WineXpert Battonage, Selections International Australian Chardonnay

[phat]

Well, last week my LHBS had this kit on for 20 dollars off, and after reading Shoebiedoo's thread about using battonage, and hearing about the results, I'm trying it.

My sg was1.086, and today I am down to 1.010 in the primary, with plenty of activity still, so have taken the opportunity to rack my still nicely active wine off the oak and bentonite and into a secondary. I am now going to leave this to ferment to dry in my warm room, and then in will go the kmeta and the stirring can begin....

 

[shoebiedoo]

Don't forget to top after you add kmetta

 

[phat]

Don't forget to top after you add kmetta

yeah, thanks.. I have a couple bottle of commecial chard sitting waiting, I'll crack one and top it up when it stops and I give it a good stir..

Did you add kmeta more than once in your 6 weeks of stirring, or just one dose, and then the finishing amount from the kit when you stabilized it?

 

[phat]

Soo. It seems to have dropped down and stopped today, so in went 1/4 tsp of kmeta, a half a bottle of Chilean chard to top up and a slow gentle stir. The lees boiled up from the bottom easy with my long spoon and a very gentle stir. Now to continue for six weeks or so

I have decided to do this in my cellar where the wine will stay consistently cool.

 

[Dugger]

Please put something under your carboys so they don't sit directly on the concrete!! It is so easy to break them on concrete and those Mexican (or old Italian) carboys you have are hard to come by these days. Pieces of rigid styrofoam work great but even a piece of cardboard will do - would hate to see all that wine go over the floor or worse still, you cut yourself.
Good luck with the battonage; I tried it once on a cheap chard and it didn't work all that well - I think I added too much Kmeta when I started it or maybe just the wrong kit to try it.

 

[g8keeper]

Please put something under your carboys so they don't sit directly on the concrete!! It is so easy to break them on concrete and those Mexican (or old Italian) carboys you have are hard to come by these days. Pieces of rigid styrofoam work great but even a piece of cardboard will do - would hate to see all that wine go over the floor or worse still, you cut yourself.

i have my carboys sitting on milk crates....gives the carboy a little more height and then i take and place the box my carboy came in over the top to keep the light out....i do have a couple of boxes that have gotten destroyed over the years, so in that case i throw an old shirt over the carboy...

 

[uavwmn]

Well, last week my LHBS had this kit on for 20 dollars off, and after reading Shoebiedoo's thread about using battonage, and hearing about the results, I'm trying it.

My sg was1.086, and today I am down to 1.010 in the primary, with plenty of activity still, so have taken the opportunity to rack my still nicely active wine off the oak and bentonite and into a secondary. I am now going to leave this to ferment to dry in my warm room, and then in will go the kmeta and the stirring can begin....

I made this kit and did the battonage process. Best Chard I ever tasted!

 

[ibglowin]

Looking good! Keep us posted on how the battonage process turns out for you.

 

[shoebiedoo]

I decided to do this (batonnage) to the last 2 batches if En Premeur Aussie Chard. One was fermented with a pound of yellow raisins as well. Again, I think you'll be quite pleased with how it turns out. I found the drill attachment (for degassing) works great for stirring, just don't use the actual drill but this will get all the way to the bottom of the carboy.

 

[robie]

Once this process starts, the wine will try to settle out by the end of each week after stirring. From time to time, before you stir it again, take a small taste and make sure it is not getting too yeasty tasting for you. Also make sure no off smell is present.

If all you want is for the wine to soften, almost like an MLF was done, you don't even have to stir it. Just setting on the yeast cells for several months will soften it and take a lot of the bite out of a Chardonnay.

Good luck and let us know how you like it. Not everyone enjoys the results of lees aging and stirring.

 

[Jwatson]

I started the battonage process today on MM Masters Chardonnay. I did use D-47 instead of the supplied yeast. I will stir every 4 days for at least 1 month. I will follow the advice of tasting every so often.

