Advice on making rosé from Pinot Noir

[MJD]

Hello all,

I've made a great deal of fruit wine in the past and have a vintage or two or Pinot Noir behind me as well. I'm interested in making a small batch of a dry rosé from Pinot grapes and have a few questions for the board.

How long, generally, do you allow the short maceration period to go on before pressing? I see some wineries claim to allow a 20-24 hour maceration prior to pressing, but my past experience leads me to believe that is long enough for the must to take on a much darker hue than desired for rosé. Is 2-5 hours more in line with your experience?

Also, does anyone have yeast recommendations? I am thinking of going with Lalvin D47, but am open to suggestions.

Is Mlf necessary for the rosé?

Best wishes to all during the crushing season.

 

[JohnT]

Arosé out of pinot grapes? Pinot is such a great red wine, why would you prefer a rosé? (take no offense, I am the local wine snob)

That being said...

I would crush them and then go straight to the press. This should produce a pink wine instead of a light red wine.

D47 is a good choice for yeast.

My choice would be to not go through MLF, but that is a matter of taste.

 

[MJD]

JohnT, your question isn't unreasonable. I am fortunate to live where Pinot grapes are local and plentiful and I have already procured enough to start my regular Pinot batch, enough to satisfy me for this vintage.

I have had some outstanding rosé of Pinot this past year from a few local wineries and am interested in seeing what I can do with some extra grapes I can get my hands on.

Thanks for the tips; I think I am going to see how many extra grapes I can harvest this coming weekend (supposed to get some rain midweek, might throw a wrench into those plans) and make a small batch to see what comes of it.

I've also had some really unique whites made from Pinot Noir grapes at some local wineries, but that might be a project for next year.

 

[sour_grapes]

I've also had some really unique whites made from Pinot Noir grapes at some local wineries, but that might be a project for next year.

Hmmm, maybe next year's project could include a Blanc de Noir style sparkling wine.

 

[MJD]

Hmmm, maybe next year's project could include a Blanc de Noir style sparkling wine.

This gets the vote for idea of the day.

 

[MJD]

An update......

The maceration period was extremely short....1 hour after crushing/destemming.

I'm not sure of the cause, exactly, but the must took on a darker color almost immediately after crushing.

I'm throwing out a guess, but maybe the extremely hot weather we had this summer made the grape skins especially stout and able to transfer their properties to the must in a short amount of time?

Within an hour, I had the must a very light purple color. Never had it turn that quickly before.

My Pinot Gris from the same source also took on a darker color than normal, and that was without any maceration at all.

Still, it looks, smells, and tastes like it'll drink well after maturation!