Chardonnay Bottled

We filtered and bottled the 2009 Chardonnay today. It was a beautiful day to be outside working on wine.

Cleaning the bottles went very fast because Mike had cleaned most of them already and they were spotless.

The filter system continues to cause problems by leaking. We captured the leaked wine and ran it back through so little was lost. It's frustrating. There has to be a better filtering system.

The Chardonnay this year has more color and body, although it isn't as fruity and crisp as last years. We'll see how it develops in the bottle.

We saw more bottles of the Reisling that had sediment in them. Not all the bottles from the last batch have the problem, so we're guessing bottle contamination combined with residual sugar.

Photos are uploaded to the Riverwoods Picassa Wine2010 album.

http://picasaweb.google.com/riverwoodswinery/Wine2010  

New Winemaker Tasting

Thursday we had a group of people over for a tasting who have been making wine or are interested in making wine and asked them to bring a sample of their wine to share.  The tasting was a great success and the new wines were very impressive.

 

Michele and Tom brought their cabernet, which was fermented along with ours but has been in different barrels (hungarian and french).  Their barrels had already given the wine a different taste than ours. It is interesting how quickly that happened and reinforces the impact that barrel selection makes in the final outcome of a wine.

 

James and Ariana brought their Syrah, which also fermented along with ours but has been in a glass carboy after fermentation instead of a barrel.  The wine from the Carboy tasted good, but it hadn't matured as much as what was in the barrel.

 

Terry and Penny Garrison brought their Cabernet. Terry got his grapes through BrewCon. He knows they were from Star and I'm guessing they came from Larry Kornze's vineyard as the harvest time was very late.  Terry did a great job of crushing/destemming and fermenting and the result is a very smooth wine.  He has a smaller barrel (5G unknown cooperage) which is adding oak at a pretty quick rate. 

 

All of the Riverwoods wines were very good. No hints of any problems in what we tasted. We did see 1 carboy of Petite Sirah that has some surface scum that we need to investigate. I am guessing racking it out and adding 20ppm meta should clean it up.  We also need to finish topping-up the wines. The merlot topping fluid was empty and we need to break down a carboy (and should verify all other barrels got topped-up).

 

A few notes on the Riverwoods wines:

 

- Chardonnay is drinking well and is ready to bottle.  Flavor is more balanced this year without the tartness and there is more body and color.  We expect to filter and bottle the Chardonnay this month (Feb).

 

- Petite Sirah has some good up-front fruit and is very pleasant. 

 

- The syrah this year is lighter body and easy to drink.  More barrel time will help shape it.

 

- The malbec has a strong green pepper flavor this year. Not the green stem flavor, but more peppery.

 

- The merlot is highly tannic this year.  We got it from a different source that had very small berries, so the skins really dominate the flavor. We will have to experiment with the Boisique blend this year to get the typical fruit. We may need to add some of the cab franc and/or Petite Sirah.

 

- The WA Clone-6 cab had good flavor and nose and was smooth.

 

- The ID cab had lots of fruit and was full bodied.

 

- The 08 WA Clone-6 (reserve) cab was very elegant and had a nice balance of oak, although Ray commented that he thought the oak was approaching a level we needed to watch it (the barrel is 4 year old, so it isn't likely to change too fast).

 

- The 08 ID (reserve) cab was intense in color, aroma, flavor, body and tannins. The wine has been held in Ray's new 30G French barrel and you could really taste and smell the French Oak. Michele described the nose as a fruitcake because of the gushing fruit, vanilla and alcohol.

 

- For dessert we (stirred up) and had the Petite Sirah port, which is drinking fabulous.  The sweetness is there but not overpowering and there is considerable depth in the Petite Sirah flavors with a very nice long finish.

 

- We didn't taste the Cab Franc, which is only in a carboy.

Racked Malbec and Port

Tonight the whole gang got together and signed bottles to go out to our growers, along with a winery calendar, to say thanks for the great fruit.  2009 looks to be the best year yet and we're excited about what is in the barrels.

