Eat, Sleep, Clean, Repeat
A Rite of Passage for a Wino
September
Week 2
Tuesday
September 6th 2016
Winemaker Chris Turkovich, "Did you have any idea how much cleaning was involved when you signed up for this job?"
Me, "Well....I knew it was going to be hard work, but when I pictured hard work I thought of harvesting grapes, punching down reds, racking, getting skins out of tanks, and things along that line."
But that's pretty much the romanticized version of wine harvest! Yes, you'll crush wine; you'll press it. You'll rack tanks, punch down reds, pump over reds, you might even do some lees stirring of wines maturing in oak barrels, but...the destemmer, press, bins, tanks, etc....don't clean and sanitize their selves!
Currently, almost all the stainless steel tank space is taken up, there are 15 bins of reds fermenting, a few whites that are almost finished fermenting and need to be racked, and still about 17 more varieties to be harvested. That means cleaning, scrubbing, sanitizing! and just when you think it is done, the process happens all over again. Your back will hurt if you don't stretch! Get a back brace. You will wake up with sore hands or at least I do! I recommend hot showers, tiger balm oil, and pain killers on days when it's really bad.
But with doing all this, there is a sense of accomplishment, especially if you are not use to a labor intensive job. You may also start to feel more fit! I know I have, and am becoming stronger everyday. =)
A Rite of Passage for a Wino
September
Week 2
Tuesday
September 6th 2016
Winemaker Chris Turkovich, "Did you have any idea how much cleaning was involved when you signed up for this job?"
Me, "Well....I knew it was going to be hard work, but when I pictured hard work I thought of harvesting grapes, punching down reds, racking, getting skins out of tanks, and things along that line."
But that's pretty much the romanticized version of wine harvest! Yes, you'll crush wine; you'll press it. You'll rack tanks, punch down reds, pump over reds, you might even do some lees stirring of wines maturing in oak barrels, but...the destemmer, press, bins, tanks, etc....don't clean and sanitize their selves!
Currently, almost all the stainless steel tank space is taken up, there are 15 bins of reds fermenting, a few whites that are almost finished fermenting and need to be racked, and still about 17 more varieties to be harvested. That means cleaning, scrubbing, sanitizing! and just when you think it is done, the process happens all over again. Your back will hurt if you don't stretch! Get a back brace. You will wake up with sore hands or at least I do! I recommend hot showers, tiger balm oil, and pain killers on days when it's really bad.
But with doing all this, there is a sense of accomplishment, especially if you are not use to a labor intensive job. You may also start to feel more fit! I know I have, and am becoming stronger everyday. =)
Doing an Open Pump Over
This type of pump over takes place early in the fermentation process. By doing an open pump over this will allow for more heat to dissipate and a bit more oxygen contact which can help blow off the issues of reduction during the winemaking process, another important part of doing this is also to insure yeast reproduction go smoothly.
What is reduction and why does introducing oxygen help?
"Oxydation-Reduction Potential:
How It Effects The Chemical Matrix of Wine
Before we get into the technical aspects of adding oxygen to the must, now is a good time to review the other part of the system, the phenomenon of oxidation-reduction and how it effects the chemical matrix of a wine. The term “Redox Potential” effectively refers to a wine’s state of balance between its level of off-smelling sulfur-based compounds1 (ex: H2S) and the amount of available oxygen. When present, oxygen beneficially counteracts these compounds. However, when a wine contains a higher amount of these negative sulfur-based compounds and not enough available oxygen to mitigate all of them, then by definition you have a reduced pool of oxygen from which the offending sulfur compounds could have been counteracted (but weren’t). This wine is then referred to as being “reduced.” Wines that are in this “reduced” state often have off-sulfur odour defects, so this term is usually used to denote a wine with these flaws. In addition to a wine’s aromas being adversely affected by off-smelling Volatile Sulfur Compounds (VSCs), mouthfeel is also negatively impacted. Negative VSCs aggravate the perception of pH and tannin, and can actually render a wine more aggressive and harsh when they are present.
It is important to note that not all VSC’s are bad. In fact many are quite desirable:
• Volatile sulfur based compounds known as “thiols” are found in Sauvignon Blanc and these are responsible for giving flavours of passion fruit, citrus zest, smoke and flint.
• Smoke, leather & spice are positive VSC’s in Syrah. So, be careful as over-oxygenation can remove the good with the bad.
