What's in your glass tonight?

[Hazelemere]

Carol's Red 2022 - 2023

This is my wife's house red wine. A combo of resurrected Sheridan Syrah, Blackberries, Elderberries, Wild and domestic pitted cherries, Marechal Foch and Regent. Here are my tasting comments:

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - good fruity smell

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - As a house red this is fine, but right now it is slightly tangy and tannic for my wife so it needs to age in the bottle (I'm guessing 2 years) to soften so she likes it. It is rich and complex. Not outstanding but certainly decent. It was a good way to use up a damaged Sheridan Syrah (malolactic sulphide nose that gave it a burnt rubber smell which has morphed into a non-sweet caramel smell). It may be a coincidence or not that a 2nd run Chardonnay that we made from Sheridan Chardonnay grapes in boxes had a sulphur smell in this case "cabbage" odour which I suspect to be mercaptans, so we dumped it ~75 bottles. I've made 2nd run whites for years and they never smell like this. I use them alone or in apple wine blends especially with cysers to make pyments. I don't use sulphur on my grapevines when they start veraison to prevent formation of sulphides and always use nutrients having had a 500 lb drum of Sheridan Syrah go "burnt rubber nose" during malolactic fermentation with RC212 yeast and no nutrient. We've had really good Sheridan Syrah (e.g. 2011) but not recently and always buy their neighbour's reds (Dineen Vineyard) instead without a single trainwreck wine in 13 years. PS the first run Sheridan Chardonnay 2023 from juice settled from solids is fine, especially blended with my homegrown Siegerrebe/Ortega on D47, V13 and even 71B yeast. All of that chardonnay is oaked with medium toast American oak cubes.

Just on a whim I tasted Carol's Red with my friend Don's Red 50/50 in a glass. His has more non-wild cherry in it i.e. organic pitted Bing cherries from the Okanagan. His blend is mostly Sheridan Syrah, Bing cherries, wild blackberries and elderberries. Here are my comments on this blend in a glass:

Appearance - purple

Smell - the Syrah caramel nose is more apparent but it is fine i.e. a bit fig like as in Amador County Cabernet Sauvignon

Tannin - better than Carol's Red. The pitted Okanagan Bing cherries soften the tannins

Acid - good. The pitted Bing cherries soften the acid.

Flavour - this is better than Carol's Red. If my friend Don likes it we'll reblend all or a portion of these two reds to make a better IMHO house red for my wife. This has a good aftertaste. If Carol's Red is a C+ then this is a B- i.e. decent house red. I would absolutely drink this as a house red. Is it stunning? No it isn't but it is better than a cooking wine although it could be a sensational cooking wine due to the non-sweet caramel flavour. One of the secrets of winemaking in my humble opinion is to have enough different wines that you can experiment with even in a single glass like this one. Don gets to choose what he likes or not. He'll taste both his red and Carol's and then decide what he wants to do. His palate is different from mine and whatever he chooses I have to honour his choice. Winemaking should be a respectful game.

I wish all of you the best of success with all of your wines.

Namaste

Klaus

 

[Hazelemere]

For future reference, if you taste mercaptan, try treating with ascorbic acid. I had that happen to a second run in 2020 -- it took 6 months for the treatment to be successful, but it worked.

Interesting. Thank you! 2nd run red or white?

 

[wineh]

u may need more than 1 bottle with all that snow u guys got and the freezing temps creeping in the next day or 2!
up to -40 ouch!

It was kinda nice that day. We live a bit south of there. This was me at the end of a 5km walk Feb 9,2019. Record cold day of - 42.3°C (about the same as F) good habits are hard to break.

 

[Boatboy24]

Bad news from my doc. He says I have a bad case of that familiar. It causes tremendous thirst. There is no known cure, especially when it is 73 degrees on the deck and after a day of picking up winter windfall branches and blueberry bush trimmings. Got two 16-foot trailer loads. Pain is very hurtful, you know.

View attachment 110545

Two 16 foot trailer loads of Corona!!?? You've got a lot of work ahead of you.

 

[winemaker81]

Interesting. Thank you! 2nd run red or white?

Red. I used the pomace from Merlot, Zinfandel, plus lesser amounts of CS, CF, Merlot, and Petit Verdot.

 

[Hazelemere]

Red. I used the pomace from Merlot, Zinfandel, plus lesser amounts of CS, CF, Merlot, and Petit Verdot.

thank you

 

[Hazelemere]

Retaste with comments:

retaste of Russet 2023:

Appearance a bit lighter than the Russet Cyser, slightly petillant (i.e. residual sugar fermenting in the bottles in the cooler. We call these "fizz bombs" If the gassing isn't too intense and the corks don't pop, fizz bombs can be very good i.e. poor man's champagne or Sparkling Russet).

