Steps for making Rose?

[rebusify]

Hi everyone, I have compiled a list of steps for making Rose that I have pieced together from the Internet. I just can't find a good step by step instruction so I'm posting this here in hope that the community can help me refine it. I'm sure I've missed something. Thanks in advance.

1. Destem/Crush into bin.
2. Wait 24 hours.
3. Press grapes and transfer to fermenting tank.
3. Add Potassium Metabisulphite - Use 1/4 tsp. for every 6 gallons
4. Add ICV-D-47 Yeast - 1 pack for every 6 gallons
5. Add Diammonium Phosphate DAP 20 minutes after adding above yeast.
6. Ferment in tank 7 days at 70 degrees. Don't go over 73 degrees.
7. Drain to secondary tank.
8. Rack it 2 times over 4 days.
9. Degass it
11. Filter (Will be using Vinbrite Mark Iii Wine Filter)
12. Refine - Add Kieselsol stir then add Chitosan. Wait 2 days
13. Rack again
14. Bottle.

 

[cmason1957]

Depending on what grapes, waiting 24 hours may give you a pretty dark Rose. Also, you may want to add that metabisulphite during your crush. I go with 1/4 tsp for every 80-100 lbs of grapes. I probably wouldn't add DAP at all, but use Fermaid or some other yeast nutrient. And I probably wouldn't use fining, but wait until it is clear, skip degassing, let time do it.

 

[rebusify]

Thanks for your reply.

I've read that using DAP and Fermaid is a good choice. Have you had any good success with using both or just using Fermaid is sufficient?

 

[wpt-me]

3A: wait 24 hours before adding yeast.
6A: transfer when s.g. reaches 1.000 - 1.010
7A: wait till s.g. reaches .0995 or there abouts

If this were mine.

Bill

 

[Ajmassa]

great timing! I’m doing my first rosè soon and had some questions so I will just tag along this thread.

1. Maceration time?
My grapes will be dark. Typically in 24hrs my must would be way too dark for what I’d prefer. Was thinking an hour or 2. Too soon? Thoughts?
Or anyone pressing immediately then adding red must back the next day for desired color?

2. yeast selection.
D-47? sounds good but I wouldn’t know anyway dealing with white yeast. Any other proven winners?

3. Anyone do Malolactic fermentation?
Yes, always? No, never? Determine by taste? I suppose I can make the call after testing acid levels. But what’s the threshold? What TA or PH levels could warrant MLF?

4 you use additives?
I ordered some opti-white & FT blanc soft’ based off a Scott’s Labs article/advertisement lol

5. Regarding nutrients,
Scott’s recommends a complete nutrient over DAP. Said rosè YAN can be low and suggests Fermaid O. —- For reds I normally use K w/ a DAP shot. Thinking K will be fine.

6. When we poppin corks? I’m hesitant to bottle early. @rebusify I see you bottle immediately. Kudos to you! I’m not that brave. If clear I was guessing 6-9 months to bottle/drink?

7. Fermentation temp
Is it ok to allow temps to naturally swing up & down or should I actively try and regulate temperature?

Here’s the article/ad I referenced. (Good info but taking with a grain of salt)
https://scottlab.com/tips-rose-winemaking

 

[mainshipfred]

This is from what I learned after the fact and not what I practiced in making my first Rose's last fall. Generally Rose's should be treated more like whites than reds and the grapes are typically harvested earlier and specifically for a Rose while the acid level is higher. This also leads to to a lower sugar content and gives way to a vegetal characteristics. Some say a low pH wine is unbalanced unless there is some residual sugar or at least a perception of sweetness so a yeast with a high glycerol production is recommended. This year I believe I found a source for some Chambourcin that will be harvested for a Rose'. I'm not terribly happy with my 2019's but learned a lot and hopefully 2020 will be better.

 

[cmason1957]

Thanks for your reply.

I've read that using DAP and Fermaid is a good choice. Have you had any good success with using both or just using Fermaid is sufficient?

For the past two years, I have been making Rose from St. Vincent and Chambourcin. My method is drive out to the place I get my grapes from, crush into my trash cans adding kMeta, drive back home (about a 90 minute drive). The Chambourcin goes first, press into another bucket. Wait until next day add yeast, 2 days in, add nutrient. Ferment as a cross between white and red, with the lid lightly on. St. vincet gets about 2-4 hours of maceration time. This past year, my wife wanted to spend some time at a winery, before we drove home. It did end up with a slightly darker rose, but maybe that is a good thing. In the carboy, it looks fairly dark, but in the dark it looks wonderful. (I'll try to get a picture later today)

I very seldom add DAP to anything any longer, Fermaid O and K are all I use.

Yeast, I have been using Rhône 4600: Complex aromatics along with strawberry, pear and pineapple. Enhances mouthfeel and volume. Great single strain choice or as a blending component. Morewinmaking pdf doesn't list D47 as one for Rose' doesn't mean it won't produce good ones, just a note.

MLF, I never have and don't think it would be a good idea, the malic acid is what gives the rose it's crisper qualities (that right there is opinion, in case you couldn't tell).

