Tom Benjamin
Junior
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2019
- Messages
- 11
- Reaction score
- 2
Second time making wine from fresh Syrah grapes and a few days in I am seeing some massive differences. Of course, every vintage is different but the color differences between my Syrah last year and my Syrah this year seem extremely different. This year's Syrah is almost black vs. last year's which had a more magenta color (see photos for this year vs. last year). These grapes are coming from the same vineyard, and were picked relatively around the same brix (24-25 brix). The wine tastes OK and seems fresh, but its certainly not as 'juicy' as last year's Syrah was at this stage. Anything insight helps!
Hoping someone can provide some insight into:
1. Why this might be happening.
2. If this is an issue for the finished wine.
A few reasons I can theorize for why this is happening:
- I used slightly less sulfite this year than last after crush - but still 50ppm this year.
- This year's ferment was slightly hotter than last years off the bat (sat around 84 degrees for 24-36 hours due to a heat wave)
- I crushed the grapes more thoroughly this year.
Hoping someone can provide some insight into:
1. Why this might be happening.
2. If this is an issue for the finished wine.
A few reasons I can theorize for why this is happening:
- I used slightly less sulfite this year than last after crush - but still 50ppm this year.
- This year's ferment was slightly hotter than last years off the bat (sat around 84 degrees for 24-36 hours due to a heat wave)
- I crushed the grapes more thoroughly this year.