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Whether the wine is in barrels at a winery or carboys at home, there isn’t as much activity to do with the wine during the winter and spring months. Occasionally I’ll glance at the carboys and then go on with what I was doing. Yesterday, after a seven-day visit to Virginia wineries, I glanced at the carboys. One didn’t look right.
The liquid in my Cabernet Sauvignon 5-gallon carboy airlock had turned a pinkish color. Upon closer inspection, I notices about a 3/8” piece of mold growing on the inside of the airlock above the level of the liquid. Obviously I was concerned. My first inclination was to look at the surface of the wine and smell it. The surface looked fine and the aroma seemed good. So my next task was to clean the airlock and sanitize it.
This is the first time I experienced a color change and mold growing in the airlock. Should I be concerned? Should I have done more than inspecting and cleaning? What caused the color of the liquid to change to pink? Why did the mold form? Could something be wrong?
Winemakers have different thoughts about making wine. Since winemakers began making wine, they had to learn how to control what they were making. While at Vint Hill Craft Winery in Virginia during the autumn, I added several winemaking products to the fermentation bin. One of these products was Lafase® HE Grand Cru by Laffort. This enzyme enhanced the extraction of soft tannins and flavors from the cell wall of mature fruit. I then added VR Supra, also by Laffort to the fermentation bin. This fermentation tannin helped to keep indigenous tannins in the must rather than those tannins precipitating out.
Later in autumn I added several winemaking products to the barrel. Tan’Cor by Laffort was added to help improve the wine’s structure and help protect the wine from oxidation. Next I added Tan’Cor Grand Cru and Quertanin by Laffort to help with the wine’s structure and wood nuances. Other products were also added to the fermentation bin and barrel. Most of the products were produced by Laffort, and I was curious to learn more about this company.
At the recent Wineries Unlimited Trade Show in suburban Philadelphia, I met Philippe Guillomet and Charlotte Gourraud from Laffort. Philippe explained that the Laffort family was originally pharmacists. During the nineteenth century, French winemakers did not have labs at their wineries to analyze their wines. It was the practice to take wine to a pharmicist to analyze. The Laffort company was founded in 1895 in Bordeaux, France. During its early years the company was involved in a curative form of onelogy as winemakers were trying to fix problems. Now, Laffort has evolved into a preventative form of oneology so winemakers can help avoid defects in the wine.
Winemakers who use Laffort products can create a consistency in their wines. These winemaking products can help to express the best the vineyard has to offer. Laffort makes a large array of products that winemakers use throughout the world in over 50 countries. These include yeasts, enzymes, nutrients, lactic acid bacteria, tannins and many others. Although their products are sold to commercial wineries, home winemakers can buy smaller quantities of winemaking products at some suppliers such as Presque Isle Wine Cellars.
An excelent source of information about winemaking products can be found in the Fermentation Handbook published by Scott Laboratories. This yearly publication has good descriptions of winemaking products and short articles about using them. Visit the Scott Laboratories website to download the Fermentation Handbook.
For the past three years winemakers and owners have encouraged us to attend Wineries Unlimited, the largest wine and vineyard related conference and trade show east of the Rocky Mountains. This event has occurred yearly since 1976. Produced by Vineyard and Winery Management magazine, the event takes place in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania from March 9th to the 12th. We will attend the trade show on the 10th and blog and tweet about the trade show.
The exhibition area takes up two floors of the convention center where about 225 companies and 315 booths will entice attendees to stop by and learn about vineyard and wine-related products and services. Obviously we will be unable to cover that number in one day. I visited the Wineries Unlimited website for the current list of exhibitors and selected several that I would like to visit. My list grew to 33 so I will need to be somewhat selective within that group.
Many attendees are winemakers and growers. They can purchase much of the materials that they need for the year at this venue. Winemakers may buy barrels, bottles, corks, chemicals, equipment, etc. while growers may purchase vines, soil test equipment or machinery. There are booths that will be of interest to tasting room managers. Colleges will also be on hand to promote their viticulture and enology programs. The conference gives attendees a heads up on new products.
In addition to the trade show, there are four days of seminars in the categories of viticulture, enology and finance, management and marketing. Winemakers have mentioned that they attend this conference to learn about winemaking, especially new research and practices. They also network with other winemakers, growers and business industry representatives. We are looking forward to attending the trade show.
