Brianna Grapes

[djrockinsteve]

This past week my wife and I headed west to visit Rob and his wife (really their vineyard). We had a fantastic time. We picked Brianna grapes for two days, destemmed and pressed them.

The grape is very sweet and grows in a tight cluster. They are a white grape with a golden skin. I brought back 4 six gallon buckets of skins that I am fermenting on the wild yeast with the addition of some inverted sugar.

I was also very fortunate enough to get 10 gallons of juice from Rob and his wife that is fermenting on Lalvin D-47. It started out at 1.086 and is down to 1.020 earlier today. It smells terrific.

I have just removed the skins from my buckets and they have a hint of grapefruit. Gravity is 1.040

This grape is a new strain and was developed to grow in cooler climates and a shorter season. There are MANY clusters on each vine.

We had little time for other activities aside from a deep fried turkey and a few games of "sequence" which I believe the guys had more wins. That is directly associated with the others endulging in some wine drinking.

As this wine proceeds further I'll let you know more. We were very impressed with Robs vineyard and their generosity. Both Rob and his wife are a wonderful couple. Very glad we finally met in person.

 

[rob]

Steve,

We really enjoyed the company of you and Marilyn, I only wish we could of had more time. You are always welcome here. Thanks so much for coming out. Hey, lets do it again next year!!

Rob

 

[ffemt128]

I checked the SG on my Brianna last night. It was at 1.000 and has been fermenting at about 64-66 degree temperatures. Based on Steve's recommendation, I used D47 yeast as well. The juice smells outstanding and has a strong taste of pineapples.

 

[Julie]

I checked the SG on my Brianna last night. It was at 1.000 and has been fermenting at about 64-66 degree temperatures. Based on Steve's recommendation, I used D47 yeast as well. The juice smells outstanding and has a strong taste of pineapples.

lol, this is going to be interesting, so far Steve says grapefruit, you say pineapples and beleive it or not I think mine smells like coconut! Racked to a carboy last night - 1.010

 

[djrockinsteve]

I have mine under airlock in the primary now. It reached 1.000 yesterday. Tomorrow I'll rack and clear it. It does smell really good huh!

I also brought back some skins and added some sugar water and allowed it to ferment on it's own yeast. Going slower than the lalvin but aside from that it's the same.

 

[ffemt128]

I transferred mine to carboy this afternoon. It was at 1.00 yesterday.

 

[ffemt128]

I have mine under airlock in the primary now. It reached 1.000 yesterday. Tomorrow I'll rack and clear it. It does smell really good huh!

I also brought back some skins and added some sugar water and allowed it to ferment on it's own yeast. Going slower than the lalvin but aside from that it's the same.

Steve,

When you rack and clear are you adding your fining agent at this point? Curious as I always waited until fermentation was done and degassed. Usually about 2 months into the process after it has dropped out most of the lees on it's own.

 

[djrockinsteve]

Doug, I snap on a lid with an airlock once my musts reach 1.000. I'll give them a real good stir prior to to release some CO2 to layer the wine while it finishes fermenting another day or two.

After 2 days I remove the lid, check the gravity, usually .990 and then I'll rack, add sulfite, degass and add sparkolloid and mix well to incorporate everything. I'll let it clear 4-6 weeks.

 

[djrockinsteve]

Here is a photo of the Brianna grapes after we pressed them.

I brought these home to make a wine from what was left in the skins. I added "some" water and inverted sugar to cover all the skins.

Here is a picture of the Brianna when it was racked to clear. This is 100% Brianna juice. I used lalvin D-47 to ferment.

 

[reefman]

I've never heard of this grape before.
How is this wine finished? Is it bottled and consumed best as a dry, or back sweetened?

 

[djrockinsteve]

I've never heard of this grape before.
How is this wine finished? Is it bottled and consumed best as a dry, or back sweetened?

"YES"! This is a newly developed white grape designed to grow in cooler and shorter climates. Plus they produce many tight clusters for a lot of fruit per vine. My wife and I stood in 1 spot opposite each other and picked almost a half hour from one vine.

Rob planted this variety of grapes a few years ago and we were fortunate enough to pick some from his place. They contain 2 seeds each and are very sweet.

The grapes were picked right after Labor Day and had a gravity of 1.086. At some point we had a gravity of 1.090

The wine is excellent dry or semi sweet. I have read it can have a pineapple flavor to it. Like our fruits in the eastern united states this grape is slightly on the acidic side of .7 After aging and cold stabilizing it will drop into the .6 range.

I'll be bottling around late March/April most likely.

Here is a link for some more information.

http://www.agriculture.state.ia.us/Horticulture_and_FarmersMarkets/Brianna.asp

 

[rob]

reefman,

last year was my first year making Brianna, I back sweeten it slightly and would put it up against any Riesling. Took blue ribbon at the fair.

 

[djrockinsteve]

He did. He really took a blue ribbon. I feel sorry for the guy who had his taken.

Seriously I can affirm this. I saw the ribbon.

It's already clearing. It has a darker golden color to it.

 

[Julie]

reefman,

last year was my first year making Brianna, I back sweeten it slightly and would put it up against any Riesling. Took blue ribbon at the fair.

Rob what sg did you backsweeten to? I"m thinking around 1.000 to 1.005 or do think this is too sweet? I do my reisling to 1.005, well for now, I'm sure I will be going drier, I use to do 1.015

 

[rob]

Julie- I backsweeten to 1.010, no one thought it was to sweet. I also have a batch I did dry and I have people that perfer it over the sweeten. Guess it just depends on what you like, she is good both ways

 

[Julie]

Julie- I backsweeten to 1.010, no one thought it was to sweet. I also have a batch I did dry and I have people that perfer it over the sweeten. Guess it just depends on what you like, she is good both ways

thanks, that is what i wanted to know, I think I will start out with 1.000 and see how that is. We like our wines a little sweeten, not too sweet but a little.

 

[reefman]

Is anyone selling Brianna grapes or are they too new?

 

[MidlandWG]

Brianna is a great "tropical" tasting wine, reminds me of Edelweiss, I think they may be related, none the less its a good cold hardy white. I like it dry but my wife likes it a bit sweet... unfortunately not making any this year...

 

[djrockinsteve]

Julie. Last year Rob pick a month earlier than this year. This means that the grapes were not as sweet and more acidic. I would say yes start about 1.000 and work your way up from there.

The wine was great. Can't wait till this batch is done.

 

[ffemt128]

Thanks for the reference points for sg. We have been sweetening our whites to around 1.002-1.008 and generally like them in that range. I'll keep the 1.000 in mind for the starting point.