Oxygen, when added to the fermenting must helps to limit the impact of negative VSCs in two ways. The first, as mentioned above, by allowing the yeast to synthesize the fatty acids and sterols needed to keep their cell wall transport mechanisms healthy. This allows them to better cope with the stresses encountered during fermentation and therefore limits the amount of negative VSCs produced in the first place.
Second, oxygen counteracts whatever amount of VSCs that may already be present by raising the redox potential of the wine. All fermentations produce sulfur-based compounds and it is not possible (or even desirable) to completely eliminate them from your winemaking. Rather, the goal is to try and limit the impact that the negative ones may have on your wine and oxygen can be a useful tool to help do just that. Finally, as another positive chemical reaction, in addition to limiting the formation of off-sulfur compounds, oxygen has the added benefit of helping to stabilize color in a red wine. It does this by reacting with the alcohol in the must to form aldehydes, which in turn react with anthocyanin (blue pigment) and tannins to form more stable molecules. Tannins are also chemically changed through oxidative reactions and can evolve to become more complex and rounded." ~morewinemaking.com
Malolactic Fermentation
The 1st fermentation is done and now we are ready for the 2nd fermentation, malolactic fermentation. We use this process to ferment malic acid to lactic acid; malic acid is a hard acid much like the sensation you get from eating tart granny smith apples, lactic acid is a softer and more rounder acid which gives off a smoother buttery like feel.
All reds will go through malolactic fermentation, but whites won't always go through this process. Chardonnay is a common white grape variety that may go through malolactic fermentation, but this all depends on the style of Chardonnay the winemaker is trying to achieve; a winemaker can also choose to put this variety through partial MLF, full MLF, or no MLF at all.
Like in the Work Order Below
Take malic(2g) with the addition of bacteria, and we ferment it to lactic acid, we get a half reaction, so 2g of malic acid becomes (1g) of lactic acid. Climate also plays a part, a warmer region will typically have low malic acids, but a cooler region will have higher malic acids; the higher the malic acids the more there is to convert into lactic acids creating a more buttery wine.
When does MLF occur
It can start before primary fermentation: For example, when a winery decides to do a cold maceration, at this time wild bacteria can start a natural malolactic fermentation, but will stop as soon as a primary fermentation takes place.
After primary fermentation: The most common procedure
Want to know more about MLF?
This type of pump over takes place early in the fermentation process. By doing an open pump over this will allow for more heat to dissipate and a bit more oxygen contact which can help blow off the issues of reduction during the winemaking process, another important part of doing this is also to insure yeast reproduction go smoothly.
What is reduction and why does introducing oxygen help?
"Oxydation-Reduction Potential:
How It Effects The Chemical Matrix of Wine
Before we get into the technical aspects of adding oxygen to the must, now is a good time to review the other part of the system, the phenomenon of oxidation-reduction and how it effects the chemical matrix of a wine. The term “Redox Potential” effectively refers to a wine’s state of balance between its level of off-smelling sulfur-based compounds1 (ex: H2S) and the amount of available oxygen. When present, oxygen beneficially counteracts these compounds. However, when a wine contains a higher amount of these negative sulfur-based compounds and not enough available oxygen to mitigate all of them, then by definition you have a reduced pool of oxygen from which the offending sulfur compounds could have been counteracted (but weren’t). This wine is then referred to as being “reduced.” Wines that are in this “reduced” state often have off-sulfur odour defects, so this term is usually used to denote a wine with these flaws. In addition to a wine’s aromas being adversely affected by off-smelling Volatile Sulfur Compounds (VSCs), mouthfeel is also negatively impacted. Negative VSCs aggravate the perception of pH and tannin, and can actually render a wine more aggressive and harsh when they are present.
It is important to note that not all VSC’s are bad. In fact many are quite desirable:
• Volatile sulfur based compounds known as “thiols” are found in Sauvignon Blanc and these are responsible for giving flavours of passion fruit, citrus zest, smoke and flint.
• Smoke, leather & spice are positive VSC’s in Syrah. So, be careful as over-oxygenation can remove the good with the bad.
Oxygen, when added to the fermenting must helps to limit the impact of negative VSCs in two ways. The first, as mentioned above, by allowing the yeast to synthesize the fatty acids and sterols needed to keep their cell wall transport mechanisms healthy. This allows them to better cope with the stresses encountered during fermentation and therefore limits the amount of negative VSCs produced in the first place.
