Sémillon - tips?

[Bliorg]

Hi all -

Planning out my year and thinking of making sémillon from South African juice. Anything special to note when I cypher out a procedure? Tips/suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Bliorg]

Hmm, crickets.

For what it's worth, I'm going simple on this. Making semillon and sauv blanc; doing essentially the same thing for both:

 

[Ohio Bob]

Sounds like a plan. Keep us posted.

1. Technically, step 9 should read when sugar is 1/3 depleted. Any newbies might be confused by 2/3 x 1.090, and wonder why they can’t get an SG of 0.8

2. Many people recommend using a yeast starter. If so, step 7 should read 12-24 hours instead of 30 minutes. The Go-Ferm and 1 tsp sugar should also be added here. This starter greatly increases the yeast colony size and gets your ferment off to a roaring start.

 

[CDrew]

I made a Semillion along side a Sauvignon blanc 3 years ago that was very well received. It's all gone already!

Anyway, made it like any other white wine. I went just slightly heavier on the nutrients than I do with red wine but otherwise there were no issues during fermentation. For yeast I used Allegro which is a strong and vigorous fermentor. After the initial fermentation and racking I did the battonage thing for almost 3 months and then let it clear. To speed things up I did use bentonite but would not do that again.

Anyway, it was a big hit with my wife and her friends.

Good luck, don't sweat it and just watch your O2 exposure. The lysozyme addition is important to prevent MLF so don't skip that step after fermentation.

 

[winemaker81]

Hmm, crickets.

I recall seeing your original post. Although I've drank Semillon, I've never made it, nor have I made South African juice. From my POV, white juice is white juice. I went under the assumption you were looking for something specific, so I had nothing to add. If others thought the same, it's a reason for no replies.

Overall your plan is sound, with the additions @Ohio Bob made, and given that I go light on acid changes if the pH is between 3.1 and 3.8.

One note -- 0.995 is not a guaranteed value. While most whites finish there or below, it's possible to have a higher FG.

 

[Ohio Bob]

Hmm, crickets.

I echo the previous sentiment. None of my spring or fall juice bucket suppliers have ever offered Semillon. Also they don’t offer any South African varietals.

 

[Hazelemere]

Hi all -

Planning out my year and thinking of making sémillon from South African juice. Anything special to note when I cypher out a procedure? Tips/suggestions?

Thanks!

focus on yeast choice. I like Lalvin 71B which I've used more and more replace EC-1118 for white table wines. (got the idea from this website which show that yes you can teach an old dog (55 years of winemaking) new tricks). High quality Semillon can have a sensational smell and really good flavour. Make an apple juice starter from ~1 tetra pack of apple juice with or without vitamin B containing nutrient. You'll get a more active starter yeast with nutrient and a slightly faster ferment. Ferment it without sulphite if you have a really vigorous starter (e.g. 48 hours should do it) and then rack it from your first fermenter e.g. 2/3 filled glass or polyethylene carboy into a pail with blenderized (2 minutes) hot bentonite slurry (e.g. 2 tbsp into a quart of water in a blender) between 3 to 6 days of active ferment in the carboy e.g. SG now 1.030 to 1.050. SG to 1.020 is still ok and reblend it in the pail with the bentonite. I use a polypropylene stirrer (3 pronged) on the end of a power drill for a minute and then rack it from the pail back into carboys. The bentonite strips protein from the wine which could otherwise settle in the bottles as they warm up. You can rack off of the bentonite at SG 0.992-0.994 and add 1/8th tsp potassium metabisulphite per 1 Imperial gallon to get the total sulphite up to 50 ppm if the sulphite is powdery with no lumps. Unless you measure sulphite assume that free sulphite is about 1/3 of total sulphite. If you bottle at 75 ppm total sulphite your free sulphite level should be fine i.e. ~25 ppm which should let your wine age for up to 5 years even at room temperature as long as the acidity of the wine is ok i.e. the wine isn't flat. Sounds like an interesting juice. Good luck with it! PS if you had sulphite in your juice pre-bentonite, the bentonite will strip all of it. That is why you add bentonite mid-ferment so wine doesn't oxidize due to lack of sulphite. Your wine is safe during fermentation wrt sulphite levels. I add 25 ppm sulphite to pressed juice pre-bentonite to stop the juice from oxidizing pre-ferment as grape, pear or apple juice actually any white wine juice (must).