Fresh Grapes From Fine Vine Wines

[Johnd]

In the end analysis, pH on the PS and Merlot settled into the upper 3.5’s, and I’m pleased with that, the Cab, 3.78. BRIX on all three ended up between 25.5 and 26, which I’m also satisfied with.

By yesterday afternoon, the Lallzyme EX-V had done its job, the musts had gone from grayish purple to the dark, rich, bright purple that gets us excited. The PS was exceptionally dark, as expected. The Merlot, which had been a pretty tight must, more solid than liquid, had loosened up substantially. Pitched BM 4x4.

Awoke this morning to some beautiful caps and punched down. That first whiff of fermentation is addictive. Mixed in dose 1 of Fermaid K, rehydrated VP 41 with Acti-ML, dosed and mixed that in, and followed up with dose 1 of OptiMalo. Let the games begin!!

BTW, thanks to all of you who expressed concern and well wishes as Nate made landfall yesterday. The landfall ended up east of me, putting us on the dry and less active side of the storm. He was moving fast and quickly lost his punch, the impact here was minimal, and not nearly what it could have been for our neighbors to the east. Hopefully, that concludes hurricane season 2017.

 

[Johnd]

All four wines in the 1050's yesterday morning, gave them their second dose of Fermaid K, temps in the smaller fermenters (PS and Merlot) in the low 80's, temps in the big fermenters (cab) in the upper 80's. Some of the more vigorous caps I've seen to date.

Last night, before bed, did a quick SG check. Surprise, surprise, PS and Merlot at 1.015, cab at 1.030. Was hoping to press on Friday evening / Saturday, but that's not going to happen. Getting geared up for PS / Merlot this evening, probably do cab on Thursday evening.

 

[Ajmassa]

Sounds like all is well down there. John, I've come to really pay attention to how you handle your ph's , knowing how much importance you put on it.
The 3.78 cab, any rough plans with that one? Knowing AF and MLF will make it jump around/up, would you be adjusting if it stays similar? And if so What's your general target there?
The factors that make ideal ph batch specific are still yet to be learned on my end. It's tough to adjust by taste on young wine for me. And I'm always hesitant to add a boatload of tartaric and adjust by more than .1 or .2 at a time.
** I'm asking because I know there's many good commercial wines with very high ph. But knowing when that's safe or beneficial to leave the "safe zone" is beyond me.

 

[Johnd]

Sounds like all is well down there. John, I've come to really pay attention to how you handle your ph's , knowing how much importance you put on it.
The 3.78 cab, any rough plans with that one? Knowing AF and MLF will make it jump around/up, would you be adjusting if it stays similar? And if so What's your general target there?
The factors that make ideal ph batch specific are still yet to be learned on my end. It's tough to adjust by taste on young wine for me. And I'm always hesitant to add a boatload of tartaric and adjust by more than .1 or .2 at a time.
** I'm asking because I know there's many good commercial wines with very high ph. But knowing when that's safe or beneficial to leave the "safe zone" is beyond me.

When evaluating pH on an individual wine basis, talking reds with MLF plans, I'm pretty much looking for pH over 3.4, easing the biological activity of AF and MLF, and don't get too concerned unless the pH is over 3.8 prior to AF / MLF. If I do have to adjust up or down to get into that range, I prefer to do it preferment. Minor adjustments are easy down the road.

In my book, the "ideal" pH, is the one you end up with when your wine tastes the best, if it's 3.62, great, if it's 3.82, great as well, it just needs to have proper SO2 management at either level. TA plays a huge role in the taste game. I'm just not good enough to judge the "best" acid levels for my wines at any time other than way down the road, post AF/MLF, post barrel and bulk aging, when the wine has developed. I don't have enough experience to know early on how a wine will be in two years, though some folks are quite capable of it. I choose that good range to make sure I get the wine through AF/MLF in good shape, no stress on the biological agents we use, and fine tune later.

