Chilean Barbera Juice Bucket

[Jovimaple]

I just pre-ordered a Chilean Barbera juice bucket that should arrive in early May.

I also ordered a FWK seed pack to use for tannin.

My goal is a medium body wine, similar to the (Tavola before it was Tavola) FWK Barbera from the fall of 2021. I really enjoy that wine, but I am down to my last few bottles and I am trying to age the rest a bit longer just to see how it ends up.

Next step for the juice bucket planning is to decide on yeast.

 

[Bliorg]

I'm think about barbera from grapes this fall - will be watching your experience!

 

[CDrew]

Barbera is one of my favorites. I still have almost 4 cases of my 2020 that is drinking really well. I gave two cases away to the guy that helped me pick the grapes and his supply is already gone! Barbera matures fairly early, so a year or so is all it really needs to start drinking it. I used Avante yeast with the usual excellent performance.

 

[Jovimaple]

@CDrew I haven't tried Avante yet. Looks like it creates an interesting flavor profile. Just ordered some from Lodi Wine Labs to give it a shot. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[heatherd]

I just pre-ordered a Chilean Barbera juice bucket that should arrive in early May.

I also ordered a FWK seed pack to use for tannin.

My goal is a medium body wine, similar to the (Tavola before it was Tavola) FWK Barbera from the fall of 2021. I really enjoy that wine, but I am down to my last few bottles and I am trying to age the rest a bit longer just to see how it ends up.

Next step for the juice bucket planning is to decide on yeast.

I like RC212 with reds.

 

[Jovimaple]

@heatherd That's what I was leaning toward before I decided to try the Avante.

 

[Jovimaple]

My Avante yeast arrived today! My FWK seed packets got here a week or so ago. Now all that's left is applying the most difficult winemaking tool: patience.

Juice bucket is scheduled to arrive late April/early May.

 

[Jovimaple]

Today was pickup day for the Chilean juice pails at my LHBS (Midwest Supplies)!

I decided I wanted to use one of my 7.9 gallon fermenters instead of the pail the juice came in. After sanitizing the fermenter, I mixed some bentonite with water, then racked the juice to the fermenter. I also mixed in kmeta to kill the existing yeast. Finally, I added 2 oz of FWK grape seeds from Label Peelers.

I made a yeast starter with GoFerm, sugar, water, and the Avante yeast. Tomorrow's plan is to add some Fermaid O, then pitch the yeast.

The adventure begins!

 

[CDrew]

Just curious why you are "pre-fining" with bentonite? I've heard of that with white wine but not red. I'll be interested to see what it does.

 

[Jovimaple]

Just curious why you are "pre-fining" with bentonite? I've heard of that with white wine but not red. I'll be interested to see what it does.

That's what the juice pail instruction sheet said to do. I didn't think it would hurt anything so I decided to do it.

 

[winemaker81]

Just curious why you are "pre-fining" with bentonite? I've heard of that with white wine but not red. I'll be interested to see what it does.

It's common in kits, as it starts the precipitation early, and it helps compact the lees. From what I've read, adding bentonite pre-ferment doesn't strip color.

 

[David Violante]

It’s my understanding that Bentonite will also provide nucleation sites for yeast at the beginning of fermentation.

 

[Jovimaple]

I pitched the yeast about 36 hours ago. I am using my Tilt hydrometer so I could see that activity really picked up yesterday afternoon (about 15-20 hours later). The must temp was 67° F to start and has risen to a high of 75° F.

Andddd I am so glad I transferred to my 7.9 gallon fermenter because even in that, it overflowed a little.

Smells deliciously fruity!

 

[CDrew]

I pitched the yeast about 36 hours ago. I am using my Tilt hydrometer so I could see that activity really picked up yesterday afternoon (about 15-20 hours later). The must temp was 67° F to start and has risen to a high of 75° F.

Andddd I am so glad I transferred to my 7.9 gallon fermenter because even in that, it overflowed a little.

Smells deliciously fruity!

Sounds about right for Avante! Good luck!

 

[Jovimaple]

It's down to 1.047 so I added the second dose of Fermaid O.

It stopped foaming up but you can see from the lid the yeastie beasties were making a mess last night and this morning!

If it keeps up this pace, I should be able to rack it before I head out of town on Friday for a long weekend. If not, I assume it will be Monday evening after I get home.

 

[Jovimaple]

I finally got this racked tonight. Meant to do it this weekend and ran out of time. It was down to .993 and still smells absolutely delicious. I sampled it and I do think it's going to be really good!

I added Kmeta and some French medium toast oak. I am not planning to backsweeten so no sorbate. I haven't decided about using fining agents but I am leaning toward just letting it sit to clear, since I want to bulk age for 6 to 9 months anyway.

 

[Jovimaple]

I bottled this Barbera last week. I was planning to age it closer to a year but we decided we are going to Arizona in March and I want to bring some to my aunt since we are driving, so into the bottles it went!

The only thing I did was add kmeta a few times while aging it. I think it's still quite young and will be better after a few more months in the bottle. It definitely needs aeration to bring out the flavors. I like it, but I am hoping it improves with age.

If I do it again, I think I will get a FWK skin pack to get a little more body. My LHBS closed last fall and went completely online, and I haven't noticed yet if they will still bring in juice pails to be picked up at their distribution site. If they do, I might see if they can source Barbera from California or Italy in the fall.