 

We racked the Malbec as the carboys have shown some scum at the surface. We also racked the Petite Sirah Port to continue integrating the fortified alcohol and for clarity as there was considerable sediment again.  We added 20+ppm sulfites after racking out of the barrel to try and keep the meta level higher in the port, because of the residual sugar.  We didn't add any sulfites to the Malbec--we'll keep an eye on it.

 

The Malbec was sound but had a strong green taste--more green pepper this year than green branches.  The port tasted amazing--surprisingly drinkable already.  Enough sweetness for dessert without being overly sweet, with nice complexity and finish.  Some more time in the barrel will make it even better.

 

That should be all the racking needed until after MLF on the Red Wines.  We'll be filtering and bottling the Chard in February.

 

Troy

First 2010 Top N Taste

We topped and tasted all the barrels last night. All wines are sound with no trace of rotten egg smell. Wines were down quite a bit--a full bottle or more in some cases. We need to stay on top of keeping them filled up.

 

Lee said he had seen some film on top of the malbec carboys which he blasted with some meta spray. We tasted those carboys and didn't find any problems, but we need to keep an eye on them.  We may need to rack the Malbec one more time.  We replaced the remaining carboy bubblers with solid stoppers and taped them down, leaving breathable bungs on the port in case it's still fermenting a little.

 

The cabernets were by far the favorites with the other wines being in a bit of a winter sleep. No problems, just muted flavors and aromas--partly from the colder temps we think. The 09 Williamson cabernet was amazing for being this young--it's going to be great this year. :-D

 

Both 08 reserve cabs are tasting excellent with the Clone 6 being more elegant and the Williamson cabernet being a real power-house that had a lot of new oak in it that gave the wine real complexity.  The blend of the two together will be a great Reserve Cabernet!

 

We paid special attention to the petite sirah port which appears to be stratifying with more alcohol in the top layer. We need to rack it back out and mix it well to try and get the fortification to integrate better.  We also need to decide on meta levels in the port--expecting to keep them a little higher than usual because of the residual sugar.  Troy is going to take some wine samples to the testing center in Garden City to get a reading on meta ppm.

 

We expect we will filter and bottle the Chard in February and the Reserve Cabernet in May.  There will be about 20-25G of Chardonnay and 60+G of Reserve Cabernet (GOODIE!).

Port Racked

We racked the port off the gross lees tonight. It had significant sediment from the grapes that were dissolved by the higher alcohol levels. The port is clearing up nicely and tastes very good. A nice amount sweetness--but not too much--with solid flavor underneath.  We mixed it up well and moved it into the 15G Hungarian barrel plus some glass carboys.

We also racked the Chard again as it had quite a bit of sediment. This year's Chard has more color and flavor from the time on the skins.

Presto Porto!

We pressed the port tonight. It was still fermenting some and the sugars were as low as we wanted them to go. Brix read about 6.5+, which adjusting for the alcohol added is probably more like 8-9 brix.  After pressing we mixed in another 1.75 liters of 75.5% Everclear to whack the yeast a final time.  We pressed hard and got 24+ gallons that are settling in a SS keg and glass carboys.  We'll let it sit for a couple of weeks and then rack it off the gross lees into a neutral barrel.

 

We're pleased with the port. I tastes sweet and rich....heck, it tastes like a damn good port! :-D   We compared it to the Bogle Ruby-Style Petite Sirah port and it tasted very similar. It will be interesting to see how it evolves over the next year.

Ready To Press

We tasted the port tonight and it's ready to press. The sugars dropped another point, although it is still plenty sweet. We compared it to the Bogle Petite Sirah Port and it has very similar flavors. We're very pleased with the results.  We will press Wednesday at 7:30pm.  We also tasted a couple of ports Lee shared, including a vintage 1994 port that was excellent.

