Cabernet and Merlot Fresh Grapes from Deming, NM

[AlFulchino]

i agree...even had a cap push up a lid w a brick on it this mornin...Mike while picking grapes before the wine tasting time came up i had been thinking about your high ph grapes...its not for me to tell you to DO this...but i am a bot of a risk taker...if it was my wine and if you had not already adjusted all of your must.....maybe next year you can take a few gallons and not adjust the acid..make the wine...intend on it being an early drinker only.....and see what you get...now that you are doing things on a volume scale you can experiment a bit more..i am a firm believer in letting a grape be what it is....true that things can be adjusted and made into good and GREAT wines.....but sometimes less can possibly be more...anyway..just two cents worth

 

[Wade E]

Al, either your grapes are just plain awesome or you really know WTF your doing as Ive tried many wines that were Au Natural and most of them were dish water! Ive had your wine and its awesome so I know its one of the two above hence the reason I dont tell anyone to go your route!

 

[AlFulchino]

I dont know wtf i am doing

 

[ibglowin]

Hey then there is hope for the rest of us!

I love to experiment! But after I have figured out what the hell I am doing!

I can't wait to mix things up and try some "little" experiments down the road......

 

[ibglowin]

Mike, you MUST get up at 2:00 am TO PUNCH DOWN THE NIGHT CAP.
 

OK,

If you insist Rich!

 

[grapeman]

Yep, that's exactly what I was talking about!


How's it fermentin' today?

 

[ibglowin]

Still looking good!

Can hear it bubbling away when you take the lid off. The cap is ~6" of light (now empty) grape skins with lots of juice underneath it all. Starting to smell more and more like wine and less and less like sweet grape juice.Didn't get an SG reading yesterday so will pull a sample next time I punch down today. Am planning on another shot of yeast nutrient at around 8-10 Brix.

Went to the LHBS and reserved the press for late next week probably pick up Thursday PM and press Friday AM. I picked up a couple of temp strips so I could see at a glance what the temps are in the primaries.

They have dropped from a high of right at 80 to ~77 this AM.

 

[ibglowin]

Wow,

I knew this guy was cooking but had no data. Took a SG in glass (way too much solids to do this in a bucket!) and the SG was down to 1.022 from 1.105 in just 3.5 days!

The temps in the primary have dropped down to ~72-73 degrees. I ran the AC temp up to 70 to try and keep the primary from cooling off too much. Smells good but very different from a kit. Usually you have added some oak to a kit and you have that oak and grape fruit smell in the primary.

This just smells like grape juice with an ethanol kick!

Man there are ALOT of solids in fresh grapes This should be fun to try and press then start racking and clearing!

 

[robie]

Mike, isn't the New Mexico vineyard, from which you got the grapes, much farther south of you, where it is much warmer, especially at night?

If that's the case and if I remember correctly (some of you can set me straight if I am wrong), hot days produce lots of sugar and cooler nights help produce more acid than hot nights. If the nights are NOT too cool down south, maybe that's why the acid is low and the PH higher. If that's the case, that vineyard's vintner should be making some adjustments on a regular, yearly basis, so he/she should be able to advise you.

Also, remember that the longer your fermentation, the longer the skins will have to extract that deep, dark color. So, wouldn't you want to let the fermentation go a bit more slowly?

 

[robie]

Man there are ALOT of solids in fresh grapes This should be fun to try and press then start racking and clearing!

I saw a neat video on UTube. They were pressing the grapes in the "Old Country" in the "Old Country Way". I never figured out where the old country was.

They piled the grapes up in the center of a large, 8 or 10-foot wide tank, which had a press-style screw coming up from the center of the tank. Next, starting at the bottom, they wound a heavy rope around the grapes and progressively raised the rope up one rope thickness and continued to wind it until a vertical wall of rope was surrounding the grapes. This newly formed "container" of grapes was about 3 or 4 feet in diameter.

Finally, they placed typical press bocks on top of the grapes and pressed the grapes just like you would in a wooden grape press. It was surprising the rope held the grapes in place so well.

Talk about working with what you've got!

 

[ibglowin]

Hey Richard,

Deming is about 300 miles south of me and sits at an elevation of ~4500ft. Its still fairly high in elevation and only ~800ft lower than Denver.

The average high in Deming for the month of August was 92 F. The ave low was 62F. Nice 30 degree difference and quite typical of high desert terrain.

Compare that to Calistoga, CA. Average high for August was 91 and the average low was 53. Napa for August was 82 ave high and 53 ave low.

Walla Walla, WA home of our beloved Red Mountain AVA had an average high of 89 and an average low of 61 for the month of August.

Since those temps are all fairly close except for the ave low of 53 in the California areas I am not sure how temperature effects acidity in grapes.

Seems to me that the soil or "terroir" would be the bigger factor in determining acid content.

It looks like this will ferment out to dry in about the usual 6-7 days. I did use some Opti Red and some pectic enzyme on both batches that should help with extraction. I also let the crushed grapes sit for ~36 hours before pitching the yeast. The color seems to be pretty dark after 5 days of fermentation. They say to ferment to dry or below 1.000 then press.

Both batches will spend some time in my new 6 gallon Vadai Oak barrel I got last week. Since it is new they will only spend a couple of weeks in it so they don't get over oaked. I will follow the new barrel break in procedure (2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks.....etc.)

