2018 - Pinot Noir

[jburtner]

Hi! I am starting a thread to keep notes and share my Fall 2018 batch of Pinot Noir from Brehm / White Salmon vineyards. I ordered three buckets of frozen must and will use RC212 for AF with some oak chips in primary and a good nutrient protocol. Buckets to arrive later this week.

Cheers!
-johann

 

[JohnT]

Are you considering doing malolactic fermentation?

In my opinion it would be well worth your while. Pinot Noir just simply craves it.

 

[jburtner]

Oh yes thanks for the reminder! I do have a pack of vp41 and some mlf nutrients so I’m planning to co-innoculate. I guess it’s getting chilly now too especially in the cellar so I might wrap the brute in a packing blanket and use the heating pad so the ml-bugs do well and probably help with extraction also.

Cheers!
-johann

 

[CK55]

Oh yes thanks for the reminder! I do have a pack of vp41 and some mlf nutrients so I’m planning to co-innoculate. I guess it’s getting chilly now too especially in the cellar so I might wrap the brute in a packing blanket and use the heating pad so the ml-bugs do well and probably help with extraction also.

Cheers!
-johann

Make sure you keep on that nutrients cause RC212 really gets crabby and will make hydrogen sulfide if you aren't careful.

 

[stickman]

I second the warning on the nutrients, the YAN listed for those grapes is low, 28ppm and 97ppm is given as the range. This is one of those cases where the standard FermK addition will probably come up short and a supplemental DAP addition may be needed (see ** note).

 

[jburtner]

Thanks for the heads up! I’m reading up on how to determine Fermaid and DAP addition amounts based on low YAN measurements and RC212 yeast type.

I was just going to follow fermaid instructions but this seems to require a little more specific measurement and addition protocol.

Frozen buckets arrive tomorrow!

Cheers!
Johann

 

[Ajmassa]

But aren’t you just guessing the YAN still?

 

[jburtner]

Brehm provided the YAN measurement range. Attached a screenshot.

 

[Ajmassa]

Brehm provided the YAN measurement range. Attached a screenshot. View attachment 52020

Ahh I see. Must be nice....

Friendly reminder— there’s a decimal point in that lallzyme dose rate!

 

[jburtner]

Ha ha! Yes the dreaded decimal

This link explains that for a 25brix must I need about 350 YAN and my yeast multiplier factor for rc212 is 1.25 so the YAN requirement = 350 * 1.25 = 437.5 YAN requirement.

http://nanaimowinemakers.com/adding-nitrogen-fermentations/

If my YAN is close to 28ppm I’ll need to add about 409ppm to bring it up to the 437ppm.

The recommendation is also to use some DAP and with the particularly low YAN to use some DAP even before pitching yeast.

I’ve got 40g of Fermaid O in stock at the moment and will need to pick up some DAP and probably should get some Fermaid K too.

I’ll put together numbers and addition schedule tonight and stop at LHBS tomorrow.

I did not order LallezymeVx this time but I do have a scott color-pro enzyme on hand.

Cheers!
-johann

 

[jburtner]

Hope they have fermaid K and DAP @ LHBS today. Here’s the #’s I came up with so far and hoping some good prevention works.

Cheers!
-johann

 

[stickman]

The information I have indicates that Fermaid K is only 10% available YAN.

 

[jburtner]

Thanks! I wonder where they got 13% ??? ...And who knows if generic DAP is always 21%.... These grapes are in a range of 28-97ppm/L YAN.

Noted that either too little YAN or too much YAN can contribute to H2S issues during the ferment.

Grapes came in today and they’re still nice and cold - have not opened them yet.

As these grapes warm up for the pitch I’ll continue to compile the variety of info I have and run those #’s a couple times with some of the different ranges and compare addition schedules. Probably try to come up with a mid range plan and pay attention to the smells and react accordingly on this one with the nutrient schedule.

Since this is high risk batch I might go agead and order some reduless to have on hand and treat quickly if needed.

Cheers,
Johann

 

[stickman]

Here are the numbers I got using a mid-range 65ppm YAN as a starting point. I don't use any correction for RC212 and no Fermaid O. I'm not telling you to use these numbers, I'm just providing these as a comparison so you can see the variation in how different winemakers might handle a similar must. Fermaid O might be a benefit here, but I haven't used it before so my calculations don't include any.

 

[jburtner]

Yeasties rehydrated w/goferm-protect and acclimating to must temp.

 

[Ajmassa]

Looking forward to following along here. This nutrient protocol you’re on is some ‘next level’ type ****!

Your in it deep man. Deeper then I ever wanna be. Good luck and Godspeed.

 

[jburtner]

This took off within hours last night after pitching and formed a cap. I added the second nutrient feeding this morning and had bumped the YAN prior to pitching yeast and MLB. I wrapped the heating pad on low around the fermenter and temp looks stable between 70-75*F so hope that also helps with a good MLF.

This nutrient blend will end up being added four times total before the must reaches about 1.050 or 50% sugar depletion over the next days and I ordered Reduless to have on hand which arrive tomorrow.

Fermaid K 14.625g
Fermaid O 9.75g
DAP 6.4g

Cheers!
-johann

 

[Johnd]

This took off within hours last night after pitching and formed a cap. I added the second nutrient feeding this morning and had bumped the YAN prior to pitching yeast and MLB. I wrapped the heating pad on low around the fermenter and temp looks stable between 70-75*F so hope that also helps with a good MLF.

This nutrient blend will end up being added four times total before the must reaches about 1.050 or 50% sugar depletion over the next days and I ordered Reduless to have on hand which arrive tomorrow.

Fermaid K 14.625g
Fermaid O 9.75g
DAP 6.4g

Cheers!
-johann

Just pay attention, you know what a healthy ferment looks and smells like, don’t be afraid to act quickly.

You say that you pitched yeast and MLB, are you using the proper MLB nutrients in addition to your yeast nutrients? Low YAN musts are one of the places that coinoculation risks increase, you don’t want your yeast and bacteria in competition for nutrients and / or food.

 

[jburtner]

Yes thanks! I had some Malo-Opti-Plus that I also added to the must as per directions (1g/gallon) and I did not have any Acti-ML so rehydrated the VP41 with 77*F water for 15 min and hoping keeping it in the 72-78*F range will also help the malo fermentation.

I also added 1lbs of heavy toast american oak chips for AF.

I'm excited for this wine

Cheers!
-johann

 

[Johnd]

Yes thanks! I had some Malo-Opti-Plus that I also added to the must as per directions (1g/gallon) and I did not have any Acti-ML so rehydrated the VP41 with 77*F water for 15 min and hoping keeping it in the 72-78*F range will also help the malo fermentation.

I also added 1lbs of heavy toast american oak chips for AF.

I'm excited for this wine

Cheers!
-johann

Sounds like you're right on track!! Looking forward to hearing how it progresses, should be all over by next weekend!