Port Fermenting Slowly To Goal

We met to check the Port tonight. There is visible fermentation and a cap but it is much less dense.  Flavor continues to be rich with plenty of sweetness. The alcohol was more evident tonight after our second dose of spirits yesterday.  We all liked the direction the port is going.

 

Temp is at 63 degrees and brix was down 0.5 to 7.0 (our final adjusted target is 6.0).  We decided to continue the fermentation until the brix drops to our target (6.0) or fermentation stops.  We will continue to warm the must and monitor flavor and sugar and be ready to press once we hit our goal or if the cap falls--with the initial plan of pressing on Thursday and tasting some ports.  

 

If at press time fermentation is still active we will likely hit it with another bottle of Everclear (after pressing) to arrest the fermentation so we don't loose any more sugar.

Fortification #2 -- We're getting close!

The group met this morning to check the port progress.  We were impressed by the increase in flavor over the couple of days. More full flavors balancing out the sweet and alcohol.  The higher levels of alcohol are pulling great flavor out of the berries.  We LOVE the fruit, Larry!

 

There was a full cap this morning, although less dense, and temps were 63-64 degrees. We've only lost 0.5 brix in the last 24 hours (down to 8) so fermentation is definitely slowing down. We theorize we're approaching the 16% alcohol tolerance of the yeast.  The sugar levels are still about 1-2 points higher than our target so we decided to let the must continue to ferment. 

 

We decided to add some more Everclear to whack the yeast one more time and stirred it in well, pouring 1/2 the volume into a separate container to help fully mix it.  We added 1.75 liters, which should be enough to raise the alcohol by 1-1.5 %. We figured having it in contact with the skins would help the flavor more than adding it after we press.  This may be enough alcohol to finish the port, or we may have to add another bottle. Our target alcohol level is 18-20% and after pressing I am guessing it be around 17-18%.

 

Note: After adding the bottle of Everclear this morning I re-measured the Brix and they dropped 1/2 point from 8 to 7.5.  So our adjusted target Brix is 6 - 7.

We filled the warm water jugs to help keep the must warm enough to ferment and we will meet again Monday evening at 7:30pm to taste and decide when to press. It is likely that we will do it Monday evening, although this group does love it's time on the skins so we may let them sit for a few more days too.

 

For reference, we are following the Small Producer Port process in the arthcile " Making Port Wine by Lum Eisenman".

http://www.sdaws.org/News/Articles/documents/Making%20Port.pdf 

 

Yesterday we also racked ID Cab and Cab Franc off the gross lees.  Tried a trial blend of 10% cab franc and 90% cab. Everyone liked it and thought the combination of the 2 was better than the individual parts.

Fortification!

The Petit Sirah Brix were down to 12.5 this morning and we fortified it with 1.78G of 95% Everclear and 1.75 liters of 75% Everclear.  That's enough to safely take it up to 18% and be able to press as hard as we want.  We poured the must over the Ever Clear and mixed it well and then poured it back into the barrel and stirred well.  The spirits definitely thinned it down and you can taste the higher alcohol.  We will let it sit a day and press it on Saturday.  That will give it 13 days on the skins.

 

The must temp dropped to 58 degrees because the Everclear was very cold from sitting in the garage. We've added some hot jugs of water to try and raise the temp as we still want to get another 2-3 brix reduction (our goal is 9 brix residual).  We will monitor it and decide if we need to change the pressing date.

 

P. Sirah at 18 Brix

Punch down continues on the petite sirah. It is fermenting well and
getting less dense. Temp is 63, which is at the minimum for this
yeast. We're getting good extraction.

Brix dropped 2.5 to 18 in the last 24 hours, which is less than the
day before. We have 6-8 more brix to go, which puts fortification
likely on Thursday and pressing on Sat.

We will continue to monitor brix and watch for the 10-12 brix window.
When we fortify we need to mix extra well to stop fermentation.

P. Sirah Update

As of 3:20pm on Sunday the Petite Sirah is fermenting well. We mixed it up well. Temp is 67-68 degrees and Brix are at 25 (down from 28).  Color and flavor are FABULOUS!