Mike,  isn't the New Mexico vineyard, from which you got the grapes, much farther south of you, where it is much warmer, especially at night?If that's the case and if I remember correctly (some of you can set me straight if I am wrong), hot days produce lots of sugar and cooler nights help produce more acid than hot nights.  If the nights are NOT too cool down south, maybe that's why the acid is low and the PH higher.  If that's the case, that vineyard's vintner should be making some adjustments on a regular, yearly basis, so he/she should be able to advise you.Also, remember that the longer your fermentation, the longer the skins will have to extract that deep, dark color.  So, wouldn't you want to let the fermentation go a bit more slowly?

 

[robie]

Looks like Deming is pretty close to Walla Walla in averages. I wasn't sure if Deming might be one of those areas where average lows are up there much higher, as they sometimes are in some areas of our beloved Texas, where we spent many years.

Though I do remember reading somewhere that average nighttime low temperatures affect the acid content (structure) in wine grapes.

Sounds like your color depth is going to be really nice. Keep us posted, as this link will be a good future reference for others, who are new to fresh and frozen grapes.

 

[robie]

Concerning nighttime temperatures I found lots on the subject. As an example:

Columbia Valley and Yakima Valley AVA




<h2>Boushey Vineyard</h2>
Management: d**k Boushey
Grapes: Syrah (4 different clones), Cabernet Sauvignon
Wines: Boushey Vineyard Syrah, red blends
Vineyard Style: Great focus and balance with incredibly unique aromatics
Location: Grandview, WA (Yakima and Columbia Valley AVAs)
Topography: Resting at an elevation of nearly 1000' and located mid valley, this site is blessed with a medium steep Southern exposure.
Climate: Cooler Spring than much of the Columbia Valley. Summers
can be warm to hot with fairly high wind conditions. Like the rest of
the Columbia Valley, night time temperatures regularly drop into the
50's, arresting sugar accumulation and helping the retention of
acidity. Having slightly cooler days than the rest of the central
Columbia Valley, the fruit is able to develop over a longer period of
time allowing the fruit to achieve full physiological (flavor) ripeness
in balance with sugar and acidity.
Rainfall: Less than 7" per year. Drip irrigation is used
sparingly to keep the plants healthy and viable; realizing that
stressing the vines by limiting their water will help produce intense,
flavorful fruit.
Soil: Generally Burke silt loam (at a depth of 2' ~10') over Basalt rock.










Terroir surely has its affect.
I am not sure what affect altitude might have.

 

[robie]

I finally found this:

Diurnal Shift: Day to Night Temperature Variability -
One of the greatest natural phenomena for growing grapes which end up
balanced between ripe sugars (which will equate to alcohol in the wine)
and crisp acidity is a difference between day time and night time
temperatures – or, diurnal shift.

 

[ibglowin]

Woo Hooo!

To late for this year but a new LHBS opened up in ABQ and he just added a brand spanking new manual crusher/de-stemmer and rachet press to his store for rental! I would have killed for this last week.........

This means next year I can cruise up I-25 from Deming with my load of fresh grapes and head right to the LHBS and crush/de-stem right there in store and head on to the house with a load of freshly picked and (now) crushed/de-stemmed grapes that will be ready for testing!!!!!!

Very excited indeed!

 

[Scott B]

Mike, it is the little things in life that make us happy!!!

Would you have guessed 2 years ago you would be excited about a Crusher/Destemmer?

Great job on the Fresh grapes.


You have inspired me to do the same next year!!!

 

[robie]

Mike,

OOPS!

My thinking was a little backwards. I supposed that the lower the fermentation temperature, the longer it will take, thereby giving more time to extract color and tannins from the skin. Concerning extraction, it kind of makes sense but WRONG!

Now I find out if you want more extraction, you ferment at higher temperatures.

Sorry about that!

How are things coming along today with the fermentation? Smells great I'll bet!

 

[ibglowin]

Funny you should ask!

I picked up the press yesterday evening and got things all set up this AM and pressed. It was 8 days since the yeast was pitched and the SG was 1.000 as of last night. We had a really nice cool morning with a low of 52 so by 9:00AM it was a perfect 68 degrees on the back patio. I soaked the heck out of the basket and blocks with Iodophor solution and then let it air dry. Poured Iodophor solution into the catch pan as well so hopefully things were good and sanitized.

My SWMBO helper said no pics of her!

She was sprayed pretty darn good with grape juice as was I. My hands are PURPLE this evening!

Everything went well and I got 2 full 6 gallon carboys plus 2 full magnums.Could have gotten more but really didn't want to press too hard.

I can say that I have now officially tasted "GREEN" wine! Wow! With all those skins and seeds this stuff smelled good but is quite "herbaceous" to say the least. Will let it sit for a few days and then do a first rack on everything.

Lot of work but alot of fun!Will update things as they progress.

 

[grapeman]

It looks like you had a great time. It can be a bit messy, but enjoyable.

 

[AlFulchino]

great pictures, but everything was fine until i saw the white sneakers...or are they *tennis shoes*....good Lord! thats proof that you were not really the one that pressed and did all the wine work.....

wine stains everywhere and your shoes are spotless???? what did you do? oversee the wine making w binoculars from the living room sliding door window???

winemakers wear work boots! you are dressed up in picnic clothes???

is that Do It Best Quality Paint bucket food grade?????