Red Wine - Improved Color Extraction

[PCharles]

After reading a few threads here on winemaker this morning, I decided to give my 2011 cab sauv a taste. Back in September I started with 12 gallons of must and now have 8 gallons of wine in glass carboys. I added my small tasting portion to a wine glass so I could evaluate aroma, color and taste. Over all I was very pleased with the tasting. I did notice that the color was lighter than cab sauvs that you might find at a winery or store. That's fine with me knowing this was my first try from grapes. I'm sure I will enjoy every drop. That aside, I'm looking to next season and would appreciate suggestions on techniques to increase the color extraction from the skins. I noticed products such as Lallzyme EX. Here is a link to that product.
http://morewinepro.com/view_product/15496/100470/Lallzyme_EX_8g
I did use oak cubes, but don't have oak barrels.

I'd appreciate your suggestions and experience with additives to increase color and other desirable red wine traits.

Thanks,
PCharles

 

[jwalker1140]

I used Lallzyme EX for the first time on my 2011 Cab and I think it helped the color and the yield (125 lbs of fruit will turn into ~9 gallons of finished wine). I slightly under-dosed because I was concerned about the skins turning into goo by the time I pressed, which others have reported. I didn't have a problem with this at all and I'll probably use a full dose on my 2012.

I've also heard of people using Opti-Red in conjunction with Lallzyme EX with great results. I may give that a try this year.

Of course, you could just cheat and add some Mega-Purple like the mass market guys do.

 

[robie]

There are several things one can do besides or along-with adding the chemicals.

A pre-fermentation cold soak with stirring for 2 or 3 days really helps. Also an extended maceration toward the end of fermentation goes a long ways to extract more color, as long as excessive tannins is not an issue.

The warmer the fermentation temperatures, the more extraction takes place. However, the warmer temps can hurt the fruitiness and cause other issues, so there can be a trade-off.

I would recommend the pre-fermentation cold soak with stirring. It can go longer than 3 days; I've heard of 2 and 3 week cold soaks. You initial SO2 dosage will be even more critical with a cold soak.

 

[REDBOATNY]

I don't know the exact procedure, however in my area (Finger lakes ,NY) Most red juice is available either cold pressed, or hot pressed. The hot pressed is much darker than the cold press. I am thinking like a steam juicer. It may have merit to try with a home wine press.

 

[PCharles]

Thanks for the suggestions. I considered an extended maceration last year, but ruled it out due to warm temps in my basement along with my inability to maintain a constant cool temperature. Perhaps I could do a 2-3 day one. I believe I'll give the opti red and Lallzyme EX a try next season.

Thanks,
PCharles

 

[robie]

Thanks for the suggestions. I considered an extended maceration last year, but ruled it out due to warm temps in my basement along with my inability to maintain a constant cool temperature. Perhaps I could do a 2-3 day one. I believe I'll give the opti red and Lallzyme EX a try next season.

Thanks,
PCharles

I used dry ice for the cold soak. It easily kept the wine in the 40'sF during the whole time.

 

[PCharles]

I used dry ice for the cold soak. It easily kept the wine in the 40'sF during the whole time.

Robbie, Please describe how you applied the dry ice.

 

[robie]

The grapes were in a Brute food-grade can. I broke the dry ice up into smaller chunks, spread/stirred them throughout the grapes; and sealed the can with plastic wrap.

I stirred the must several times a day to breakdown the grape solids as much as possible. I ended up with very good color extraction.

Once the temperature got down into the 40'sF, the mass of grapes pretty much kept the temperature down. I think over three days I added dry ice only three times.

 

[ibglowin]

I have used Opti Red the last 2 crushes and been very pleased with the results. The Cab Sauv and Merlot are inky black. I usually do a 48hr cold soak before pitching the yeast. You can also do bags of ice. Just make sure to double bag them (with trash bags) as you do not want the melted ice water seeping into the must and diluting it to nothing.

 

[robie]

I have used Opti Red the last 2 crushes and been very pleased with the results. The Cab Sauv and Merlot are inky black. I usually do a 48hr cold soak before pitching the yeast. You can also do bags of ice. Just make sure to double bag them (with trash bags) as you do not want the melted ice water seeping into the must and diluting it to nothing.

Yep, the idea is to keep the temperature down below where the yeast might start fermenting.

