new year, new wine

[Snafflebit]

I soon have the time to start a batch of wine fermenting and I have been browsing the Brehm inventory of frozen must. Lucky me their main freezer is just a car drive away. There are a couple of Pinot Noir available and I would like your advice on them.

2013 Mahoney, Sonoma County, Carneros AVA
Brix TA pH YAN
24.5 0.69 3.26 195 mg/L

2013 White Salmon Vineyard, Columbia Gorge AVA
Brix TA pH YAN
23.1 0.53 3.32 61 mg/L

I am leaning towards the Mahoney.

In other news, my first wine Wisner Vineyard, Livermore Cab from September is going very well. I think it is time for a chromatography test. It is clearing nicely and I will give it a third racking in Feb. I joke it is Frankenwine considering the tweaks I did with tartaric, DAP and oak powder but it tastes good. I could drink it now and enjoy it. I have definitely caught the wine bug.

 

[Kraffty]

just based on the numbers and the sonoma reputation I'd go with the Mahoney also. Great area to live in to start making good wine, you're basically surrounded by vineyards for hundreds of miles up and down the coast.
Mike

 

[DoctorCAD]

Columbia Gorge has some fantastic Pinots.

Get both...what the heck!

 

[Snafflebit]

I will buy two buckets but I planned on them being the same!
Brehm recommends getting 4 buckets to ensure there is a representative sample of the vineyard. Such salesmanship.

The pH of 3.26 concerns me for being too close to 3.2 for MLF.

 

[Snafflebit]

The nice man at my LHBS and I discussed how to proceed with my Pinot Noir ferment. He suggested fermenting with 3 yeasts! Two of them are cultured versions of wild yeasts and then adding a commercial saccharomyces strain to ensure completion some time after. He says he has been doing this on all his wines for the past few years and creates more complexity in the taste. It seems complex, period. I grant that wild yeast fermentation of Pinot is all the rage now but then I read this: Wild Yeast Fermentation: “There’s No Such Thing”

I bought my chromatography test kit, and am $100 poorer. Oh, what a hobby!