user 38734
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2018
- Messages
- 135
- Reaction score
- 323
Greetings home wine makers!
Due to the fact that I have a **** ton of wine, my main goal this year was to minimize quantity and maximize quality. Hence, these are my……
2021 Wines
Merlot:
125 lbs. from a very respectable East Paso Robles vineyard / winery. This will be used as both a blender (a splash in the Grenache and Mission), and bottled as a single varietal. I’ve made wine from these grapes a few times and really enjoy them.
Winemaking:
Brix 23, SG 1.096, pH 3.7. Machine harvested and destemmed. Whole berry, 100% native primary fermentation. Ambient cellar temperature maintained in the mid sixties. Soft punch downs. Not pressed. Free run only captured after 10 days at SG 1.001. No SO2, no enzymes, no nutrients, no additions of any kind. Racked off the gross lees at around 72 hours. Malolactic fermentation bacteria was used. Will be left on the fine lees for five to six months then racked off. Will be bulk aged in glass until next season. The only additions to this wine will be a small amount of SO2 prior to bottling. No fining or filtering.
Grenache:
250 lbs. of the finest Central Coast Grenache fruit, grown in West Paso Robles. I’ve made this every year for the past eight years and it is my favorite wine.
Winemaking:
Brix 25, SG 1.106, pH 3.6. Hand harvested, hand sorted, roughly 75% whole cluster fermentation. Free run only captured after 13 days at SG 1.000. Other than partial whole cluster fermentation, same winemaking as the Merlot.
Mission / Pais / Listan Prieto / Criolla:
125 lbs. of this CA OG but vanishing varietal, from 100 years old Amador County vines. Ostensibly the first wine grape grown for production in California (imported from Spain in the late 1700’s), this will be my first shot at this grape. It will be light colored (I never care about color) and tannic, so a velvet glove is required in the cellar. I prefer wine and women as they are, without make up, but this one may challenge that preference!
Winemaking:
Brix 21, SG 1.088, pH 3.5. Hand harvested, hand destemmed, hand sorted, whole berry, 100% native primary fermentation. Ambient cellar temperature maintained in the mid sixties. Soft punch downs. Not pressed, only free run used after 14 days at SG 1.000. Same wine making as the Merlot.
Pinot Noir:
250 lbs. of premium San Luis Obispo, Edna Valley fruit from a high end vineyard / winery. At $3.00 per lb plus a box of Alaskan seafood, this is by far my highest priced fruit (the 2018 tasting room bottle price is $100). I’ve made wine from this fruit in the past, so I know how this will play out – a carnival ride. The complexities and flavor profile will swing wildly over the bulk-aging life of this wine, and once more immediately after bottling. But this is always a special Pinot.
Winemaking:
Brix 24, SG 1.101, pH 3.7. Hand harvested, hand destemmed, hand sorted, 50% whole cluster, 100% native primary fermentation. Ambient cellar temperature maintained in the mid sixties. Soft punch downs. Not pressed. Only free run used after 14 days at SG 1.002. From there, same winemaking as above except this wine will be bulk aged for 20 to 30 months before bottling , then bottle aged for another six months to a year for full integration before drinking.
So, two whole berry and two partial whole cluster fermentations. No yeast packets were needed to finish.
Here in the Central Coast (and I believe all of the West Coast) partial or 100% whole cluster Grenache and Pinot fermentations are common commercially, and not just among those who live in bartered Airstreams, ride vintage motorcycles, roast their own coffee, own their own Sonoran Desert toad farms, micro dose peyote, or dance naked in the forest banging on indigenous drums.
Make your wines your way, share with family and friends, and enjoy the hell out of them.
All the best to everyone!
Due to the fact that I have a **** ton of wine, my main goal this year was to minimize quantity and maximize quality. Hence, these are my……
2021 Wines
Merlot:
125 lbs. from a very respectable East Paso Robles vineyard / winery. This will be used as both a blender (a splash in the Grenache and Mission), and bottled as a single varietal. I’ve made wine from these grapes a few times and really enjoy them.
Winemaking:
Brix 23, SG 1.096, pH 3.7. Machine harvested and destemmed. Whole berry, 100% native primary fermentation. Ambient cellar temperature maintained in the mid sixties. Soft punch downs. Not pressed. Free run only captured after 10 days at SG 1.001. No SO2, no enzymes, no nutrients, no additions of any kind. Racked off the gross lees at around 72 hours. Malolactic fermentation bacteria was used. Will be left on the fine lees for five to six months then racked off. Will be bulk aged in glass until next season. The only additions to this wine will be a small amount of SO2 prior to bottling. No fining or filtering.
Grenache:
250 lbs. of the finest Central Coast Grenache fruit, grown in West Paso Robles. I’ve made this every year for the past eight years and it is my favorite wine.
Winemaking:
Brix 25, SG 1.106, pH 3.6. Hand harvested, hand sorted, roughly 75% whole cluster fermentation. Free run only captured after 13 days at SG 1.000. Other than partial whole cluster fermentation, same winemaking as the Merlot.
Mission / Pais / Listan Prieto / Criolla:
125 lbs. of this CA OG but vanishing varietal, from 100 years old Amador County vines. Ostensibly the first wine grape grown for production in California (imported from Spain in the late 1700’s), this will be my first shot at this grape. It will be light colored (I never care about color) and tannic, so a velvet glove is required in the cellar. I prefer wine and women as they are, without make up, but this one may challenge that preference!
Winemaking:
Brix 21, SG 1.088, pH 3.5. Hand harvested, hand destemmed, hand sorted, whole berry, 100% native primary fermentation. Ambient cellar temperature maintained in the mid sixties. Soft punch downs. Not pressed, only free run used after 14 days at SG 1.000. Same wine making as the Merlot.
Pinot Noir:
250 lbs. of premium San Luis Obispo, Edna Valley fruit from a high end vineyard / winery. At $3.00 per lb plus a box of Alaskan seafood, this is by far my highest priced fruit (the 2018 tasting room bottle price is $100). I’ve made wine from this fruit in the past, so I know how this will play out – a carnival ride. The complexities and flavor profile will swing wildly over the bulk-aging life of this wine, and once more immediately after bottling. But this is always a special Pinot.
Winemaking:
Brix 24, SG 1.101, pH 3.7. Hand harvested, hand destemmed, hand sorted, 50% whole cluster, 100% native primary fermentation. Ambient cellar temperature maintained in the mid sixties. Soft punch downs. Not pressed. Only free run used after 14 days at SG 1.002. From there, same winemaking as above except this wine will be bulk aged for 20 to 30 months before bottling , then bottle aged for another six months to a year for full integration before drinking.
So, two whole berry and two partial whole cluster fermentations. No yeast packets were needed to finish.
Here in the Central Coast (and I believe all of the West Coast) partial or 100% whole cluster Grenache and Pinot fermentations are common commercially, and not just among those who live in bartered Airstreams, ride vintage motorcycles, roast their own coffee, own their own Sonoran Desert toad farms, micro dose peyote, or dance naked in the forest banging on indigenous drums.
Make your wines your way, share with family and friends, and enjoy the hell out of them.
All the best to everyone!
