Broad Run Cellars Fall 2017 Crush

[geek]

Well, I got lazy yesterday (that and the kid had me out playing catch for a while). So I pressed the Malbec tonight. It is insanely dark, with booming fruit that is balanced by Sahara-like tannin. I'll rack on Wednesday, then wait for the rest of the grapes to arrive before I pitch the VP41. This is a winner already. I was so surprised by the color on this that I dug into the deep crevices of the stash and pulled a bottle of the 2015 Petite Sirah, that I hadn't planned on touching for another year. It is almost that dark and I'm sure with some settling of the solids might rival it. So now I wait for the Cab Franc and Pinot Noir, hoping an upcoming business trip doesn't interfere.

Just keep a glass of water handy when you drink it to rinse it off the teeth...

 

[Boatboy24]

Oh, man! What a week and a half it's been! My Pinot Noir and Cab Franc arrived around the 18th of October - just before I was getting ready to be gone on a business trip. Got home Thursday night - I had to roll the dice and leave them in the cooler at Harford Vineyard until Friday, the 27th. I got 'em home and set up the c/d, ready to get to work. The Cab Franc was in surprisingly good shape. Two of the three Pinot Noir lugs were as well. The third had some dehydration on some of the clusters and about 1/3 of the clusters in that lug had some mold on them. I got rid of the bad stuff as best as I could and hit it with about 70ppm of sulfite. 50ppm for the Cab Franc. Finished all of that and got cleaned up just in time to take the family out to celebrate my oldest's tenth birthday.

Yesterday was nuts, with baseball starting first thing in the morning, followed by a team lunch to celebrate the (almost) end of the season. After that, ran home to clean up and headed out to a new brewery to meet some friends. Had a great time there, followed by going out for some Mexican dinner. I got home and was simply too tired (and a little lit) to measure and adjust the musts. So again I gambled and put it off until this morning.

Initial numbers on the Cab Franc were pretty good. Brix at 24, but pH at 3.93. I adjusted that to 3.63. The Pinot was insane with Brix at 26.8 and pH at 4.04. After adding a gallon of acidulated water, Brix was down at 22.8 and pH at 3.65. I tweaked pH a bit further, down to 3.52. Pitched D254 on the CF and BM4X4 on the PN just a few minutes ago. Keeping my fingers crossed on that Pinot - we shall see what happens.

My son's birthday party is in a couple hours and I'm really looking forward to doing nothing for the rest of the day after that. Well, I'm going to rack the Merlot - it has dropped a lot of sediment since the last racking. Tomorrow, I'll pitch MLB on all 4 wines. Anxious to see how the co-innoculation works on the CF and PN.

 

[Boatboy24]

Caps forming this morning and all appears well. The lovely sounds of 'snap-crackle-pop' in the winery.

 

[JohnT]

You ally gonna make me say it????


... Pictures or it didn't happen......

 

[Boatboy24]

Got the MLB pitched on all four late last night. In the carboy, the Malbec has a ton of tiny bubbles. No such activity on the Merlot.

 

[Boatboy24]

Got the Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir pressed this morning. Just barely filled a 6 gallon carboy with the Pinot and there seems to be a ton of sediment. We'll see where it ends up. Later today, or tomorrow, I'll do a chromatography on all 4 wines to get some sort of baseline. MLB was pitched 5 days ago. Malbec has been showing tons of tiny bubbles - none on the Merlot. CF and PN were my first attempt at Co-innoculation, so I'm crossing my fingers on them.

 

[Johnd]

Got the Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir pressed this morning. Just barely filled a 6 gallon carboy with the Pinot and there seems to be a ton of sediment. We'll see where it ends up. Later today, or tomorrow, I'll do a chromatography on all 4 wines to get some sort of baseline. MLB was pitched 5 days ago. Malbec has been showing tons of tiny bubbles - none on the Merlot. CF and PN were my first attempt at Co-innoculation, so I'm crossing my fingers on them.

FWIW, my Fall wines were coinoculated with VP 41 and had no malic spots after 3 weeks. They’ll get sulfited and barreled this coming weekend, 30 days after crushing.

 

[Mismost]

I'll bet the new crusher is your new favorite tool! Looks like the kids had fun too. We crushed 900 lbs yesterday and the overall consensus is we're adding a motor before next crush.
Mike

YES! Motors are good....especially as we get older. I motorized my sausage stuffer, grinder, and meat mixer....same motor, different drive shafts. It really saves time and even more so, energy...our energy!
Was in the shop the other day with my tablet looking at crushers and destemers and plotting how to adapt that same motor to use with them. Decided I'm not messing with grapes until I retire.

 

[Boatboy24]

Chromatography results this morning: Cab Franc (co-innoculated) and Malbec are done. Pinot and Merlot not a ton of progress. Ordered some Enoferm Beta and will re-pitch when that arrives. Will double check pH on both in the meantime. I'll rack the Cab Franc and Malbec next weekend.

 

[Boatboy24]

Well, I've neglected this thread almost as much as I've neglected the wines it is written about. I'm trying to knock off a little wine chore most nights this week to get caught up and ready for 2018 harvest. Looks like I'll be getting Lodi fruit this year, which is much earlier than I'm used to. Tonight, I took the Malbec out of Vadai #1 and put the Merlot in. Contrary to what my brain thought, my notes say the Malbec had been in there since January (oops! ) Well, it's freakin' awesome - I wanted to bottle it. But I gave it a kiss of medium French oak and will let it rest a while longer. Merlot has been quietly resting and is already one of the best Merlots I've tasted. Friday, I'll swap the Cab Franc out of Vadai #3 and put the El Dorado Pinot Noir in.

Gotta be honest, I'm a little nervous about not getting Lanza grapes this year.

 

[Ajmassa]

Gotta be honest, I'm a little nervous about not getting Lanza grapes this year.

Then quit all the hem & hawing and get em! 3 hours each way sucks, granted. But you know yourself. If your second guessing now, then u might lose your mind at 1st sign of any issue.
Seriously tho- if it worked geographically for me to grab em and meet ya to make the trip shorter I would. Unfortunately I’d be coming from the opposite direction

** btw— great to hear about all the success in the cellar!

 

[Boatboy24]

Then quit all the hem & hawing and get em! 3 hours each way sucks, granted. But you know yourself. If your second guessing now, then u might lose your mind at 1st sign of any issue.
Seriously tho- if it worked geographically for me to grab em and meet ya to make the trip shorter I would. Unfortunately I’d be coming from the opposite direction

** btw— great to hear about all the success in the cellar!

I hear ya! For logistical and financial reasons, I'm all about trying a new source this season. Its been an expensive year in the Boatboy house and if I can save a little on grapes, all the better - especially when my traditional source has dried up. Don't worry, I won't lose my mind. I already had my 'perfect storm' with my 2016 Chileans - 24 gallons of which were dumped. If that didn't make me jump off the roof, nothing will.

 

[Ajmassa]

Yikes. I remember hearing you mention that before. But I was new at the time it was dumped likely and didn’t follow along.
What was the story there?

 

[Boatboy24]

Yikes. I remember hearing you mention that before. But I was new at the time it was dumped likely and didn’t follow along.
What was the story there?

I wish I knew. All 4 batches turned really sour on me - only one ever finished MLF. I pitched three different times.