Adventures in Wild Fermentation

[VinesnBines]

I’m extremely interested since I had to freeze whole clusters of my Marquette and Leon Millot. Later this fall/winter I’ll ferment both as whole cluster. Or sooner since I wouldn’t press for several weeks.

The Leon Millot May work well with whole cluster since it can be like Pinot noir. Anyway a good time to experiment!

 

[Cynewulf]

I think I’m ready to call my fermonster experiment a success. I pressed yesterday after allowing it all to steep about 3 months. From the 3 gallon fermonster packed to the top with Marquette grapes then filled with free run wine from the rest of my batch, I ended up with about 2 gallons of free run and another half gallon after pressing the clusters. Here is what it looked like after pouring off the free run.

Pretty mushy.

It’s delightfully perfumed and has a silky mouthfeel. None of the thinness that has disappointed me with my other Marquette. I’d almost say it’s ready to drink now, but I’m going to put it away until it’s time to bottle all of the 2022s next summer. The real test will be to see how it compares side by side with my more traditionally macerated Marquette. That will help determine if this technique becomes part of my standard routine.

 

[Obbnw]

I think I’m ready to call my fermonster experiment a success. I pressed yesterday after allowing it all to steep about 3 months. From the 3 gallon fermonster packed to the top with Marquette grapes then filled with free run wine from the rest of my batch, I ended up with about 2 gallons of free run and another half gallon after pressing the clusters. Here is what it looked like after pouring off the free run.
View attachment 94889
Pretty mushy.

It’s delightfully perfumed and has a silky mouthfeel. None of the thinness that has disappointed me with my other Marquette. I’d almost say it’s ready to drink now, but I’m going to put it away until it’s time to bottle all of the 2022s next summer. The real test will be to see how it compares side by side with my more traditionally macerated Marquette. That will help determine if this technique becomes part of my standard routine.

View attachment 94890

Maybe it is ready now ; )

I was thinking of trying carbonic... this year as a way to make some early drinkable wine since it is how Beaujolais nouveau is made.

Didn't have the energy this year...

 

[sjjan]

Well it got stuck around 1.015. The initial brix was 28 though I think it was higher since I didn't take the reading until the second day and they were overly ripe to begin with. It first got stuck at 1.030 so I added a cultured yeast but I'm guessing the alcohol level might have been too high already. I used D47 and BA 11. Today I'm preparing a starter using a champagne yeast I have. We'll see how it goes. On the bright side there is no H2S or any off putting odors and it actually tastes fine, just a little sweet and of course harsh.

I used wild fermentation last year with all the grapes I bought and that worked fine.

This year, one batch of montepulciano grapes just would not ferment to dryness while last year the same grape grower delivered montepulciano grapes that fermented great to dryness with just wild fermentation. So this year this batch (almost 300 liter) is stuck at 1.016 and also with acidic acidity problems which accumulated during the a slow fermentation of almost 2 months. So, I am dumping this wine. I could try to fix it by adding water (bringing the alcohol level down) and using champagne yeast to complete the fermentation. So ... even though I am a big fan of wild/natural fermentation, it doesn't always work out well.

 

[zappoid]

I actually have a bottle of Georgian wine I brought back on my last trip to Tbilisi

May I ask you to make real short review of Georgian wines you tried in Georgia. I myself stay in Georgia second year (contract job), and before arriving was full of expectations, now I'm very skeptical about the issue: reality was not so brilliant: 95% is cheap generic stuff not worth to try, 4% is just OK, and 1% maybe not bad to try. It is the joy for me to have Spanish wine from time to time.

 

[Cynewulf]

May I ask you to make real short review of Georgian wines you tried in Georgia. I myself stay in Georgia second year (contract job), and before arriving was full of expectations, now I'm very skeptical about the issue: reality was not so brilliant: 95% is cheap generic stuff not worth to try, 4% is just OK, and 1% maybe not bad to try. It is the joy for me to have Spanish wine from time to time.

I’ve been to Georgia three times and also had mixed experiences with the wine. Just as in France, I found the best wine by seeking out the smaller producers. Most of the wine that I had in the restaurants in Tbilisi wasn’t great. The saperavi was often harsh or even bitter if it was from qvevri.

However, I found a wine shop near Freedom Square that I returned to on all my visits where I found some delicious wines. I believe it is part of a collective or some kind of consortium of artisan winemakers: Vino Underground, Galaktioni Street 15 in Tbilisi, https://m.facebook.com/100063641253789/. The ladies that work there are very knowledgeable about wine and winemaking and helped me find some wines I really enjoyed.

This is a saperavi made in a lighter style that I really like. I don’t remember exactly, but I think I was told they remove a certain amount of the skins to achieve a lighter, fruit forward wine, in contrast to the overly tannic saperavis you often find in country:


This is another favorite, from the Tavkveri grape and made in qvevri. Fuller bodied than the other, savory and delicious. I still have one last bottle that I need to drink soon:

The wine shop has a book with profiles of the winemakers and they showed me the section for this one:


On the other end of the spectrum, our government partners there make wine every year in a cellar they have and would always invite us down for a taste. Very cool concept, but sadly I never found what they were making palatable.



This trip down memory lane is making me thirsty and hungry for some khachapuri and khinkali!

 

[zappoid]

Tavqveri is best varietal I've tried. This year I myself started my firsts batches. I do not expect great results, hope wine will be drincable. It was Chinuri (white) and Tavqveri and Shavkapito (red). And next year will try more complex protocol.

 

[Brandon Thomas]

Thank you for posting this thread over the past few years! I'm in a similar situation up in the Finger Lakes. We harvest different varieties from a friend's vineyard (Cab Franc, Riesling, Chardonnay, Saperavi) with the intention of producing wine as naturally as possible.

Sadly, we struggle to get beautiful wines! This year the Cab Franc got hit with tons of VA. We had to press the Saperavi after 8 days on the skins due to too much tannin and color extraction. Previous vintages have also been attacked with VA, and when not, they lack finesse and fruitness. We work very clean, rack when suggested, and so on.

When you rely on natural yeast, do you add any Go-Ferm or Fermaid?

Our natural ferments take 6-9 days to get going after crush. I'm thinking this is too long for the must to be unprotected, even though we add a few ppm of SO2 at crush.

 

[winemaker81]

Our natural ferments take 6-9 days to get going after crush. I'm thinking this is too long for the must to be unprotected, even though we add a few ppm of SO2 at crush.

That seems way too long. Adding k-meta may be part of the problem -- commercial yeast are selected for SO2 tolerance, and the wild yeast you get (luck of the draw) may not be.

Next year, divide the grapes in 3 batches. Do one with wild yeast, and the other 2 with different commercial yeast selected for their qualities.