I have a friend who has a walk-in cooler at his farm. It would be perfect! I wonder if he would oblige.

 

[PCharles]

Thanks for the good advice... Opti-Red and Dry Ice covered with plastic. I'll give it a go next time.

 

[robie]

If you can't get dry ice easily, Mike's idea of double bagged ice is a very good way to go. It is certainly a lot easier to handle.

I have also used sanitized, frozen gallon jugs of water. Make sure the lid won't pop off.

 

[ibglowin]

The frozen gallon milk jugs are my preferred way to go the only problem is you have to plan ahead to make them up as they take awhile to freeze, then if you make a bunch of wine all at once like I did this Fall you need a lot of them and a lot of freezer space in which to store these guys, then you have to drive to get the fruit.

For me this is 350 miles away one way (minimum) or as much as 750 miles like this year when I went to Dallas for Cali grapes. It was impossible to bring ice bombs that far away.

The ice bags worked well but you absolutely need to double bag as the bag that the ice is in is guaranteed to have holes in it!

 

[BillZ]

I have a small vineyard in my backyard made up of Merlot and Cabernet grapes and have made wine for the last two years from it. The first year it had a light color but the flavor was good. In a attempt to improve the color this year I performed a process called Delestage daily during fermentation. This has improved the color dramatically over last year and the flavors seem to be softer and more pronounced.

Overall the process is a lot of work but the result appears to be worth it.

 

[PCharles]

I have a small vineyard in my backyard made up of Merlot and Cabernet grapes and have made wine for the last two years from it. The first year it had a light color but the flavor was good. In a attempt to improve the color this year I performed a process called Delestage daily during fermentation. This has improved the color dramatically over last year and the flavors seem to be softer and more pronounced.

Overall the process is a lot of work but the result appears to be worth it.

I found this article in Winemaker Magazine. It discussed the Delestage process you mentioned. I'll need to spend more time reviewing the details.

http://www.winemakermag.com/stories/techniques/article/indices/35-techniques/237-delestage-fermentation-techniques

 

[robie]

That's a very good article. Thanks for sharing and thanks to Bill for bringing up the subject of Delestage.

Just be mindful that the more solids (TDS) that end up in your wine, the longer it will need to age. For me, anyway, this is not a problem, because along with the lengthened aging come a much better wine.

 

[robie]

The frozen gallon milk jugs are my preferred way to go the only problem is you have to plan ahead to make them up as they take awhile to freeze, then if you make a bunch of wine all at once like I did this Fall you need a lot of them and a lot of freezer space in which to store these guys, then you have to drive to get the fruit.

For me this is 350 miles away one way (minimum) or as much as 750 miles like this year when I went to Dallas for Cali grapes. It was impossible to bring ice bombs that far away.

The ice bags worked well but you absolutely need to double bag as the bag that the ice is in is guaranteed to have holes in it!

What's worse it when, like me, one does not have a freezer. On my first batch of fresh grapes, I started out using frozen water jugs. Since I didn't have a freezer handy to refreeze the jugs, I soon moved to dry ice. Carting the jugs back and forth to the freezer at my friend's house didn't last very long.

If you do use plastic water jugs, be sure to remove some of the water from each jug, as freezing can cause the full jug to burst.

 

[joea132]

I got an excellent color from my extended maceration. However I have heard that there is a point where the color builds and then begins to decline. Just like the tannins. I was very happy with it though.

 

[Flame145]

I have used Opti Red the last 2 crushes and been very pleased with the results. The Cab Sauv and Merlot are inky black. I usually do a 48hr cold soak before pitching the yeast. You can also do bags of ice. Just make sure to double bag them (with trash bags) as you do not want the melted ice water seeping into the must and diluting it to nothing.

Mike, did you use the opti red in conjunction with Lallzyme ?? I was wondering because I think this october I'm gonna give one of those enzymes a shot prior to fermentation. Last October I did a Cab. Sauv, Merlot and Cab. Franc mix. 40 % 40 % and 20 %. The color this year was somewhat light. 2010 was nice inky purple/black, but I was also using Sangiovese grapes. So I'm kinda of wonering if the addition of either would up my game for finished product. Any thoughts ???

 

[ibglowin]

Yes,

I used both Opti Red and Lallzyme EX in this years crush. I could not believe the color, flavor, mouthfeel out of this years wine when it was racked off the gross lees. Fantastic combination IMHO!