We had an opportunity to help winemaker Dave Zuchero at Tine Lizzie Wineworks in Clarksville, Maryland yesterday. The sun was radiant which helped melt the several feet of snow. Yesterday was one of the first days since the back-to-back blizzards hit the area earlier this month, which Dave was able to drive to the winery. The pastoral country setting looked beautiful, however winds kept part of the roadway covered with snow. It did get plowed, but then was quickly filled again.
Our task at hand was to rack wine from a stainless steel tank to a container, clean the stainless steel tank and then rack the wine back again into the tank. We also tested the pH and sulfates. Dave will bottle the wine soon. We did add some tartaric acid to the wine to lower the pH 3.7 to 3.6. The sulfates were a bit low, so sulfates were also added to the wine.
Dave then tested the wine in three barrels that seem to have stalled with malolactic fermentation. He was testing a new product that resembled litmus paper. Placing a measured quantity of wine on the strip and waiting for a specified amount of time, one can match the color or the strip to a color chart indicating the progress of the malolactic fermentation. The Syrah barrels had a way to go. The chardonnay barrel may need to reinoculated.
As the wine ages during the winter there are always winery tasks to address. Sampling the wine, testing it and topping off the barrels are a few of these winery tasks.
The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon made with grapes from Arciero Vineyard in Paso Robles has been aging in French oak since it was racked to the barrel last November. Recent data from Virginia Tech indicated that malolactic fermentation is complete. At present the wine has a slight dark berry aroma and taste. There are oak nuances and good tannins on the finish. The pH level was at 4.1, a bit high, so we experimented with adding one gram of tartaric acid per liter. After one gram of tartaric acid was added to the wine, the fruit aroma and taste began to become more prevalent and tannins deminished. At two grams of tartaric acid per liter of wine, there was more fruit on the aroma and taste. A softer mouth feel was noticeable. The wine was becoming too crisp for a Cabernet Sauvignon after the fourth gram of tartaric acid was added to the trial liter. We experimented with adding aging tannins. Three different aging tannins will be added to the barrel. The wine is quite young and will remain in French oak for another year.
Winter seems like a good time to take another online class at Washington State University. These classes are a good value. You have until December 31st to complete access to the class. This class is Sensory Evaluation taught by Dr. Carolyn Ross. The class format includes a video and PowerPoint presentation. You can print the presentation and use it to take notes while viewing the video that you should download to your computer. The video also shows the PowerPoint presentation and Dr. Ross. Immediately you connect with the instructor who is from Canada. I thought she was after hearing her pronunciation of “process.” Later she stated she was from Canada.
The first lesson included information about human senses and the need to apply the scientific method to sensory evaluation. The scientific method is a recurring theme of this course. There is a slight negative view toward experts who evaluate wine, who may have biases. In lieu of experts it is suggested to have a panel that can evaluate a wine using quantifiable data. Data can then be analyzed and results interpreted. Eight members on the panel would be an appropriate size.
The class then shifted to a discussion of taste, wine quality and sensory attributes. An overview of the tasting process was presented. When determining a wine’s quality, it is important to not take into account whether you like the wine or don’t like the wine.
This class seems to have a wide spread appeal to more than winemakers. Wine writers and consumers may enjoy the class and broaden their understanding of sensory evaluation. Home winemakers should consider taking the class. The first wine Dr. Ross mentioned was rhubarb wine. I’m looking forward to future lessons.
You make a barrel or two of wine and are asked to design the label. Little did I realize that the label is going to take longer to create than the wine took to ferment. The wine I made and bottled at home during 2009 had no labels. However, now that I am making more wine, I should probably label my bottles at home so I will know what is in them. I will also have to design a label for wine made at Vint Hill Craft Winery and Tin Lizzie Wineworks.
In this entry, I’ll discuss the labels for the wines made at home and Tin Lizzie. Those wines will not be sold. They are for personal use. I believe that they do not require the government portion of wine bottle labels required for wine that can be sold. Please correct me if I am wrong.