Second, oxygen counteracts whatever amount of VSCs that may already be present by raising the redox potential of the wine. All fermentations produce sulfur-based compounds and it is not possible (or even desirable) to completely eliminate them from your winemaking. Rather, the goal is to try and limit the impact that the negative ones may have on your wine and oxygen can be a useful tool to help do just that. Finally, as another positive chemical reaction, in addition to limiting the formation of off-sulfur compounds, oxygen has the added benefit of helping to stabilize color in a red wine. It does this by reacting with the alcohol in the must to form aldehydes, which in turn react with anthocyanin (blue pigment) and tannins to form more stable molecules. Tannins are also chemically changed through oxidative reactions and can evolve to become more complex and rounded." ~morewinemaking.com
 |
| Out comes the juice and the it is pumped over the cap/skins that have been pushed to the top of the grape must. |
Malolactic Fermentation
The 1st fermentation is done and now we are ready for the 2nd fermentation, malolactic fermentation. We use this process to ferment malic acid to lactic acid; malic acid is a hard acid much like the sensation you get from eating tart granny smith apples, lactic acid is a softer and more rounder acid which gives off a smoother buttery like feel.
All reds will go through malolactic fermentation, but whites won't always go through this process. Chardonnay is a common white grape variety that may go through malolactic fermentation, but this all depends on the style of Chardonnay the winemaker is trying to achieve; a winemaker can also choose to put this variety through partial MLF, full MLF, or no MLF at all.
Like in the Work Order Below
Take malic(2g) with the addition of bacteria, and we ferment it to lactic acid, we get a half reaction, so 2g of malic acid becomes (1g) of lactic acid. Climate also plays a part, a warmer region will typically have low malic acids, but a cooler region will have higher malic acids; the higher the malic acids the more there is to convert into lactic acids creating a more buttery wine.
When does MLF occur
It can start before primary fermentation: For example, when a winery decides to do a cold maceration, at this time wild bacteria can start a natural malolactic fermentation, but will stop as soon as a primary fermentation takes place.
After primary fermentation: The most common procedure
Want to know more about MLF?
Adding nutrients to make sure our bacteria gets the best start possible
 |
| Hydrating our bacteria and nutrients which gets them ready for inoculation |
 |
| Dissolve the nutrients |
 |
| Add bacteria to the nutrients |
 |
| Mix bacteria and nutrients together |
 |
| Add/mix in a bit of the wine that will be going through MLF |
Saturday
September 10th 2016
Custom Crush Grenache
A variety famed in the sin kissed Southern Rhone region of France, as well as Priorat, Spain. Yolo County, California is the perfect place for Grenache since this variety needs plenty of heat to ripen fully.
Typically light in body and tannin, this red often displays flavors of strawberry, cherry, raspberry, and distinct spice notes of orange rind, star anise, and at times dried herbs, tobacco, and licorice.
Meats covered in herbs or Northern Indian cuisine would wonderfully complement the spice notes in Grenache; and with this variety being low in tannin it makes it less of a troublesome partner to spice heavy masala curries.
Fall is approaching in America, which means baking spices and pumpkin everything! Dessert wine and pumpkin pie....I wonder.....
"Dessert Wine from Grenache
Rasteau, Maury and Banyuls are all fortified dessert wines called “vin doux naturel” from France made with Grenache. The production of vin doux naturel is similar to making Port wine." ~WineFolly
I'll have to go on a search for this and see if the pairing is a match made in heaven.
Our Vaca Moutain Zinfandel has Arrived
This high altitude Zinfandel comes from the Vaca Range, being up high, these vines are shielded from the scorching heat of the Central Valley.
Black fruit, bramble, herb, and savory notes with a refreshing acidity is what you'll find with Zins coming from this region. Backyard BBQs and herb crusted lamb are my go to pairings for a bottle of lush vine in the sky Zins.
Wine Folly always has some wonderful tips regarding Zinfandel,
"Hot Tip! High Elevation
Look for Zinfandels from high elevation areas (such as Howell Mountain or El Dorado County). High elevation Zinfandels tend to have more savory intensity and richness.
Red Zinfandel (Primitivo) Wine Characteristics
FRUIT FLAVORS (berries, fruit, citrus) Raspberry, Black Cherry, Blackberry, Blueberry, Black Currant, Black Plum, Raisin, Fig, Apricot, Cranberry Jam, Jammy/Brambly Fruit
OTHER AROMAS (herb, spice, flower, mineral, earth, other) Licorice, Star Anise, Smoke, Black Pepper, Black Cardamom
OAK FLAVORS (flavors added with oak aging) Vanilla, Coconut, Nutmeg, Peach Yogurt, Mocha, Burnt Sugar, Coffee, Cinnamon, Clove, Tobacco, Fresh Sawdust" ~WineFollyGuidetoZinfandel
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