Smell - very fragrant rich apple nose. The Cox apples and Moonglow pears probably helped the Russets.

Tannin - good. Russets are high tannin apples.

Acid - good. Russsets are high in acid.

Flavour - the Russets have a unique, rich and complex flavour. If you want to make apple wine look for Russets and if you can find Cox e.g. Cox Orange Pippen buy those too. If you can find non-mushy pears (i.e. not Bartletts) but Bosc, Moonglow or Anjous add some of those. Anjous can make delicious table wine.

"Cox’s Orange Pippin has an orange-red hue and is lightly red-striped. It is a medium-sized apple with excellent flavor and a spicy or nutty fragrance, making it a favorite among cider makers."

Russet Cox in any combination can make a beautiful apple wine especially with a few pears. I use Moonglow pears because I grow them. Anjous are at least as good i.e. Russet-Cox-Anjou could kill as a table wine!

retaste of Russet 2023:

Appearance - this one isn't fizzy at all, golden due to oxidation of russet skin tannins during grinding and pressing, although it doesn't smell oxidized. This is pure homegrown organic russet apple juice chaptalized with cane sugar and fermented with 71B yeast with nutrient. I think that these russets are Belle de Boskop grafted onto a Transparent apple tree. We don't use the transparents for wine. We use them for pastry i.e. crumbles or sauce that we freeze. I'm sure that we could use them for wine but I suspect that they would ooze in the press when ripe like Bartlett pears when ripe. The grinder/press combo work best on crisp apples and pears e.g. apples (Cox, Russet, Spartan, Gravenstein, Granny Smith, Newton) and pears (Anjous best, Bosc 2nd best together with Moonglows). The only apple juice that I would consider adding water to is crab apple.

Smell - fragrant rich Russet apple nose. The Cox apples and Moonglow pears probably helped the Russets.

Tannin - good. Russets are high tannin apples and don't need extra tannin.

Acid - good. Russsets are high in acid.

Flavour - good, rich, tasty, balanced apple wine. This has a bit of homegrown Cox apple and Moonglow pear juice in it. It has a long apple finish i.e. apple wine with body. I'll definitely make it again probably 3 ways 1) just like this 2) blended with 2nd run white wine from Siegerrebe, Ortega, Reichensteiner and Madeleine Angevine grapes to make a Russet Edelzwicker (2nd run premium blend of 1st run skins and sediment soaked for 48 hours with pectic enzyme and no water or sugar and repressed) 3) chaptalized with unpasteurized berry blossom honey (Cranberry, Blueberry, Raspberry or Blackberry) with 2) to make a Cyser Pyment.

Bottom line - If you make apple wine try to avoid adding water to it i.e. find a grinder - we started with a gas engine powered grinder and now use an Italian electric grinder that my son in law purchased. He is a serious winemaker and loves tools to make jobs easier e.g. hydraulic foot powered primary and carboy motorcycle lift.

https://winemakersdepot.com/Zambelli-MuliMAX.aspx

 

[Hillcapper]

Beaujolais…..while I start my FWK Riesling.

 

[wineh]

Mission Hill 2020 reserve syrah. Pepper, black currants, cherries and a hint of sage on the nose. Black cherries, dark chocolate, currants and pepper on the pallate. Deep inky dark wine. Very bold. My mouth thinks it is a cab! 14%

 

[Hazelemere]

This is Carol's Muscat Dry Auslese 2023 from a carboy in my cooler made from 27% Ortega, 55% Siegerrebe and 18% Reichensteiner homegrown organic at SG 1.093, 1.092 and 1.092 respectively with un-chaptalized juice, bentonite treated mid-ferment with 71B yeast and nutrient. Here are my comments on this wine:

Appearance - clear lemon yellow

Smell - very fragrant muscat similar to Gewurtztraminer

Tannin - fine

Acid - I thought it might be flat from malic acid conversion by 71B yeast but it isn't. Carol my wife says don't mess with it.

Flavour - this is delicious, the best one I've tasted in 10 years. I'll get 40 bottles. If it does go slightly flat I'll bottle 25 of those for Carol and 15 for myself spiked with a tiny bit of citric acid. I'm tempted to leave it until the end of the summer before tasting it again and then bottling it after I adjust the sulphite level and acid. I'll post an image as soon as I have one. The grapes were picked dry, hand destemmed and sorted, undamaged by wasps, mildew or botritis. Just for fun I mixed it 50/50 in a glass with California Chardonnay 2022 from Brehm frozen juice. That is also good with more acid, an interesting Chardonnay-Muscat nose and a good aftertaste. In future if I could I'd make all three 1) Carol's unacidified version 2) my acidified version 3) my version with Chardonnay e.g. Washington Sheridan vineyard Chardonnay in boxes.

retaste. here are my comments:

Appearance - clear lemon yellow

Smell - very fragrant muscat similar to Gewurtztraminer

Tannin - fine

Acid - It was slightly flat from 71B ferment and loss of some of its malic acid but was treated with citric acid which has given it a proper level of acid so it can age. My wife prefers the white apple wines but I like this one as my premium homegrown white Hazelmere Vineyard Muscat Auslese 2023 (SG 1.092 at harvest). I have 14 bottles left that I will ration slowly over time so the citric acid gets time to do its magic on the smell.