 Label design is easier said than done. Once on the bottle, I don’t plan to take it off and put a newly designed label on. I need to get it right on the first try. Since I plan to give some of the wine as gifts, the label has to be meaningful. This past Christmas, I gave several bottles of the mead I bottled in 2009 as gifts. The mead was made from honey from my wife’s family homestead. I decide to call the mead, “A Taste of Home.” For decades we observed, photographed and drew pictures of a lone tree in the field at the Marcellus property. My son, Kevin, painted a picture of the tree and field and I used a photo of his painting as a part of the label. The label made a big impression on one family member who received some of the mead as a gift. Hopefully the mead also made an impression.
The design for the mead was easy from the standpoint that there was a story to tell. Now I have to design a label for some Cabernet Sauvignon that I have at home and at Tin Lizzie. Other than having the words “Cabernet Sauvignon 2009” I am not certain what else to add or what image to use. Of all the decisions for winemaking, the label seems to demand the most time and thought.
 The wine I bottle at home does not have foil or wax covering the opening. It is easy to observe the cork for mold or seepage of wine through the cork. At wine stores and wineries since most wines are covered in foil, one cannot observe the cork. A wine with mold on the cork may not be discovered until you are home and opening the wine. Why do wineries cover the bottle with foil or wax?
Bradley Brown, proprietor and winemaker at Big Basin Vineyards in Boulder Creek, California explains in a video that the practice serves no purpose. Historically it may have been done to prevent tampering with the wine, such as emptying the bottle and refilling it with a less desirable wine. I’ve also heard that some producers would not fill the entire bottle and the foil covered how full it was. Bradley has begun to leave the foil off Big Basin Vineyards’ wines.
January is another one of those decision months. Should I use foil coverings on the wine I bottle at Vint Hill Craft Winery and at Tin Lizzie Wineworks? Although we are months away, thinking about this issue now is a good activity to pass this long cold winter. From an environmental standpoint it may be better not to use foil coverings. On the other hand, a wine in a bottle without the foil just doesn’t seem finished. What do you think?
Most wineries in the Northern Hemisphere have wine aging in tanks and barrels. Many home winemakers have wine aging in carboys and occasionally tanks or barrels. So what is there to do for winemakers and cellar masters during these cold winter days? Hibernation come to mind, however there are always winery tasks to attend. Generally this is a good time of year for cleaning and moving equipment. Winemaker D.J. Leffin moved several stainless steel tanks from the side of one wall to the side of the opposite wall. It was observed that water collected under these tanks every time the floor was washed. The floor of the opposite wall is a bit higher so the water will drain from that area. Winemaker Dave Zuchero also moved equipment around.
We helped Dave at Tin Lizzie Wineworks clean equipment, wash the floor and move equipment. Although extremely cold outdoors, the temperature in the winery was warm enough to encourage one to keep busy. The only challenge was washing equipment outdoors, a bit too cold for that.
Barrels do need some attention. Testing to see if malolatcic fermentation completed is one task. Topping off barrels is another task. Checking acid levels and determining how much if any acid to add is another activity. Racking to clean barrels and washing out barrels is an activity that helps pass the winter days.
Do winemakers ever get a vacation? Some do, often during the winter when they can spare a week or two. It helps if the winery has more than one winemaker or cellar master who can keep an eye on things. While on holiday, do they visit other wineries? Many do and enjoy the opportunity to exchange ideas. Every winery takes on it own personality. It is like meeting people, everyone is unique.
Occasionally I’ll hear a comment that someone does not like a wine because it is too acidic. This could be true, however some people over generalize and condemn all wines from a region because they think they are too acidic. Acid in wine is necessary. It can help improve the taste and defends a wine against microbes. Acidity helps a wine age and improves aroma. Acid in wine is not a bad thing. Think of drinking a soft drink. Pepsi has much more acid in it than wine.
I decided to test my wine at home in a carboy for its pH. The Cabernet Sauvignon measured a pH of 4.0 and the Zinfandel measured a pH of 4.1. These are a bit high so I tested what 1 gram per liter of tartaric acid would do. The addition of tartaric at the 1 g per liter rate changed the pH of the Cabernet Sauvignon to 3.7. It made the taste come alive and brighter. It brought out more fruit on the aroma and taste. Similar tasting results were concluded with the Zinfandel. The pH of the Zin was lowered to 3.8.
It is interesting to note that this small addition of tartaric acid can make noticeable changes to the aroma and taste of wine. At the same time it lowered the acid to the high side of the acceptable range. I’ll check the wine again in several months to see if another addition is necessary.
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