Zin ideas

[Snafflebit]

You may consider blending in 10% to 20% of a different red Vinifera. The Zin will dominate, but another varietal or two will probably give it depth.

In 2020 I made a Merlot (40%) / Zinfandel (40%) / Bordeaux Blend (20%), and surprisingly enough, the Zin shines through.

I plan to cold soak the one lug of Zinfandel and ferment it with some oak chips and that is it. (Watching the YouTube videos of the nonnis making wine, they don't even bother with oak.) My knowledge of Zinfandel wine making is approaching nil. I always assumed that Zin was light on tannins, but the WineMaker site says it is heavy, and pressing can create a tannic press fraction. So, an idea I have is to lightly press the Zin off the skins, then reserve the Zin cake and add it to a small batch of so-so-looking Cab Sauv to create a second Cab Zin "blend".

As I said, I know little about Zin wine making and suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Kraffty]

I'll be following along as I'm experimenting with my Zin also. I created 4 different versions, 6 gallons each, with the goal of blending in the next year. They ranged from straight finer wine concentrate with one skin pack and a little oak to almost entirely my grapes free run (little concentrate to get to 6 gal) to concentrate with lots of grape skins and the pressing from my grapes and finally one silly one with a few pounds of cherry, blackberry, raspberry and plum co-fermented. Each was fermented using a different yeast. I'm back and forth on oak and will probably add some to at least one of the versions later.
I've also chosen to skip malo fermentation on all 4. pH was at 3.74 on my grape version and wanted to keep the acid that they did have intact.
Best of Luck, look forward to seeing your progress.

 

[ceeaton]

... one silly one with a few pounds of cherry, blackberry, raspberry and plum co-fermented. ...

That doesn't sound silly, I bet my wife would love that!

 

[StimVino]

I plan to cold soak the one lug of Zinfandel and ferment it with some oak chips and that is it.

Im also making a Zin this year. I should have about 17 gallons. My plan is to co-ferment approx. 10% petit syrah to start. I also have a little extra petit syrah in case I'd like to add more later. I also use 'sacrificial' oak chip tannins at fermentation on all my reds along with color pro. Im still up in the air on what yeast to use? I have RC 212, BM 4x4, and EC-1118 in my refrigerator but still looking at other options. The main things I'll be focused on are getting a darker color and at least a 15% alcohol. I'd also like to avoid overly astringent flavor. Last time I did Zin was from a WE Old Vine Zinfandel kit that had a smooth and velvety finish, in a good way. Like most of the kits that I've tried, I suspect that they are using finishing tannins which Im also experimenting with this year.

 

[Snafflebit]

I have crushed the Zin. 8.8 Liters of must and my calculations say I potentially have all of TWO gallons of juice! It will probably ferment faster than my other batches and since I rent a press, I will have to figure out some manual form of pressing the skins, or just taking the free run will be easiest.

No enzymes in this batch. I will add oak chips before fermenting. Brix is 27.

 

[StimVino]

I have crushed the Zin. 8.8 Liters of must and my calculations say I potentially have all of TWO gallons of juice! It will probably ferment faster than my other batches and since I rent a press, I will have to figure out some manual form of pressing the skins, or just taking the free run will be easiest.

No enzymes in this batch.View attachment 115882 I will add oak chips before fermenting. Brix is 27.

Brix are good but may need some acid. Do you have a pH meter? Also, with the higher alcohol you may want to add some yeast nutrients.

 

[Snafflebit]

after an overnight soak the color is better. I did not use enzymes. I added a cup of oak chips to the batch and watered down to 25 Brix.
Oh, and I definitely don’t need acid.
pH=3.47. TA=10.5 g/L. Wow.

So, some of the fruit is from clusters on lateral shoots that looked ripe, tasted ripe but of course are less ripe than the primary clusters. That is my guess for the cause of the high acid. Or maybe this is just how Zin is. I know my other grapes are testing having 5-6 g/L acid levels, so the result is not due to bad NaOH solution.

BM 4x4 and nutrients added