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Here's a link to an article on Morewine discussing a lot of what you all have mentioned (SO2 at crush, etc.) How to conduct a Malolactic fermentation (MLF) | MoreWine It's interesting that there is no mention of adding nutrient after rehydration unless you run into problems. I've always added...

Yes sir, that spike can help with phenolic extraction, but also volatilizes the esters which can lose some aromatics, it all boils down to what style you’re going for. I like your effort for temp control, makes me feel less crazy with the cold room I’m building in the garage of our rental...

If you’re into big reds, Pinot is probably not what you’re looking for, it’s thin skinned, light on tannin and typically matures at a lower sugar level than cab Sauv, Syrah, etc. (depending on where it’s grown of course) But, if that’s what’s available you can saignee off some juice to help...

Avante is a beast for sure, I inoculated Sunday at 2pm at 23.5Brix, I’m down to 5Brix at 6pm Tuesday!! And that’s with frozen ice jugs keeping the temp down.

I’m currently in the same situation, ended up with some last minute unexpected Pinot and only had Avante on hand, it’s a beast and after 24 hours spiked to 88F, so I’ve been rotating frozen water jugs for an hour or so to get the must temp down to the mid 70’s, pull them out and do a punchdown...

This is also correct all proteins (enzymes included) can be denatured by increasing temp past the optimal range, changes in pH and physical agitation. However in the reactions involving pectinase and hemicellulase during fermentation the reaction itself doesn’t denature the enzyme, as far as I know

You’re correct an enzyme is a catalyst and is not changed by the reaction. It provides an active site to complex with a specific molecule (some are more selective than others ie will complex with more than 1 molecule) and reduces the activation energy required to complete a reaction. When the...

The enzyme will complex with the substrate (pectin and cellulose in the cell walls) which allows the enzyme to act as a catalyst and increase the reaction rate to break down the substrate in the cell walls. The enzymes are not changed by the reaction and are available to facilitate the reaction...

This is like watching a hype video before football season!! I am now officially pumped. I get Santa Barbara county grapes and still have about a month to go, but I’m stoked!

Thanks for posting this, this will be my first vintage in barrel and I’ve been debating if I should stir during MLF. This has just pushed me to the not stirring camp.

Very true, it’s a cheap way to hedge my bet.

Appreciate the knowledge @cmason1957, I now have a way to save a bit of cost next vintage!! Unfortunately I’ve already purchased this years supply

@stickman would you mind giving some details on how you calc YAN requirements? I’ve had it on my list to research for a while, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day lately.

Thanks for the input, so no use of nutrient (Opti-Malo) after inoculation?

For those of you who use or have used Enoferm Alpha, what’s your protocol for rehydration and nutrients? I’ve always used Opti-malo and Acti-ml, however today reading through the Lallemand technical data sheet they recommended 2 inoculation options. 1) Inoculation without rehydration 2)...

That makes sense, thanks!

As a rough approximation I divide the total pounds of grapes by 10 to get the must volume add 20-25% for cap space. With red Bordeaux varieties I typically average around 15-15.5 pounds of grapes per gallon of finished wine.

@NorCal thanks for these posts, I love reading them. I noticed back on post 26 you have a picture filling your barrel pumping out of brutes. I was curious if you used brutes for settling after pressing and if yes do you have any concern about oxidation? This year will be my first year in barrel...

Awesome, glad to hear you were able to clear without any fining. Your pic is making me thirsty!!

@CDrew did you end up adding anything or filtering? The wine looks clear in your pic