M&M Sangiovese Blend

[smcalli1]

I've pressed my M&M La Marche Sangiovese/Cabernet blend and it's now settling into secondary fermentation. The blend is about 60% Sangiovese and 40% Cab. Coming off the press you could already taste the Sangiovese character.

But here's the reason for the post. If you choose to buy the frozen Sangiovese must (and I'll probably do it again), understand that the grapes are destemmed only and not destemmed and crushed. I didn't realize it until the must was already half way through primary fermentation. I had to fish them out of the primary fermenter with a strainer, dump them in a sanitized bucket, mash the with a potato masher and dump them back into the primary fermenter. Also, M&M advertised the must as 27L which is a little more than 7 gallons. I don't doubt it, but that ended up giving me only 4.5 gallons or 60% of the original volume in juice. Just so you know.

 

[robie]

That's interesting. Actually, what you got was not really must, it was... well.. just frozen grapes. That is good to know, though.

Technically, you didn't have to crush them yourself. It is not so common with Sangiovese, but grapes like Pinot Noir are often fermented whole-grape style.

It takes a little longer to ferment, but produces some softer results. You don't get as much color or tannins with whole grape, so you can see why it is good for Pinot Noir.

For a nice, bold Sangiovese, you did the right thing by crushing the grapes.

Since you crushed them late, how is the color of the fermenting must?

 

[smcalli1]

That's interesting. Actually, what you got was not really must, it was... well.. just frozen grapes. That is good to know, though.

Technically, you didn't have to crush them yourself. It is not so common with Sangiovese, but grapes like Pinot Noir are often fermented whole-grape style.

It takes a little longer to ferment, but produces some softer results. You don't get as much color or tannins with whole grape, so you can see why it is good for Pinot Noir.

For a nice, bold Sangiovese, you did the right thing by crushing the grapes.

Since you crushed them late, how is the color of the fermenting must?

It's still pretty light, but as the particulates settle its darkening. I have the impression that it won't be as deep red as most Super Tuscans though. I should know in about a week I think.

 

[Rocky]

You will also get color out of squeezing the grapes at the end of fermentation. Sounds like you are ending up with about 4 gallons, right? If you don't mind, how much did you pay for the buckets?

 

[smcalli1]

You will also get color out of squeezing the grapes at the end of fermentation. Sounds like you are ending up with about 4 gallons, right? If you don't mind, how much did you pay for the buckets?

Rocky, I pressed the grapes and ended up with 7.5 gallons of blended juice in secondary. I think when all is said and done I'll have about 6 gallons of blended wine. The Sangiovese was $135 + $30 shipping and the Cab juice was $70 + $30 shipping. I used half the Cab juice with the Sangiovese, so the blend is running about $215 or $7+ a bottle. I paid more for college.

 

[smcalli1]

So, here's an update. The Sangiovese/Cab blend is in bulk aging. It has a nice flavor, is a bit strong in tannins but I'm sure that will smooth out with age, and is clearing nicely without clarifier. My biggest disappointment so far is that there's not much depth of color. It's rather thin looking. Probably because I was late in mashing the grapes. My friend ordered at the same time I did and is now considering buying a merlot kit and blending it into the Sangiovese blend to deepen the color. I'm going to take a wait and see position.