 

The target brix for adding the spirits is 10-12 brix with a target residual of 9 brix. When we add the spirits we will need to pour back and forth between 2 containers to ensure that fermentation is stopped. 

 

Now that the temps are up we expect fermentation to accelerate. We will continue to punch down frequently the next couple of days and monitor brix. We estimate adding the spirits on Wednesday and pressing Friday morning.  We might have to shift the dates 1 day either way based on fermentation--we can't miss the window of 10-12 brix.  Lee leaves town for the holidays on Wednesday so Troy will continue to punch down and monitor brix if needed.

 

We estimate 32G of must.  The yield of wine on Roger's petite sirah was 66%. If we get the same yield on Larry's grapes we will get 21G of wine (we should press lightly so we may get less volume).  Using the fortification calculator on www.vinoencology.com we would get a port with a residual sugar of 8-9 brix and an alcohol level of 17%.  For Port we would like at least 18% alcohol so we may add some extra lower proof spirits. It would take 1.5L of the 75% spirits to boost us the extra 1% percent.  That happens to be exactly how much we have!  So it sounds like we should name our port "Destiny". :o)

 

The group plans to bottle some more of the Reisling on Wednesday morning at 10am.  Bob has some bottles de-labeled.  There are about 300 corks in the garage.

P. Sirah Port Innoculated

We inoculated the Petite Sirah tonight. We used a reduced amount of yeast and nutrient (4 packages of RC212).  We had cooled the grape must down to 48 degrees so we heated up some juice and stirred it into the top layer so the yeast could start. After it gets going it should generate it's own heat.

We will start a rigorous punch-down on Friday and monitor the brix to know when to add the Everclear--once the brix drop between 11-12 brix.  Mike will bring the everclear over to the garage so we can add it at a moments notice.

 

Lee brought out a 20 year old home made zin of his. It was terrific! We were all impressed.

Syrah & P. Sirah Racked

We racked the Hells Canyon Syrah and Williamson Petite Sirah off the gross lees tonight.  The syrah had a bit of a funky smell so we're glad we got it racked. The Petite Syrah continues to taste good.  We still need to rack the cabernet and cab franc off the gross lees. The sooner the better.  We topped the 08 reserve cabs. They are coming along very well.

 

We discussed the port option with the extra Petite Sirah we got from Larry. Mike brought a Bogle Petite Sirah ruby style port for us to taste and help make a decision. Everyone liked the port and we decided to give it a try. Lee was in Twin Falls but we know he is wanting to make the port and will be happy with the decision.

 

We are going to use the method of fortification partway through fermentation. Since this reduces the time on the skins we decided to continue a cold-soak for a couple more days. The juice was at 58 degrees and showing no signs of activity.  We added 2 frozen 1G water jugs to help cool the juice more and we expect to inoculate on Thursday.  To help improve extraction we talked about doing a submerged cap and punching down 1x a day--or punching down 6x a day.

 

We'll use a reduced amount of GoFerm and the RC212 yeast (with a tolerance of 16% alcohol) to try and slow fermentation. Starting Brix is 26.5. Once we hit about 10-12 brix (4-5 days?) we will add 2G - 2.5G of Everclear to boost the alcohol and stop fermentation. It will take a day or so to stop and then we will press (the cap should fall).  Then it will be winemaking as normal with the exception of keeping the sulfites a little higher to keep any bacterial growth down because of the residual sugars.  We will store the wine in stainless and glass until we bottle the reserve in the spring and then we'll move it into a barrel.

 

We expect to get about 22G total port (20G wine and 2G Everclear) with around 18% alcohol and 8 brix of residual sugar.

Fwd: Gross Lees

Mis-posted to the expenses blog. Forwarding into the Winemaker Blog

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Troy Pearse <ttpearse@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 10:57 PM
Subject: Gross Lees
To: Riverwoods Expenses <ttpearse.riverwoods-expenses@blogger.com>

We racked the Clone-6 Cabernet and the Malbec off of the gross lees.  Both are looking good. The Clone-6 flavors were already improved from when we pressed.  We still need to rack the Syrah and Petite Sirah followed by the Cabernet and Cab Franc.

