I’ve been growing grapes on a small half acre plot and making wine for a few years. During this time I’ve been making Marquette wine which always ends up being a semi-dry wine. My grapes are consistently around a ph of 3.0 and a brix of 25. I had been using D47 yeast which doesn’t seem to be very alcohol tolerant. Any suggestions on what I can do differently to get a full bodied dry red wine from the Marquette grapes?
How to make a dry Marquette wine
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I use Avante yeast by Renaissance and it always ferments fast and completely. If you can get your must up to 3.2 , and then inoculate with VP41 Malolactic bacteria. Add some oak and in a couple years you’ll have a good wine. I use potassium bicarbonate to raise the ph, usually about 1/2 of what formulas predict, add a little then wait a couple hours before you check the ph. I’ve found it’s a good idea to wait 24 hours after crush to measure the ph. Good luck.
Thanks, Wood1954, I appreciate the help.
I used Red Star Premier Rouge on Marquette and it fermented dry in four days! I did ML fermentation and I’ll be cold stabilizing this week then oaking. Jury is out on the taste but it’s promising.
Sounds like everything went well. Wait a year and it should be pretty good
Forgive the newbie question, but are you oaking in barrel, or adding cubes/spirals to a carboy? I ask because I will be adding Marquette to my home vineyard next year.
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@Dwerth
I don’t have a barrel (yet). I use spirals in the carboy. They’re more expensive than cubes but very convenient because you can suspend them in the wine on a piece of fishing line.
I have found that one med toast spiral in 5 gallons is not too much… tastes may vary.
How big is your vineyard? Is it producing yet? I just started one last year. I’m adding a few more vines in the spring to bring the number up to 82.
I don’t have a barrel (yet). I use spirals in the carboy. They’re more expensive than cubes but very convenient because you can suspend them in the wine on a piece of fishing line.
I have found that one med toast spiral in 5 gallons is not too much… tastes may vary.
How big is your vineyard? Is it producing yet? I just started one last year. I’m adding a few more vines in the spring to bring the number up to 82.
We just moved to our new property in November, and I am planting the first vines this spring...whenever that season deigns to show its face around here
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I also think the Parallel 44, M, Marquette wine, to be the best that I've tried. I do believe it is slightly sweetened.
Start a post in the vineyard forum. We all like pictures and discussions about varieties and planning!We just moved to our new property in November, and I am planting the first vines this spring...whenever that season deigns to show its face around here
Sounds like a good idea. I have 50 Brianna vines arriving in May, so when I get them planted (and the process of layout and planting) I will upload some photos. I am thinking of adding some Marquette, Frontenac, and Itasca in the future.
you’re not messing around! I’ll have Brianna, Itasca, Petite Pearl, Marquette, and Frontenac.
The price differential when ordering vines in bulk was just too good for me to pass up. I have enough room on the property that I could, in theory anyway, have 3 acres under vine. Granted, getting permission from the finance committee (my wife) could be a bit challenging right now. So, I will probably just add several dozen vines a year for another 5 years or so.
Are you going commercial eventually, that’s a lot of grape juice you’ll have.
The thought has tickled my brain. I also expect some significant winter kill for first year vines here.
So I have been doing taste testing of my first real harvest from last year. It all went in bottles early May, and I wanted to see how things were going at 3 months. The Petite Pearl was tart, but drinkable. It made a great spritzer. The Marquette was very drinkable and I was impressed with how smooth it was already! Then we tried a bottle of Frontenac. It had a very undesirable taste! I know people says it can taste “foxy”. I’m not sure what that is, but I’m super disappointed in the flavor! I can’t see how it can change that much with age, so I’m wondering what I can do to improve this year’s batch! Help!
I think foxy is that Welches grape jelly flavor… but even more rank. I made a wild grape two years ago that was really foxy tasting. When I pulled a sample from the carboy the smell would permeate the whole room. A year in bulk with one medium toast oak spiral per carboy helped a lot.
Frontenac can make a good flavored wine, but you need to do an acid reduction with potassium bicarbonate prior to fermentation, then an MLF, cold crash to drop more acid. The last Frontenac I tasted I dumped when the maker wasn’t looking, I was afraid my tooth enamel was going to dissolve. From what I’ve been told Frontenac has a small harvest window, if you let it hang too long it will get more foxy. Good luck.
I use 71B on my Marquette wines. It will consume quite a bit of malic acid during AF.
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