Just Racked Out Of Secondary

[DPCellars]

This weekend, I racked my Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon out of secondary. Overall impressions so far:

Cab
Very interesting at this stage. There was a light effervescence on the tongue that gave it a little zip I was not prepared for. Overall the aroma was fairly good, still had a little yeast smell to it, but nothing offensive. It is definitely dry and has a very slight tartness to it. The best comparison would be to grenache. I was pleasantly surprised and think it is well on its way.

Pinot
Man, as good as last year tasted, this year is off to an even better start. Fruit forward, dry, with a very slight spice on the finish. Interesting...about 5 seconds after taking a taste, this delightful warmth started developing in the throat. Kind of like when you have that toasty warm feeling after sipping a good Brandy. Although it does not taste like it is high in alcohol, that warmth makes we wonder. The only thing at this point that struck me a bit is lack of depth. But, it is only about 3 weeks in, so I am not too worried. Time heals all. I was amazed at the level of yeast fallout on the Pinot. Man, those little guys must have enjoyed their time eating. lol

This week, I will be trotting over to Lodi Wine Labs and submitting some samples for analysis. Make sure everything is where it should be. I will pick up some oak spirals to get the party started. I also plan on being more patient. The first year, I only bottled after 4 months. Last year, I bottled after 6. I am going to try and go longer this go 'round. In my defense though... When the handler's wife tastes the wine and says bottle it...I listen.

 

[Snafflebit]

Lack of depth is something that always throws me. I mentioned in a prior thread how my wines after primary ferment tasted watery. The wines have sat one week and they already taste more complex

 

[Ajmassa]

I am going to try and go longer this go 'round. In my defense though... When the handler's wife tastes the wine and says bottle it...I listen.

I know this struggle well. I get pressured to bottle or put a young wine into rotation often. Have wasted too much this way. Especially after seeing 1st-hand how a few yrs can absolutely transform a wine.
As a work-around I started doing multiple wines per season and in bigger quantities. Cheap stuff & rosé is for early drinking to hold us over so the good stuff can age.

......................So far that plan hasn’t worked for ****. Lol. Supply has yet to meet demand.

But making early drinkers does help.
“No tastings till aged 1yr” goes over much smoother if said while she’s holding a full glass.

 

[NorCal]

At this point, not sure what the lab results would tell you. It sounds like the wine is still saturated with CO2 and they need to sit for a year before you bottle. Fill a bottle half full, put your thumb on the top and shake for 5 seconds. This will tell you if you have an excessive amount of CO2 in the wine. Note: do this outside.

Time does wonders to wine, including giving your wine time to evolve and for the CO2 to work its way out.

 

[chicken]

Once you've got a good pipeline going, it gets easier to give the wine plenty of time before bottling, and before drinking.

We typically bottle our red wines a year or so after they were pressed. And then try to leave them for a year before drinking. They can be drunk earlier, but I've noticed more and more that some of them are markedly better if we wait. I've been trying to hide a few bottles to let age even longer, since it's rare to have very many left by the following year.

Last year was my first try at a white wine (from a juice pail). Fermented in the fall, bottled in the spring, started drinking in late summer. I was pretty happy with it, but thought it needed a bit more complexity. By mid September, it had become even better, and I wish I had more than just the one case left! Making some more this year, and I'll try to remember to be more patient before drinking so much of it!

 

[BI81]

Very true, the hardest part of wine making...not drinking your wine until it’s ready!!

 

[DPCellars]

Got my results from the lab today.

1) Pinot is at 13.11% and .9 residual sugar. Kinda surprised me a bit, as it seemed like a very healthy fermentation that had run its course. I am not, by any stretch, complaining though. I am not a fan of high alcohol Pinots. I was also a bit surprised, as it seems fruit forward but quite dry. Seeing it come in at .9 was a bit unexpected.

2) Cab is at 15.41% and <.1 residual. Despite it being hot, it is very well balanced. I kind of expected it to be that dry, as last year it did the same.

Lodi Wine Labs provided me a sheet that showed "acceptable ranges". All of my numbers fell within all of the acceptable ranges, so I am just gonna let it do its thing and age. I did that last year and was pretty pleased, so ... what the hay. Let's do it again. Yeah, I'm a simple Donkey.

 

[CDrew]

So your residual sugar is normal. Up to 2gm/Liter is considered "dry". Much of the residual sugar is Pentose, which yeast cannot metabolize. I went through this same line of thought last year, but looked it up in Techniques in Home Winemaking, and all is well.

 

[DPCellars]

So your residual sugar is normal. Up to 2gm/Liter is considered "dry". Much of the residual sugar is Pentose, which yeast cannot metabolize. I went through this same line of thought last year, but looked it up in Techniques in Home Winemaking, and all is well.

Thank you for the information. Looks like I am going to take a trip to the Amazon to buy me a book! By the way... I see you are fairly close. Maybe we can do a bottle exchange in the future!