yeast does it's own thing

[winemaker81]

I made a second run wine last fall, using the pomace from malbec, merlot, and zinfandel. It fermented down to 1.000 and stuck. I added Fermax and EC-1118, but it wouldn't budge. I did a light press to get enough wine to fill a 54 liter demijohn + topup, and hard pressed the remainder ("Squeezins'") to produce another 6 gallons. [I use the term "Squeezins'" in memory of a friend who used that term many moons ago.]

In late December I purchased a used barrel and filled it with lightly pressed second run, and have a full carboy + gallon of the Squeezins'. [As expected the Squeezins' is heavier and harsher, and I use a bit for topup. Mostly this will be bottled for cooking wine. It actually tastes pretty good, except in comparison to the first run and the light press second run.]

In January I checked the SG of both, still at 1.000. Ok, I guess it's where it wants to be, so I'll hit it with sorbate before bottling to ensure I don't get a renewed fermentation in the bottle.

Racked the Squeezins' on 1 March, SG still 1.000.

Racked the barrel for the first time Saturday. SG is 0.992. Never had any indication the wine was fermenting.

Yeast does it's own thing -- we follow its schedule, not the other way 'round ....

 

[winemaker81]

More thoughts on this --

I check the barrel every 3 weeks, topping it up as needed. Up until mid February the barrel stopper would be hard to get out due to suction (evaporation through the wood produces a low pressure in the barrel). But at the next topup it was easy to get out (well, it's jammed in the hole, so "easy" is a relative term). I'm guessing that was when the fermentation restarted.

I need to check the SG on the Squeezins' to see if it has changed. I'm using it for topup on the other wines and don't want to add an actively fermenting wine to stable wine!

 

[winemaker81]

History of Squeezins':

A friend had his own way of making wine. He had 6 barrels:

• 2 red first run
• 1 red second run
• 2 white first run
• 1 white second run

Each fall he purchased 1,500 lbs of grapes -- this year red, next year white. He crushed and fermented the grapes -- yes, whites as well as reds. [His whites were the meatiest I have ever tasted.]

Once fermentation completed he'd drain the free run wine and put it in the appropriate first run barrels. Then he'd start a second run and let it run to completion. The free run wine went into the appropriate second run barrel.

Finally he hard pressed the pomace, and this he called Squeezins'. This was divided between the 3 barrels, 1/3 going into each.

He bottled his whites after 1 year, and used a holding solution for the following year. Reds spent 2 years in the barrel (he bottled during fermentation each year).

His bottling? He bottled everything in gallon wine bottles. First time I went in his huge cellar, I didn't realize the "walls" were stacks of 4 count boxes of gallon jugs. I still have no idea just how much wine he had. Probably a thousand or more gallons.

When he needed wine he grabbed a jug and decanted it into five 750 ml bottles. Labeling wasn't a problem -- he wrote the wine on the box, and once it was decanted, the five bottles got used fairly quickly.

I tasted a number of second run wines -- during this time I was co-owner of a beer & wine making supply store, so I got the Great, the Good, the Bad, and the Oh-My-God-What-Did-You-Do?

His second run wines were better than a lot of first run wines that were brought into the shop.

 

[JohnT]

It seems that you do not press between first and second runs? This might explain things a bit.

I would think that you are leaving quite a bit of first run behind to be incorporated into your second run resulting in better quality of second run.

I would always press. The resulting second run was sorta ok, but no comparison to first run wine.

So, we took a different tack. We do not do a second run and if we want more wine, we simply purchase more grapes. Now you got me wondering...

 

[winemaker81]

The method I was taught for making a second run was to not press at all. I thought about it, decided it would be a mistake, and did a light press on the first run. Using the method I described previously produces a very tasty second run -- not a cheap wine at all.

I got 50% more wine for the cost of 40 lbs of sugar and a few dollars of additives. In my case, that an additional 20 gallons of good wine.

My second run is lighter in color and body than the first runs. However, after nearly 6 months it's quite tasty. The light pressing of the first run, as you noted, left "goodness" in the pomace which made the second run better.

The first runs aren't quite as dark as I expected, so I'm going to take a page from my old friend and blend in some of the Squeezins' which is dark. I'll be doing glass blends (tiny amounts) to see what works before doing anything major.


Re-reading my post, I see I didn't explain the full scenario.

I started my 3 first run wines (malbec, merlot, zinfandel) and fermented them down to between 1.008 and 1.012. At that point I did a light press on each, moving the first run to carboys. These wines fermented to completion as expected. I keep my notes online:

Malbec
Merlot
Zinfandel

Then I started the second run on the pomace from each. My original intention was to keep the 3 second run wines separate and possibly blend later.

When they fermented down, I did a light press and then a hard press.

I purchased a used #40 press last fall, and included in the group were 23 and 54 liter demijohns. I didn't have enough carboys to keep the second runs separate ... but had the free 54 liter demijohn, so practicality won. I blended the 3 second runs -- this produced the demijohn, an extra gallon, plus a carboy + extra of the hard press.

Second Run

 

[winemaker81]

Last weekend we blind tasted the merlot vs. a 5:1 blend of merlot : Squeezins. I have 10 gallons of merlot and if I follow the above principals, I'd blend in 2 gallons of Squeezins, hence the 5:1 blend.

The blend was second best. It added a harshness that took a lot way from the merlot.

OTOH, tasting the Squeezins on its own 30 minutes later, it's not bad. Certainly not as good as the merlot, but still decent. I'd serve it with a steak or red sauce.