We bottled the Boisique on Thursday night. We had to do some adjustments after a quick recount of the gallons of wine showed we had less merlot and cabernet left. We reduced the amount of Boisique to be 40G Merlot (82%) and 9G Malbec (12%) for a total of 49 gallons, or 4 cases each. The amount of Magnafique remained the same, which will give us each about 4.5 cases.
This will use up all of the merlot and leave about 8G of cab. We need to hold a couple gallons for topping and racking the reserve which leaves us 6G to work with. We could do a small amount of the leftover blend (Cab/Malbec) or hold the cab over for the reserve. If we do the "Amencaya" blend it would be 10 gallons, which would only give us only10 bottles each--probably not worth the effort. We'll just get more reserve in the Spring!
We inoculated the Chardonnay we got from Larry. After pressing there were 25 gallons of juice. The grapes were beautiful. Larry did a super job of picking and crushing for us. THANKS LARRY! They were great ripeness and flavor and came in at 24-25 Brix and 3.6 PH. The PH was a touch higher than we would like (3.5 would be more ideal) but within the safety margin and not worth adjusting.
We are trying a new inoculation and nutrient program this year and hydrating the yeast with GoFerm and then adding additional Fermaid-K nutrients through fermentation as recommended in the MoreWine guide to Wine making (http://www.morebeer.com/public/pdf/wwhiw.pdf). The goal is to have as healthy of fermentation as possible to get the most flavor out of the yeast and avoid side effects that contribute to H2S production (yucky Rotten Egg smell).
For yeast we had planned to use 2 types in 2 separate containers to add complexity: D47 and "Rhone 4600". With the lower amount of chard we will ferment it all in the 60G barrel with just the Rhone 4600, which is a new yeast for us. It's description of the yeast is at the end of the blog entry for reference. We used 40 grams of yeast, which is slightly more than was needed. The recommendation is for 1 gram per gallon of must up to 24-25 brix and 1.25 grams per gallon once you hit 25 brix.
The next step is it add an initial dose of Fermaid-K nutrient once fermentation starts. (Friday). 1 gram per gallon of must (25 grams). Once the Brix drops to 14-16 we will add a second dose of the Fermaid-K.
We are trying to control the fermentation temperatures of the white wine this year and keep the must around 60-65 degrees. The fermentation barrel is in the cooler. We need to stir the must daily and take the temperature.
We made a bentonite slurry with 2oz of bentonite and 3 cups of boiling water--blended for 2 minutes and left to stand for 2-3 hours and added it to the chardonnay for clarification during fermentation.
Our Merlot arrives on Sunday. Ray is coordinating with Neil Glancy. Grapes will be picked on Sat and we'll get them Sun. Ray is checking today on if they will be crushed or not. We discussed the pros and cons of them crushing vs us crushing. We're unsure if their crusher would do better than the one we rent. The biggest difference will be how clean the grapes are when they are crushed and how many stems are left. One area we've been able to improve is avoiding green flavors in our wine by carefully removing stems and leaves in the fermenting must. We're tempted to see the results of a "professional crushing". We can always pick out extra stems if we're not happy with it.
Rhone 4600 is a Cote du Rhone isolate that has a short lag phase, low nutrient demand, and has the ability to ferment well at low temperatures. Due to its' high level of polysaccharide production, Rhone 4600 contributes intense mouthfeel and volume to a finished wine. In addition, Rhone 4600 helps create complex aromatic notes along with a high degree of ester production. In whites like Viognier, Marsanne, Roussane, and Chardonnay there is an emphases on pineapple, pear, and apple. When used in Roses made from Mouvedre, Grenache and Syrah, intense, elegant, fresh strawberry becomes the focus. While Rhone 4600 is good for white wine production, it is an excellent yeast for making Roses either by itself or as part of a blend. Best results from 56 to 72 degrees F, with an alcohol tolerance to 15%.
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