Today is a wine-work day.
First, the Chardonnel and Vidal that were treated with bentonite a month ago. The treated carboys are noticeably clearer. The untreated carboys may have a protein haze, which will not clear with time. I'm going to make a bentonite slurry and treat the remaining two carboys.
I don't worry about this with reds, since the color masks a lot of imperfections. White? I go for clear.
Today is also barrel topup day. The Chelois barrel took 500 ml wine. It's one of my older barrels (manufactured 2010) and being on the bottom of the rack, it typically takes less wine.
In December we treated the barrels with Quentanin Sweet finishing tannin, while the topup wine was untreated. The finishing tannin makes a significant difference. I can feel the tannin in the middle of the tongue -- not huge, but it makes it a better wine.
Color-wise? The barrel wine is a shade darker. Not enough to matter, but enough to notice.
The Chambourcin took almost a full 750 ml to top. Whatever barrel is on top takes more. I suspect it's a heat thing.
The color between the barrel and topup is not noticeable. However, as with the Chelois, the finishing tannin makes a difference. I'm sold on finishing tannins.
Finally I compared the barrel Chelois & Chambourcin:
The Chambourcin is clearly darker, but to be fair, it's a Teinturier grape, meaning the pulp and juice are red, instead of white like most grapes. It's gonna be darker than just about anything else, well, at least in my understanding.
In the above photo, look at the edge of both wines. The Chelois is red, while the Chambourcin is purple.
Note that while we cannot taste color, we do feast with our eyes. I can't say I like the Chambourcin better because of the color, but it is eye catching.
Beth (
@VinesnBines) and I discuss these wines, as the grapes are from her vineyard. It's cool being able to compare wines made from grapes grown in a single vineyard. She recently noted that her Chambourcin were picked 10 days after mine were, as we're comparing notes. Things like that can make a difference.
EDIT: My niece will be visiting in March or April. At that time we'll bottle the whites, so she can take her cases home with her.
I also plan to taste test the various Chambourcin and Chelois that have different finishing tannins. Fred (
@mainshipfred) will probably be interested in our results.