Rough plans for the wines from this ferment are to blend the Cab, PS, and Merlot. After AF/MLF, take a look at the resultant pH/TA numbers and that will give an idea of what the blend numbers will look like. I'm hoping that the lower numbers on the PS / Merlot will help level out the cab, but time will tell.

After MLF, they will be blended just as ordered, 16.67% each of PS and Merlot, and 66.66% cab, and go into a new 30 gallon French oak barrel for a year or so. Some fine tuning of acid before or while in the barrel may be in order, just going to have to wait and see.

 

[Ajmassa]

Thank you for explaining all that for me. But I actually had forgotten you said these wines were part of a future blend.

But that main idea is very useful and helps me grasp the whole world of PH just a little bit more now. Main idea being: **adjust ph pre-ferment to get it close to a working range for a non stressful AF and MLF. And once through all that and into the aging, any adjustments that need to be made shouldn't be too drastic. **
I was picking your brain because I'm potentially going to have to adjust down the road. Before AF and MLF at 3.9. After AF/MLF 4.0. Adjusted to 3.8.
But I didn't want to adjust any more just yet because it's just too difficult to tell what the sweet spot is- or 'will be'.
Regretfully I did not adjust before AF at 3.9. I had just read an article on "why NOT to adjust anything before AF" before I got the grapes and it was fresh in my head. Similarly, I had read an article before I got my Chilean grapes on "why you SHOULD adjust before AF"- which I did. At that time I feared I dropped my ph way too much. Later I found out my equipment was faulty and giving bad measurements. So I actually don't know any true numbers aside from where it ended up- which were good numbers.
Still trying to find my way and get a nice little protocol to go by---Instead of handling every batch differently regarding ph. But all the fumbling I did in May had a biproduct of learning proper handling/use/care for ph meters. Which is very important I've come to learn.
With each batch I'm able to pinpoint more and more proper techniques and "preventative maintenance" type things to make life easier down the road to make the best finished product I can make. Thanks for taking the time to explain this to me. It is very much appreciated.

 

[Johnd]

Pressed the 3 lugs each of PS and Merlot yesterday afternoon, PS at .999, Merlot at 1.005. Got a full 6 gallon carboy of free run from each, plus another 2 gallons each of press run. Free run being kept separate for now, the press run is combined in a single carboy.

I’ll test the cab this afternoon, but I’m nearly positive I’ll be pressing it today, caps are slowing down, temps dropping. It may be dry by this afternoon.

AF is sort of like Thanksgiving Dinner, anticipation, gathering supplies, preparing the area, cooking for days, the smells that fill your home, finally you sit down to eat, and it’s over before you know it.

I’m starting to lay my plan for 2018.........

 

[Boatboy24]

Got a full 6 gallon carboy of free run from each, plus another 2 gallons each of press run.

Wow! Great yield.

 

[Johnd]

Wow! Great yield.

Haven't racked off of the gross / fine lees yet, but I expect to lose a gallon or so of each varietal during those processes. Strangely, the PS has very little gross lees (1"), the Merlot, a little more (3-4"). That puts the yield about where I figure it when ordering. 3 lugs (108 #) yields about 10 gallons of must, 70% of which (7 gallons) ends up as finished wine.

I ordered 18 lugs this year, which filled 12.5 buckets after crushing / destemming, they may have each had a tad more than 5 gallons in them, but I feel like it's pretty dang close.

I'll definitely have enough wine to fill the 30 gallon barrel and still have some extra to top up and play with.

 

[geek]

Are you adding Opti Malo Plus just at the beginning of MLF or re-adding more throughout the MLF process?

 

[Johnd]

Are you adding Opti Malo Plus just at the beginning of MLF or re-adding more throughout the MLF process?

I dosed Opti Malo when I added the mlb culture. When the wine is racked off of the gross lees 2-3 days after pressing, it'll get another dose.

 

[Johnd]

Finished off the 2017 grapes with yesterday’s pressing of the Cabernet Sauvignon. All in all, quite a whirlwind of activity, but very smooth. Only one week ago today, I was driving to Dallas to pick up grapes.