Flavour - this is really tasty and should improve as it generates citrate esters (new smells on top of existing smells) as it ages in bottle, and drops tannin.

I gave 12 to my son in law as a Xmas present which he blended with his Sheridan Vineyard Chardonnay 2023 (oaked). I get another 23 bottles as Chardonnay Muscat blends all of which are beter IMHO than the Chardonnay on its own which smells like buttered popcorn. That smell is fine but the muscat makes it much more interesting.

 

[Hazelemere]

Mission Hill 2020 reserve syrah. Pepper, black currants, cherries and a hint of sage on the nose. Black cherries, dark chocolate, currants and pepper on the pallate. Deep inky dark wine. Very bold. My mouth thinks it is a cab! 14%

View attachment 110595

useful comments on tasting

 

[Hazelemere]

Chardonnay Muscat 2023

The Chardonnay is from Sheridan Vineyard grapes in boxes fermented with D47 yeast and bentonited mid ferment and then oaked with medium toast American oak (my son in law's choice). The Muscat is the homegrown one described above unoaked. This is an 80/20 Chardonnay/Muscat blend in a glass from 2 cooler carboys. Here are my comments:

Appearance - clear deep lemon yellow

Smell - complex fragrant nose, buttered popcorn, papaya, honeydew melon, lychees, nutmeg

Tannin - fine

Acid - fine

Flavour - oak is evident but not overpowering after 69 days, 23 medium toast American oak cubes in a 15 bottle carboy. This is rich with some oakiness in the finish. I gave my sone in law 12 Muscats for Xmas so he can make 60 bottles of this. Then I tried the same wines in a 60/40 blend (Chardonnay/Muscat). Here are my comments on that blend:

Appearance - clear lemon yellow

Smell - complex fragrant nose, same as above except buttered popcorn smell is weaker

Tannin - fine

Acid - fine

Flavour - oak is evident but less intense than 80/20 blend. This more delicate than the 80/20 blend above. Surprisingly I think that 80/20 blend is better due to its intensity. My son-in-law will probably go that route. Finally I tasted a Brehm frozen juice California Chardonnay unoaked with the Muscat which didn't have the Washington Sheridan Vineyard buttered popcorn smell. This is good too. What is best is entirely subjective i.e. how much do you liked oaked Chardonnay. My son in law loves oaked Chardonnay. Me less so but having said that it is really rich and tasty I'm ok with it.

retaste of a 50/50 blend of Sherdan Chardonnay and Hazelmere Muscat Auslese 2023

Here are my comments:

Appearance - lemon yellow

Smell - good rich nose

Tannin- good even though the Chardonnay was heavily oaked with medium toast American oak cubes

Acid - good

Flavour - rich tasty white, better than Sheridan Chardonnay on it's own. This is very good Washington Chardonnay (not excellent) but very good which should age and improve.

 

[tullamore]

It was kinda nice that day. We live a bit south of there. This was me at the end of a 5km walk Feb 9,2019. Record cold day of - 42.3°C (about the same as F) good habits are hard to break.
View attachment 110561

ahh a true Canuck! atta boy!! no weather stops us!!

 

[wineh]

Currants, vanilla and a hint of plums on the nose. Licorice and dark cherries and a bit of chocolate on the pallate. Well extracted for an inexpensive wine. I bought 2 more. 14.5%

 

[Hazelemere]

Apple Cyser 2023

This is a 50/50 blend of my son in law's double American oaked sun-crisp apple wine from ground and pressed apples chaptalized with cane sugar to ~ SG 1.085, bentonite treated mid ferment and then oaked with medium toast American oak at 1.5 cubes per bottle for ~100 days with my cyser King/Cox/Russet with unpasteurized blueberry blossom honey. I added 1.5 tsp citric acid to 30 bottles about 45 days ago because I found it to be flat.

Here are my comments on this blend in a glass of which my son-in-law and I get 30 each as Apple Cyser 2023:

Appearance - clear, yellow

Smell - intense, complex, lingering nose (from the honey)

Tannin - good

Acid - good, the citric acid treatment plus oak addition gives the right level of tang

Flavour - rich, complex, intense apple wine. Has a really good long finish. I'll definitely make this again. It would taste really good with something like Clam Vongole Linguine, Crabcakes, Prawn Linguine, Prawn Chow Mein, Prawn Fried Rice, Halibut Panko Burgers or even vegan sweet and sour lentils. My son in law and I will each get a 30 bottle carboy of this to age in my cooler after adjusting sulphite and sorbate so we can bottle it as early as Easter or late in August or early September. This is the first time I've tasted oak on an apple wine or a cyser (in this case a combo). I wouldn't make all of my apple wine this way but would definitely make some of it this way i.e. an old dog just learned a new trick!