Enoferm ICV-D47 is a Côtes du Rhône isolate from Suze-la-Rousse for the production of full-bodied barrel fermented Chardonnay and other white varietals. When left on lees, ripe spicy aromas with tropical and citrus notes are developed. Enoferm ICV-D47 is a high polysaccharide producer known for its accentuated fruit and great volume. On most of the white grape varieties, this yeast elaborates wines with ripe stable fruits or jam-like aromas. Thanks to these aromas, the cuvées fermented with the Enoferm ICV-D47 are a good source of complexity in the blends. Moreover Enoferm ICV-D47 contributes to the wines silkiness and persistence.

Lots of oak was supplied. My wife likes an oakey, buttery chardonnay.

 

[shoebiedoo]

MR WATSON,
I stirred my first batch (I did this to) everyday at first and worked my way to once everything 4 days or so. Everything I read said to do it this way...I'm just saying

 

[phat]

Well, I'm happily stirring every 3-4 days at the moment.

 

[Jwatson]

I am starting my 3rd week of the battonage process on my MM masters Chardonnay. I would like a little more oak flavor, and I have read that oaking during battonage is a good time. All I have is French oak chips. Since these oak much faster than cubes, are there any recommendations on how much and the length of time?

I was thinking 1 oz. for the last week of battonage. I would like a oak profile similar to a Kendall Jackson Chardonnay.

Thanks

 

[robie]

I am starting my 3rd week of the battonage process on my MM masters Chardonnay. I would like a little more oak flavor, and I have read that oaking during battonage is a good time. All I have is French oak chips. Since these oak much faster than cubes, are there any recommendations on how much and the length of time?

I was thinking 1 oz. for the last week of battonage. I would like a oak profile similar to a Kendall Jackson Chardonnay.

Thanks

Exactly how much oak and for how long is hard to say. It depends on your own tastes.

If you have a small 1-gallon paint filter bag (any paint store, Lowes, Home Depot), I would put 2 to 3 OZ of the chips in the bag and place the bag in the wine. (You can tie a thin string to the bag and use it to pull the bag out when finished oaking.) Taste the wine after the first couple of weeks and every week there after until the oak is where you want it; once there, remove the bag. The chips should be completely spent within a month.

 

[Jwatson]

Thanks Robie.

Do you put the string thru the hole in the carboy bung?

 

[robie]

Thanks Robie.

Do you put the string thru the hole in the carboy bung?

You can, as long as you can still insert the air lock.
Or you can just insert the bung around it, as the bung is rubber and will still seal OK.

 

[phat]

Well, it's stablizing, and it tastes fantastic...

So, I have just racked and stablized my Chard, using the kit Kmeta, Sorbate and Ichthy as per usual.

It had been stirred every three or four days for about 5 weeks, then left on the lees for the remainder of the time (thanks to a trip to europe).

This white tastes really nice to me right now. It is not a wine for the lovers of "light" chardonnays, So, if you're the type of princess that loves to diss Australian chard and complain about oak in it, this is likely not your wine... On the other hand, if you *like* nice Aussie chard with some depth to it, this is fantastic.. I've made a few whites in my time and they've always been kinda ok, and (as I mentioned when starting this thread) this might be the difference *for me*. I did a bit of research before trying this and had noticed a lot of the whites I like are aged this way commercially, so it does make sense perhaps that the results of doing this are enjoyable to my taste.

At this stage this wine is comparing very well with the better bottles of white that I buy, at least for my taste, and I can see this turning into something really really good. I'm going to let it stablize and rack it, and hopefully I can then let it bulk age a little longer. having said that, summer's here so this one might age in the bottle and suffer some summertime pilfering..

Shoebiedoo, how long did yours manage to sit after stabilizing before it found bottles? Have you managed to keep any?

 

[shoebiedoo]

Phat,

I had mine in Batonnage for 8 weeks and bottled it 1 month after that. I know I kind of rushed it after that but I've learned that I can resist anything but temptation so, I bottled it. My wife LOVED the stuff and got pissed at me when I hid the last case I've managed to hang on to 6 bottles with 12 more gallons in the works. I've also got some Chilean Chard that is just starting and will be at least 2 months of stirring and probably another month on the lees after that. then bilk aged for another 6 months.

 

[phat]

I see what you mean...

Racked it again, and had a sizable taste.. it's definately ready to bottle - I'm scared to bottle it because it will be very hard to stay out of.. and I really am not a white drinker. this stuff is just good!