Turkovich Wine Harvest 2016 Week 2

And Then Reality Sets In
A Rite of Passage for a Wino 

August 

Week 2 

 Aug. 9th 2016
A frolicking we will go, or more like a mission through the many red wine variety vineyards in order to collect grapes for analysis, to see if any are ready to be harvested. 

Tempranillo Vines 

 Cutting for samples to see if the grapes are ready for harvest.
We skip every few rows, take cuttings of the bottom of the cluster (walk 10 steps) take cuttings from the middle of the cluster (walk 10 steps) then take cuttings from the top of the clusters; all while going from left to right down a row until the row is finished.  It is also important to not 'choose' the grapes! If you go around choosing the bunches that you think look the best, or favor, then you are not sampling the true expression of that vineyard lot.
No picking favorites! 

From WineFolly.com

Grenacha Vines 

Learn more at WineFolly.com

Mourvedre Vines

Want to know more? check out Winefolly.com

Walking up the hill and snipping away, when I finally reached the top the view just took my breath away! I wish I could sit down, have a picnic and a glass, soak up the sun and bask in this feeling of euphoria.

Petite Sirah Vines  

Get the full story at WineFolly.com

Young Cabernet Sauvignon Vines 

Provided by WineFolly.com

 Aug. 10th 2016
Punching Down


At this point the grapes have been put through the destemmer, crushed, and put into open fermentation bins. Once fermentation begins, the skins in the bins of the fermenting red are pushed upwards to the top of the must (juice), where they form a thick layer that is called the "cap"
The cap is left in order to extract color, flavor, and tannins; but in order to extract richer color, flavor, and tannins the cap needs to be punched down in order to mix through the liquid each day.

Other Benefits of Punching Down

"-During the early stages of fermentation, the physical act of punching down helps introduce oxygen to your yeast cells, helping them "kick start" fermentation.

-Punching down helps mix the yeast into the must.

-It helps keep harmful bacteria or mold from forming that could ruin your wine.

-It ensures color, flavor, tannins and other phenolic compounds are added to your wine.

-Punching down helps dissipate heat that naturally occurs during fermentation. Left alone, the cap can reach high temperatures, providing an environment that helps grow harmful bacteria." ~GrapeStompers

Cap before it is punched

Punching down the cap is done twice a day and it is truly a workout! 

This is only the first red fermenting, imagine punching down twice a day to 20 other reds.

The cap is almost all the way punched down.

Checking on how the wine is moving along

In the beginning of the day, all fermenting grape musts need to be tested on density and temperature to ensure they are moving along during the fermentation process properly. If the must is too cold, the fermentation stops, and the yeast dies! If the must is too hot, the potential wine could lose all of its aromas. 

Siphoning wine out of the White Estate Blend currently fermenting, to do a density and temperature test.

 It's quite the task to siphon this wine, due to the CO2, it takes your breath away!

Using the hydrometer to read the density of the fermenting grape juice.

 The higher the density of the sample, the less the hydrometer will sink.

The lower the density of the sample, the more the hydrometer will sink, the more the fermentation is progressing.

Density test being conducted

During the beginning stages of fermentation, nutrients are added to the fermenting wines in order to keep the potential wine healthy and happy; if not healthy and closely monitored, the yeast will eat whatever is in front of it!  Think of it as letting a child loose in a candy store....disaster!

What are yeast nutrients?
"For our purposes here, we'll broadly define a "nutrient" as anything your wine yeast needs in order to survive, ranging from food, vitamins, and chemicals to the air and everything in between."

Why should I care about yeast nutrients?
"If your wine doesn't have enough nutrients in it for the yeast to work, you might end up having a stuck fermentation. Worse yet, you may even ruin your wine due to hydrogen sulfide contamination (a symptom of which is a "rotten egg" smell) caused by a lack of nitrogen and a vitamin known as pantothenic acid." ~GrapeStompers

Getting yeast nutrients ready 

Keeping track of how the wine is  progressing

Aug. 11th 2016
Fining Wine

What is Bentonite?
"Bentonite is an impure clay formed by the weathering of volcanic ash. It is an absorbent material that is able to bond with the floating particles that cause cloudiness in wine.
The main types used to fine wine are sodium and calcium bentonite. While each will contain small amounts of other minerals they are described by the mineral that is in greatest concentration."~Winemakersacademy

Bentonite (clay of volcanic origin)
Adding bentonite helps improve the clarity achieved by sedimentation by encouraging the smallest non-colloid particles to clump together and deposit.
It is also used to remove colloids that might cause a haze or deposit after bottling and it can be used to alter the flavor and character of a wine.

Provided by WineSkills.co

"The molecules of these unstable colloids carry an electrostatic charge. This is the same charge for each molecule - these like-charged molecules repel each other, which keep them apart – keeping them suspended and rendering them invisible. With age and changes in temperature or light, the molecules lose their charge, enabling them to clump together (flocculate). This material is harmless and tasteless, but can form a haze or deposit in the wine." ~Wineskills.co.uk

Provided by WineSkills.co

Aug. 11th 2016
Yeast Inoculation


Capay Valley Vineyards has just delivered their Viognier grape must, and is having Turkovich Family Wines, make the wine for them.
We must get this juice in the tank, and get the temperature just right for inoculation of grape juice.
 If the temperature is too cold, the yeast starts to die off or sleep (9 degrees Celsius or 48.2 degrees  Fahrenheit)
Too hot? Yeast can't survive in more than 34 degrees Celsius/93.2 degrees Fahrenheit

Thirsty for more? Check out this article on The Role of Yeast in Wine by WineTurtle

Article on Choosing a Wine Making Yeast

Inoculation of grape juice

Getting the inoculated  juice down to within 10 degrees of the must already in the tank. When adding inoculated juice we do not want to shock the wine already in the tank....just like introducing a new fish to a fish tank.

It takes time to get the temperature just right.





The First Racking of Our Viognier
Removing the Pulp

It's always a busy day at the winery! If there aren't grapes to be pressed, must to be fermented, something to punched down, tanks/bins to be sanitized, and on and on the list can go....there is wine to be racked.

Gassing the tank, we need to make sure there is no oxygen in here to greet out Viognier.

When racking, juice will be moved from on tank to another.  You don't want any juice to escape from its new holding place so  always make sure doors, valves, and even tiny sampling valves are closed! You don't want a wine fountain to occur and spark madness in the cellar. 

If you are a fan of Legos, you'll love setting everything up and hooking the many hoses to the many places they need  to go.  

Looking glass is hooked up and ready.

Juice is running clear, racking has begun, now it's a waiting game and it's only a matter of  time before we start to see sediment/lees/pulp, that means the waiting game is over. 

Up goes clear juice to a new tank, and down into the sewer goes the sediment from the bottom of the old tank