I haven't ever added any extra additives. Time frame, my rose from 2019 fall harvest are ready to go into bottle at any time, they have been backsweetened (ever so slightly, probably still dry, but needed just a hint of sweetness) and filtered. Just waiting on a Round Tuit to bottle, then they will be ready to drink in about 1-3 months. So almost a year from harvest.

Fermentation Temp - I don't do anything special to control the temps. I do ferment in my basement, same as everything and unlike my reds, I do keep them away from any extra heat production areas. Stir twice or three times daily during fermentation. After ferment, I treat the wine more like a white, than a red, in that I keep it topped up very high. I did put it in my basement fridge for 2 weeks at about 32F, just to drop a bit of whatever, since it will be a chilled wine, at a minimum.

 

[NorCal]

When I make rose, I don’t allow any time on the skin. You can always add more red juice for color, but you can’t take any away if it gets too dark.

 

[rebusify]

Thanks for the reply. How good is your Rose? Would you mind posting steps you take to create it?

 

[NorCal]

Thanks for the reply. How good is your Rose? Would you mind posting steps you take to create it?

How good is my Rose? It's like asking how cute is your baby : )

Actually, I'm not a fan, I'd rather have a white. But others like it and all the Roses I've made have received silver medals at the CA state fair. I make it just like I do a white, but as I said above, it will start off really pale and I'll add red juice / wine to color to the desired hue.

1. Crush, press immediately
2. Add 50 ppm SO2
3. Let settle overnight
4. Rack off the sediment
5. Inoculate racked juice and ferment cold, under airlock
6. Take the sediment and put in a carboy and put in fridge.
7. After a day or two take the final good juice out of the carboy in the fridge and throw it in with the other fermenting juice
8. When done fermenting, rack and SO2 (unless I'm doing MLF, like on a Chardonnay)
9. Keep in container for 4-5 months, with a racking along the way if it needs it.
10. Day or two before bottling, rack and SO2.
11. Bottle and enjoy

 

[rebusify]

Thanks for the reply. The question I have is why are you storing a Rose for 5 months? It's my understanding that it should be bottled quite sooner. Am I missing something?

 

[cmason1957]

Thanks for the reply. The question I have is why are you storing a Rose for 5 months? It's my understanding that it should be bottled quite sooner. Am I missing something?

It should be bottled when it is ready to be bottled, I would think 4-5 months is probably a bit short. I know mine from last fall aren't bottled, yet.

 

[rebusify]

Thanks for your reply. Just so I understand all this. Why are you waiting 5 months to bottle? If fermentation is done and cold stabilize/racking/refining/degassing is done then why have it sit for months before bottling? My understanding is that a Rose should be served fresh or am I missing something?

 

[cmason1957]

I never bottle anything before it has aged at least some. For me rose are made to be consumed the next hot spell, which means you make them in the fall, bottle about now and are drinking them over the summer. That's pretty quick, considering the reds I picked at the same time won't be bottled for another 4 or 5 or maybe 12 months.

 

[rebusify]

Awesome info. Thank you!

 

[rebusify]

Would you store at room temp for 4 to 5 months or would you do some type of colder storage?

 

[mainshipfred]

I agree with Craig's time frame, when talking about a quick drinker and I think it's an accepted time frame industry wide. This would put it somewhere around the 10 month mark which I feel is pretty quick.

 

[cmason1957]

Would you store at room temp for 4 to 5 months or would you do some type of colder storage?

I do everything in my basement, so my storage temps are around 65 F right now. Quick temp seeing are far more dangerous to wine than absolute temps.

 

[NorCal]

I wait 5 months to give it time to drop sediment and clear. It is also Jan/Feb and not much white wine being consumed. It is a winemakers choice and you might be able to get away with bottling earlier, but I value being able to pour that last glass of wine from the bottle and not having to worry there may be some solids in it.

 

[Tom Benjamin]

How good is my Rose? It's like asking how cute is your baby : )

Actually, I'm not a fan, I'd rather have a white. But others like it and all the Roses I've made have received silver medals at the CA state fair. I make it just like I do a white, but as I said above, it will start off really pale and I'll add red juice / wine to color to the desired hue.

1. Crush, press immediately
2. Add 50 ppm SO2
3. Let settle overnight
4. Rack off the sediment
5. Inoculate racked juice and ferment cold, under airlock
6. Take the sediment and put in a carboy and put in fridge.
7. After a day or two take the final good juice out of the carboy in the fridge and throw it in with the other fermenting juice
8. When done fermenting, rack and SO2 (unless I'm doing MLF, like on a Chardonnay)
9. Keep in container for 4-5 months, with a racking along the way if it needs it.
10. Day or two before bottling, rack and SO2.
11. Bottle and enjoy

Thank you for posting this list - it is extremely helpful. Two quick questions:
After crush, when you let it settle overnight, are you covering with a lid or just a cheese cloth? I would be worried about oxygen exposure for that extended period of time.
And, once you add the yeast, are you mixing twice daily or leaving it alone until it finished fermentation?

Interesting process as well with the sediment- I’ve never heard of this!