PH of 3.6 for the Cab after MLF, and should be targeting a final PH of around 3.73.

1 - Malbec: No water or acid needed.
2&3 - Zinfandel: No water needed. 210 grams of tartaric acid needed per drum.
4 - Cabernet Sauvignon: 1.34 liters (5.7 cups water) needed per pail. 33.4 grams of tartaric acid needed per pail.
5 - Syrah: 1.1 liters (4.7 cups water) needed per pail. 17.8 grams of tartaric acid needed per pail.
6 - Cab Sauv: Same as 4 above.

When you combine the Syrah and Cab Sauvignon for the co-ferment, it might be helpful to post the Brix, PH, and TA, as the numbers might not combine to become a perfect average.

 

[crushday]

That's a big springtime project!

I am a relative beginner here but if it were my wine I'd be hesitant to make such a drastic change to pH/TA, particularly for the zinfandel. In that case TA is already fairly high, and targeting a .4 unit drop in pH will of course push it higher. Acidity might not change as much as you think during fermentation. Ideally, I'd do it stepwise - eg add half of what you think you need, then retest brix/pH after it's had time to mix in.

What brix are you targeting for that cab and syrah?

Sorry, I missed this earlier…. And, thanks for the check.

I’d like the finished wine to be 3.5-3.7 pH - might be unrealistically aspirational and maybe unnecessary. Nature vs nurture?

What’s driving me is my impression of high pH wine taking on a characteristic of fortified grape juice because of how “smooth” it is to drink. I know many factors affect this sensation on my palate but pH is certainly a contributor. Tannins being another chief…

Thankfully, I have several days to kick this around…

 

[crushday]

Sounds like an awesome project you're starting! When I run the numbers, below is the water and acid additions I would likely make. These water additions will bring you to the upper end of what's acceptable for the posted varietals from an ABV perspective. The Cab, for example, would reduce brix to 26.5 for a final ABV of just over 15%. As Norcal stated, add half of the acid and retest. You're never going to end with a final PH of 3.6 for the Cab after MLF, and should be targeting a final PH of around 3.73.

1 - Malbec: No water or acid needed.
2&3 - Zinfandel: No water needed. 210 grams of tartaric acid needed per drum.
4 - Cabernet Sauvignon: 1.34 liters (5.7 cups water) needed per pail. 33.4 grams of tartaric acid needed per pail.
5 - Syrah: 1.1 liters (4.7 cups water) needed per pail. 17.8 grams of tartaric acid needed per pail.
6 - Cab Sauv: Same as 4 above.

When you combine the Syrah and Cab Sauvignon for the co-ferment, it might be helpful to post the Brix, PH, and TA, as the numbers might not combine to become a perfect average.

Hey, Tim3! Thanks for taking time to run the numbers on this project. Your post and suggestions within are the reason I love this forum. I appreciate it!

My friend, Mike Crews (WineGrapesDirect), suggests sacrificial tannins specifically on the Malbec. What say you?

Here's what he said, specifically: "The Malbec shouldn't need any adjustments, but personally I do think it needs an extra big tannin addition to balance out the fruit. So usually we do 7 grams tannin per 5 gallons must, but you could do up to 14 on the Malbec."

 

[Tim3]

You're welcome! I love the conversation this forum encourages.

I almost always add FT Rouge to my red wine fermentations. So yes, I would add 56.3 grams to the Malbec drum, or 6.6 grams per 5 gallons must for the Malbec. Depending on the length of the cold soak and equipment to keep the fermentation low enough, I also might even recommend opti-red and enzymes.