Which yeast for Malbec?

[Rocky]

Very interesting, Bzac. I wanted to add a greater emphasis on my choice of yeast this year and your post has a lot of great information. I think the problem we will have is finding some of these strains here in the "Colonies." Are these yeasts readily available where you are or elsewhere in Europe? I like big, bold Italian type reds (who would have thought that!?) and I am eager to apply some of these recommendations.

 

[ibglowin]

Morewine has a very nice selection of harder to find wine yeast available in small or large quantities.

 

[bzac]

I do most of my winemaking back home in Vancouver , and usually use more wine or my local supplier for yeasts.

make sure you order your yeasts in July or august , waiting till you have grapes on the way in the last week of september when every one else is trying to get theirs is likely to result in dissapointment. out side of the peak season you can order them anytime.

 

[JohnT]

I agree with Tom. I have made Malbec and used RC212 (Lalvin).

 

[bzac]

212 is a good go to basic red yeast , my first 4 years making wine from grape I used nothing else for reds . still is one of my pinot noir blenders . I really like it for zinfandel and any red you want to drink young . I used it on Chilean malbec one year with good results , it needs a good amount of fermaid K though to prevent h2s.

Lalvin Bourgorouge RC212®: For Pinot noir with color and structure
Lalvin Bourgorouge RC212 was selected from fermentations in Burgundy by the BIVB to extract and protect the polyphenols of Pinot noir. Due to the limited adsorption of polyphenols on Lalvin Bourgorouge RC212 yeast cell walls, there is limited color loss and structure is protected during aging. It requires high nutrient additions to avoid the potential development of sulfides and demonstrates best results when rehydrated with the right nutrient and protectant. Lalvin Bourgorouge RC212 consistently produces Pinot noir with good structure, ripe cherry, bright fruit and spicy characteristics. Wines made with Lalvin Bourgorouge RC212 can be blended with wines made with RA17 to achieve more complexity and finesse.

 

[robie]

Don't know if this was mentioned already, but More wine has a very nice yeast/grape pairing guide that is great for reference:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.morewinemaking.com/public/pdf/wyeastpair.pdf

 

[bzac]

using a rehydration nurtrient and a complex fermentation nutirent like fermaid K is just good practice regardless of what yeast you use .
RC212 is not as prone to produceing H2S as is a yeast like motrachet or D47 but the risk is there.

IMO the biggest problem I see with RC212 is that its one of the 5 home winemakers yeasts that Lallmand sells in 5 gram packets for homewinemakers , most of which don't have a full appreciation of the benefits of good yeast nutritian.

90% of the h2s cases I get asked about my first question is , Did you use nutirent? And 90% of the time the answer is , either "Whats that?" or a misguided " no I don't want any chemicals in my wine" ( there are fully organic nutrients available, so if you are a died in the wool granola there is no excuse for poor yeast health) .

What yeast they used is a secondary concern after implementing a proper nutirent regime .
Its a risk but a managable one.

Where I get picky about a yeasts H2S tendencies is if I know I am dealing with risky fruit , ie late sulfur spray or hybrids or very ripe or under ripe or if I am planning a sur lie or extended maceration.

That said Montrachet is on my banned list.

Z

 

[BobF]

I also have Chilean juice on the way and am planning the D80/D254 combo for 2 Malbecs and 2 Syrahs.

I also have #100 or so of Chambourcin grapes in the freezer. I wonder if it would be worth throwing some of these in - either adding the crushed grapes directly, or fermenting a batch of Chambourcin and adding the lightly pressed pulp to the juices.

Thoughts?

 

[BobF]

The reason I asked is that I'm getting -juice-, not grapes. The grapes I have are Chambourcin. I'm just wondering if getting some skins into the ferment makes sense. Another aspect to this is that recent reports on Chilean juice chemistry is low acid. The Chambourcins are a little high in the .7 range.

The only reason I would even consider this is because Chambourcin is so far my favorite grape.

I do agree on the separate ferment. I think I'll do the Chambourcin completely separate, keeping the free-run and pressed wines apart. This should give me the most options for blending later.

I'm glad to see you're a Malbec fan. The only Malbec I've had was lower end, but there was enough goodness in there to make me want to make some of my own. Who knows, it might become my new favorite

 

[bzac]

Well Said! Good advice. There is no substitute for nutrition. Some of the late spraying that took place this past year it wouldn't have mattered what yeast you used. Only a serious nutrient protocol would minimize the problems. Montrachet DO NOT USE should be a sticky topic!

I don't know about only , there are new yeasts on the market which are said to not produce h2s.

if faced with late sulfur sprayed fruit I would follow the nutiritan and racking protocols that I wrote and winemaker magazine published for the early sulfur contaminated chilean fruit .

but I would update that with using phyterras new yeasts and a noblesse fining.

http://phyterra.com/products/index.html

 

[Mario Dinis]

Very good information here, thank you for that. I too use pails of California juice. Don't have the room nor the equipment for grapes. I'm planning on doing Malbec, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, maybe throw Syrah in it too. Separate fermentation and blend later. I see a lot of recommendations for D80, D254 and D21. I usually use Red Star Premier Rouge, but this time I'd like to try something different. What do you recommend for each wine?

 

[4score]

We switched to Avante yeast a few years ago after battling H2S frequently. Avante does not allow H2S. It also has a high alcohol and temperature tolerance. We've been very happy with the results,

 

[AbruzziRed]

I am restarting this thread again with the hope of hearing how all your Malbecs turned out with the yeast(s) you used and recommendations.
I am getting my juice pail in a few weeks and have some thoughts about splitting the batch and trying two different yeasts. So...
What yeast a did you use?
Did you blend?
What were your thoughts on taste?

 

[Mario Dinis]

I am restarting this thread again with the hope of hearing how all your Malbecs turned out with the yeast(s) you used and recommendations.
I am getting my juice pail in a few weeks and have some thoughts about splitting the batch and trying two different yeasts. So...
What yeast a did you use?
Did you blend?
What were your thoughts on taste?

Last year I made my first Malbec and mad a split batch with D80 and D254 yeast. I came to realize that I do prefer D80. D254 is too fruity.

 

[AaronSC]

This year (2020) I used D21 and GRE for Malbec. Still aging but I will do a comparison this weekend. For the most part I have been splitting my red batches between GRE, D80, D21 and D254 -generally just three yeasts per varietal. I then blend them together and age them together. For example, I used D80, D21 and D254 on my Zinfandel, with the goal of getting complexity, in terms of acid, tannin and fruit. I've definitely found that the blend of the yeasts (given some time to "meld") is preferred over single yeast wines, for reds.

I already went through and tasted the various whites and the yeasts I used -there were some really strong conclusions that I should report elsewhere on this board.