WM81 Fall 2023 Experiments

winemaker81 · Oct 28, 2024

VinesnBines said:
I really appreciate the plug for good grapes. It is a challenge to keep everything clean and in good condition.

We're VERY happy with the 2023 Vidal. It took some figuring to determine what to do with it, but a tiny bit of backsweetening fixed things. The end result is great!

The 2024 Vidal and Chardonnel received Lalvin 31 MLB, and both are already lower in the acid bite than the 2023. It helped that I used 71B, which eats malic acid.

It doesn't matter what fruit is used -- it helps to understand the situation to make better wine.

VinesnBines said:
The French/American hybrids can be tricky to ferment. All in all, the whites may be a little easier. The reds will need MLF and oak to soften the acids. And a Bryan noted, blending the F/A with small amounts of vinifera can change meh to fantastic.

We really liked the reds you served on crush day. My son has very little experience with F-A hybrids, so your blends were a new experience, and he really liked them.

Off the top of my head I don't recall exactly what the blends are.

My son & I are discussing tactics for the 2024's ...

winemaker81 · Oct 28, 2024

Note on blending the Chambourcin and Merlot: this was not done blind. I keep a 10 ml syringe handy, and we put 90 ml Chambourcin and 10 ml Merlot in a glass for taste testing. We really liked it -- it wasn't just an "improved" Chambourcin -- it is a good wine overall. One we'll be happy to have 4 cases of.

I need to get larger syringes, to reduce effort when measuring the larger quantities.

As I've mentioned, using metric when working in wine makes things easier. Trying to do these quantities in English measurement would not work any where near as well.

wood1954 · Oct 29, 2024

My local farm store has syringes that go up to 35 ml. Makes things easier.

winemaker81 · Nov 9, 2024

We were down to two of the 2023 wines yet to bottle: the Merlot and the Sangiovese. Tomorrow morning we bottle the Sangiovese and move the 2024 Pinot Noir into that barrel.

This morning I racked 3 containers:

19 liters Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot
12 liters Merlot
4 liters Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc, residue from the barrels.

The last one has been clearing in the fridge for 2 weeks. When we poured the remaining wine from the barrels, it was pure mud. People without experience in this would consider it trash. After 24 hours, the sediment had settled to a 1" layer:

I think this jug is mostly CF, from the color. Maybe 3 liters CF and 1 liter CS.

The CS/Merlot was good on its own, the Merlot was good on its own. but the blend was "off". It's hard to define, but it didn't taste as good as either component.

Adding in 4 liters of barrel aged wine changed it completely, jacking up the complexity. We got 3.5 cases from it, and I wish we had more. I can't say it's better than the CS blend or the CF varietal, but it's good.

There isn't enough wine to justify any effort in blending, so I just Frankenwined it (blended blindly). The result is a nice surprise. I had a humorous label designed, but this one deserves a serious label. That is forthcoming.

winemaker81 · Nov 12, 2024

Sunday my son, his girlfriend, and I bottled most of the Sangiovese. We actually ran out of bottles, so I have a 12 liter carboy that needs to be bottled.

I'm going to buy some EverClear and make a port out of about 6 bottles worth, and bottle the remainder. That will happen later this week.

His barrel now contains this year's Pinot Noir, which is 2 juice buckets fermented with the pomace from 300 lbs each Chambourcin and Chelois. That one is interesting, even as a green wine.

Ohio Bob · Nov 12, 2024

winemaker81 said:
I'm going to buy some EverClear and make a port out of about 6 bottles worth, and bottle the remainder. That will happen later this week.

What changes to the wine/port do you anticipate? Or are you just fortifying?