Added to the results of the PS and Merlot, the 12lugs of Cab yielded 4 six gallon carboys of free run, and 9 gallons of press run.

Gross lees racking this weekend, maybe run a chromo just to see where things stand, ready to get that barrel loaded!

 

[Johnd]

Racked all the wines off of the gross lees this morning, ended up with nearly 8 full carboys. 1 Petite Sirah free run, 1 Merlot free run, 4 Cab free run, 1 carboy of PS, Merlot and Cab press wine, and one carboy with 5 gallons Cab press wine. The 5 gallon Cab is still fermenting lightly, so it’ll be ok for a bit.

Each carboy got 1/2 dose Opti Malo Plus at racking. Started a chromo test after racking, needs a half hour more of drying, then into the developing solution til later this evening. Should have some results by tomorrow morning.

 

[Johnd]

Below are the results of my early chromatography test, VP 41 was co-inoculated only 6 daysprior to the test, so no surprise there’s still malic acid. After a particularly quick fermentation and pressing schedule, it’ll be nice to slow down a bit and let the bacteria work through the acid.

 

[Johnd]

I had intended to do it over the weekend, but didn’t get to it, started chromatography test yesterday, and hung it out to dry last evening. It’s been three weeks since coinocculating, and I was pleased to awaken to see that MLF was complete. It’s a little crowded with 8 on one sheet, not much blue space to accentuate the yellow, but it fit.....

Time to get started on barrel prep while it sits around a little longer, I’ll be doing some pH work if needed, sulfiting, and racking prior to long barrel nap.

 

[Johnd]

It's about time to get the '17 grapes into the new 30 gallon Frenchie some time later this week. It's been sitting around still in shrink wrap and foam sheets, so I started barrel prep last night. Stood it on end and filled each head with boiling water for and hour, then put 12 gallons of boiling water inside and stood it on each head for an hour. Finished up by filling it with cool water + sulfite + citric acid, and will leave it as such until it's time to fill. This morning, there were no wet spots on the wood, nor any drips on the floor, so it looks like it's pretty tight so far. Planning to fill either Thursday night or on Sunday after my weekend of hunting.........

 

[Johnd]

Moving day for the ‘17 wine. One can’t really move around a full 30 gallon barrel very easily....Pumped the sulfite water out, cleaned it out, and set it up in its new home in the wine room. Racked 5 carboys plus another 1/2 gallon of free run into the barrel, sulfited, and plugged her up. Racked and sulfited the other carboys as well, cleaned up and popped open a bottle. Life is good.

 

[Ajmassa]

A days long trek amidst hurricanes and floods to acquire grapes.
Brought to a fairly new knocked out wine room.
And now in a brand spankin new French oak barrel.
I, for one, certainly wouldn't be opposed to seeing some pics of Frenchie's cherry being popped.

 

[jgmann67]

AJ... I think the rule on this forum is: pics or it didn't happen. [emoji12]

 

[Johnd]

A days long trek amidst hurricanes and floods to acquire grapes.
Brought to a fairly new knocked out wine room.
And now in a brand spankin new French oak barrel.
I, for one, certainly wouldn't be opposed to seeing some pics of Frenchie's cherry being popped.

AJ... I think the rule on this forum is: pics or it didn't happen. [emoji12]

Well, she’s kinda shy, being in a new country and all, not knowing the language, so I didn’t take any action photos, proctologically speaking, but do have a nice still photo of the end result. If you must be able to prove that there is wine in it, I suppose I could give you a little peek inside her bung hole.

 

[Ajmassa]

I suppose I could give you a little peek inside her bung hole.

Thanks but I'll take you on your word that she's full. Since made it sound like something illegal.
Very nice though! I never get tired of seeing that room. But you are straight up MAXED OUT in there my friend. I'm envisioning a future thread: "2018 Barrell Room Addition".
Great picture John.