WineXpert WE Australian Chardonnay

[JimCook]

Battonage has started and is already 1 week into the month of stirring every 3-4 days. At this point, stratification is evidenced in the wine as it progressing from one stirring to the next. While I would have thought that if the yeast cells were just getting broken up and suspended that the cloudiness would be a slight transition down the carboy, that is not the case. Perhaps it is because as the yeast cells are broken up, they release different enzymes or proteins and that is what causing the stratification. Either way, it looks cool.

Sadly, perhaps because of the glass and/or lighting, the picture doesn't do the stratification justice. I will try for a better shot later.

- Jim

 

[Wade E]

Okay so I had to look up the word stratification and yes I guess the picture doesnt do it justice!

I took alot of shop instead of academic classes and it shows when people use big words
but I am an excellent speller for some reason as I won lots of spelling
bee's. Now only if they made bigger keyboard letters as my sausage
fingers always tend to hit a few keys at the same time and I dont
always look at my spelling before I hit post.

Edited by: wade

 

[PeterZ]

One of the factors involved in clarification is the amount of agitation prior to settling. The more agitation, especially gentle agitation, the more opportunity the solids have of bumping into each other and sticking together. When they stick together, they are bigger, and bigger particles settle faster than little ones.

The whole purpose for adding clarifiers is to help the particles stick together. They will do it naturally, but they do it better and faster with clarifiers.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Okay so I had to look up the word stratification and yes I guess the picture doesnt do it justice!

I took alot of shop instead of academic classes and it shows when people use big words but I am an excellent speller for some reason as I won lots of spelling bee's. Now only if they made bigger keyboard letters as my sausage fingers always tend to hit a few keys at the same time and I dont always look at my spelling before I hit post.

Do you have Internet Explorer??? If so download IE SPELL CHECK...I can't live without it.


http://www.iespell.com/download.php

 

[Wade E]

Sometimes those programs really annoy me as they want to change abbrev.
and nick-names and words I use just o be funny like wanna and gonna
etc. I have the spell checker for this sight but only use it when I
dont know how to spell a word due to a brain fart! Oh, and I dont use
IE as it is a pain in the but to set the ecurity settings so that it
excepts everywhere I go on the internet and Im not talking about "those
sites"


Edited by: wade

 

[JimCook]

Peter,


The part I find interesting is that only clarifier that has been added is the bentonite. just figured that it would be less stratified and more of a transition based on the slide of increasing particle sizes.


- Jim

 

[JimCook]

While playing with the lighting and the camera a bit, I was able to capture an image that displays the gross level of settling, and while it's hard to see both of the layer divisions, it is nonetheless a neat pic.

- Jim

 

[Wade E]

Cool Pic Jim!

 

[JimCook]

The chardonnay has completed the one month battonage process and it has entered the clarification and degassing stage. Much like the 'Boy, do I have lees' post, it's much easier to see the floculation in the white wine. Since the wine had been topped up before the battonage process had started, I needed to pull out just over 1/2 cup to make room for the stabilizing, santizing, and clarifying agents. Amazingly, this quantity fit very well into a wine glass, and after swirling it a bit to help degass, I enjoyed my unfiltered/unfined Australian Chardonnay with just over a pound of baked Bahamian lobster tails that a client had given me. The creamy mouthfeel is wonderful at this point - definitely not over the top, but very balanced with the fruit flavors in the wine and very pleasant. Just like the Argentine Malbec kit, at the 4 week mark, the original smells of the juice concentrate have started to come back out. I'm really looking forward to how this wine will taste in another 9 months or so.


While there is a little oak on the nose from the sawdust, there isn't as much in the flavor, so I will be investigating oaking choices during bulk aging with this wine as well.


- Jim

 

[JimCook]

On 5/31/07, I added 3 ounces of FrenchMedium Toast oak cubes. After letting the wine sit in a carboy with the oak cubes for the minimum contact time of 8 weeks, I tasted the results. At this point, the chardonnay has a very nice nose of peach, banana and vanilla. The oak is very light in the taste and the fruit is definitely the more powerful of the two.The wine is definitely better than the previous tasting on5/12/07. The mouthfeel is excellent - agreat smooth and creamy feeling.This wine can stay on the oak for a bit to help it develop further.


(Note - this chardonnay was tasted atthe room temp of 68 degrees instead of a chilled temp)


- Jim

 

[JimCook]

After about 10 weeks on the oak, the chardonnay has hit a level that I'm comfortable with. The oak is presenting an initial tannic response in the mouth (swirling a bit before tasting softens them right up) but has now come out more in the nose and has blossomed into the flavor profile as well. While the wine is retaining it's crisp fruit taste, the oak is providing a nice touch and complexity. The mouthfeel is still very nice - this should develop into a nice wine indeed. I racked the wine off the oak on 8/19/07.


- Jim

 

[JimCook]

Tasting Date: 10/17/07
Age since start of fermentation: 6.75 months
Battonage: 1 month
Oaking: 3 oz. French Medium Toast for10 weeks


Notes:This Australian Chardonnay was tasted at room temperature instead of being chilled.With a golden color and excellent clarity, the nose on this wine is one of toast, vanilla, apples and pears. Themoderately creamy mouthfeel is very nice, with the fruitflavors coming forward first and then thelonger finish ending with thevanilla/biscuit smoothness. Theflavors seem to match the nose on the wine and it is quite nice.I look forward to tasting this at a chilled temperature to see howit changes.


- Jim

 

[Mharris335]

Thanks for the update....I am looking for a chard to make next!
So you would you recomend this kit to me or have you made other chards
that you like better?

 

[JimCook]

Mharris,


This was my first kit and my first Chardonnay, so I don't suppose that I have enough experience to best answer your question. Some of the people here that have made multiple chardonnay kits should be able to provide some nice guidance.


- Jim

 

[JimCook]

I opened another bottle of this wine tonight and it was showing quite nicely. While the fruit flavor was nothing that dragged me around the room by my tongue, the oak has mellowed to a point to be much better integrated into the overall presentation of the wine. The mouthfeel is still very nice, with a light buttery experience while the forefront of the taste a light crisp apple/pear with a mildly nutty toasty mid flavor. It's definitely maturing, that's for sure.


- Jim

 

[Jack on Rainy]

JIm,
Thanks for posting results. Makes this thread more complete and more valuable to those of us who have been "lurking".
Jack

 

[JimCook]

Jack,


Lurkers and actives alike can benefit from a complete log of the maturation of a kit. It's important to note that I had exposed this wine to a heavier amount of oak than I would were I to make the kit again. However, the 18-month mark seems to have some magic in for the WE Selection International kits as my Malbec has been blooming around the same time as well. Your thanks are well received and I'll keep posting follow-ups to the kits that I've made and recorded here. I'm excited to compare it to the Fresco Chardonnay that's due in November.


- Jim