 

We cleaned out Lee's 15G French barrel with ProxyClean and did a meta/citric rinse. It will dry a couple days and we'll smell it to see if it's cleaned-up.  Then we'll rack some Cabernet into it.

 

We reviewed winery 2009 expenses.  Everything looks good except we need to check with Bob for expenses related to building wine carts.  On average we calculated each bottle of wine is $3.25.  What a bargain! 

Larry's Petite Sirah

Larry had some late Petite Sirah we ended up picking up. He picked it on Friday, Nov 13th and he crushed it for us today, Nov 15th. There is approx 31G of must, which is sanitized and in 2 plastic barrels. We will innoculate on Tuesday using the RC212 yeast and GoFerm.

 

26.5 Brix

3.2 PH (Looks like the cold nights really helped keep the PH down)

 

The group will decide if we want to do an additional 20G of Petite Sirah or wine or if we want to try doing some port.  The basic approach for making port is to ferment 1/2 of the sugar and then add alcohol (everclear?) to stop fermentation.

 

 

Cabernet Pressed

We pressed the Williamson Cabernet and Hells Canyon Cab Franc tonight. Prelim tastings of the cab + cab franc are very encouraging. We're all excited about the blending potential.

 

This year's Williamson Cabernet was terrific! Maybe the best we've ever pressed. We pressed the cabernet very hard and the flavors just got better and better. The bin was free from stems and there wasn't much seeds contact so we never got the bitter green branch flavors.

 

- We pressed 6.5-7G of Cab Franc from 10G of Must (65-70% yield)

 

- We pressed 97G of Cabernet from 135G of Must (72% yield -- pressing very hard).

 

35G of the cabernet went home with Tom and Michele.  The rest is in a 15G Hungarian and 22G French barrel plus a 15G SS keg & 10G in carboys. We have Lee's 15G French barrel cleaning with some ProxyClean. Once it's ready we'll rack into it.

 

We plan to start racking wine off of the gross lees tomorrow night (7pm), starting with the Clone-6 Cab, Syrah and Malbec.

 

 

Petite Syrah Pressed

Saturday, Oct 31st Bob, Lee, and Ray pressed the Petite Syrah. Wonderful flavor. No taste of seeds or stems. Good fruit. We got enough to fill the ReCoop barrel, a 15.5 gal stainless keg and a little more that a gallon extra. The Cab and the Cab Franc ars still fermenting.

Malbec Bottled

Thursday Oct 29th Lee, bob, Sharon and Ray bottled the '08 Malbec. There were 2 batches. The Washington Malbec had a bit of an off flavor and aroma so it was bottled separately from the Idaho Malbec. We bottled about 7 cases of the Washington wine and 6 cases of the Idaho wine. We held back 3 gallons of the Idaho Malbec to be used for blending next spring. The Idaho Malbec seemed to be pretty good and the Washington Malbec was not so good. The fermenters were checked and the Petite Syrah was noted to be at 0 brix. Time to press.

Syrah/Malbec/Clone-6 Pressed

We pressed the Syrah, Malbec and Clone-6 Cabernet tonight. We pressed the Syrah and Cab pretty hard and the Malbec moderate. We're out of carboys and need to bottle last year's Malbec to free up the barrel and carboys.

 

Syrah:  68G Must and 48.5G of wine. (71% yield)

- 30G Hungarian barrel

- 12G carboys (plus 6.5 G went home with Jim).

 

Clone-6 Cab:  56G Must and 38.5G of wine (69% yield)

- 30G French barrel

- 8.5G carboys

 

Malbec: 38-40G Must and 27.5G wine (69-71% yield)

- 15G American barrel 

- 12.5G carboys

 

We also racked the Merlot off the gross lees.