When Van Gogh was asked the secret of being an artist he said - experiment with everything, in his case brushes, knives paints, canvases and brushes. The reason Van Gogh IMHO was such a great painter is that he had no preconceived ideas about how to paint. Our challenge as winemakers is to have no preconceived ideas on how to make wine. It doesn't mean we can't have preferences based on experience. It means that we always open to a new winemaking experience. If the new winemaking experience is too scary we can always do the new scary experience in miniature and see what happens.

Namaste

Klaus

retaste ahead of bottling my first 10:

Appearance - clear, yellow

Smell - intense, complex, lingering nose (from the honey), oak is not dominant

Tannin - good

Acid - good, the citric acid treatment plus oak addition gives the right level of tang

Flavour - this is very good, rich apple wine, a perfect way to use Ambrosia apples, mix them with higher acid apple juice and unpasteurized honey i.e. in this case unpasteurized, unheated blueberry blossom honey, plus some oak. This has a really good long finish. I'll definitely make this again if I have the chance. Oaking apple wines is a new experience for me (my son in law's idea). I'll definitely do it again on a subset of my apple wines. My apprentice son in law loves to make wine and is getting better and better at it (no surprise here after 14+ years together!). An old dog can learn new tricks from a young dog now at least a journeyman!

 

[wineh]

The first time I made the Stag's Leap district Merlot, it was called the "estate series" and it was very good. When it became the Eclipse, it was delicious! I made the "private reserve" version several times, hoping it would get better, but it didn't, leading to my (eventual) quitting making kit wines.
This one is barely darker than rose, lacks any varietal character, and is low in alcohol. I'm drinking it to get rid of it.

 

[Hazelemere]

This is Petite Pinnacle 2020-2021 all from hand destemmed uncrushed grapes blended to drop the alcohol on Amarone style
Lodi Mettler Vineyard grapes as follows:

Petite Pinnacle 2020 - 2021
Dineen Cabernet Sauvignon JJ 2020	27.0​	11.7%	1.100​	0.80​	13.3​
Amador Cabernet Sauvignon JJ 2020	12.0​	5.2%	1.107	0.75	14.5​
Sheridan Syrah JJ 2020	12.0​	5.2%	1.114	0.70	15.6​
Amador Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 KO	90.0​	39.0%	1.107	0.70	14.5​
Petite Sirah KO 2021	68.3​	29.6%	1.120​	0.70​	16.6​
Regent KO 2021	21.7​	9.4%	1.082	0.85	10.6​
	231.0​	100.0%	1.108​	0.73​	14.6​

KO is me JJ is my son in law
2nd column is the blend 3rd column is SG 4th column is acid . Last column is alcohol. Bottom row is the blend. Pinnacle is Cabernet.
Regent is from my vineyard.

I made this for my wife who likes low acid, smooth, rich, fragrant reds. This turned out exactly the way she likes it. I like it too.

retaste: (after my neighbour returned an empty bottle and said he loved it)

Appearance - good deep inky purple

Smell - good, rich, complex nose - cocoa, figs, pomegranate, prune plums, blackberries, cedar, black currants

Tannin - good

Acid- good

Flavour - this is rich, complex and smooth, exactly the way my wife likes it. I'll leave it for her. I'll give one to my brother in law on the weekend for his trip with my sister, 2 nieces and 1 Australian boyfriend to Whistler, which will leave me with 12 1/2 bottles that I'll ration out slowly over time. This has a good long finish. It reminds me of Amarone (from the sky high brix) slightly shriveled but undamaged Mettler Petite Sirah. This is a good way to make Petite Sirah more complex.

 

[wineh]

Last night's Okanagan syrah. Black cherries, pepper and a bit of leather. 14%. Was very good, but have you ever seen wine diamonds in a commercial wine!

 

[Hazelemere]

Last night's Okanagan syrah. Black cherries, pepper and a bit of leather. 14%. Was very good, but have you ever seen wine diamonds in a commercial wine!
View attachment 110709

yes

 

[cmason1957]

Last night's Okanagan syrah. Black cherries, pepper and a bit of leather. 14%. Was very good, but have you ever seen wine diamonds in a commercial wine!
View attachment 110709

Absolutely yes. Wine Diamonds are considered a mark of a well made wine in some parts of the world. Particularly if the bottle was aged for any length of time.