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Grapes have arrived at Tin Lizzie Wineworks in Howard County, Maryland. Dave Zuchero and Rob Pearre had been waiting at Tin Lizzie all day. By 4:20pm when I arrived, the 18-wheel truck still had not arrived. Dave was excited with anticipation of the arrival of these grapes. He had been told they were “Beautiful! Picture postcard perfect!” Dave and Rob were eager to see the arrival of these grapes that were from Stagecoach Vineyard in Napa, California.
Finally the moment arrived, we could just see a sliver of white truck across the cornfields. Five minutes later the truck came rolling down the road. After manipulating the truck to the proper location (not easy for a truck of that size), the doors opened. The truck was carrying 5 tons of grapes: two tons of Cabernet Sauvignon, two Syrah and one Merlot. The grapes were indeed beautiful. They were sorted in California and packed into plastic crates that held 36 pounds.
The first job was to unload the pallets. Then the pallets need to be moved into cold storage to await processing beginning today.
Dave and Bob must be very pleased and happy that the grapes have arrived and processing is about to begin. View the video. For more information about Tin Lizzie, read the Wine Trail Traveler article.
A large group showed up last Saturday at Vint Hill Craft Winery to sort the Cabernet Sauvignon that had earlier arrived from Arciero Vineyards in Paso Robles, California. Rather than dumping the grapes into a hopper, DJ put the box of grapes onto the end of the first sorting table and cut out an area of the box. Just as two weeks ago, people on the first sorting table removed stems, vines, leaves and grapes with a fungus on them. The grapes than proceed onto an elevator to the destemmer. From the destemmer the grapes passed along a second sorting table. At the end of the second sorting table the grapes were gently crushed using an empty bucket. The crushed grapes fell into a fermentation bin.
The grapes and juice in this bin were gently stirred. Three substances were added to the fermentation bin. Each of these helps with color stability. The Lafase He Grand Cru, an enzyme, was dissolved in water and added to the must. This enzyme helps to extract gentle tannins. The second liquid added to the fermentation bin was Color Pro. Color Pro is a pectinase that helps break down the cell walls of red grapes and gently extract phenols and tannins. Wines made with this pectinase tend to have increased tannins, reduced herbaceous character and improved clarity. The last item added to the fermentation bin was brownish-red powder, VR Supra. This fermentation tannin helps to keep indigenous tannins in the must rather than those tannins precipitating out. It will also help improve the mid-palate mouthfeel.
Finally I collected some juice to gather some lab data. First I placed some of the juice on a refractrometer and get the brix level. The Cabernet Sauvignon measured 23.9 brix. That level of brix has the potential of making a wine that is about 13.2 percent alcohol. Next I used a machine to calculate the pH and TA. The Cabernet Sauvignon measured a pH of 3.94. This was a bit high. It would be better to have it around 3.6. In order to lower the pH, acid will need to be added to the fermentation bins. The TA measured 4.57. That was low. One would hope for a TA around 7.0. Adding the acid to the fermentation bin should increase the TA level.
You get the hang of things after doing several samples. So the chemistry isn’t that hard. It’s knowing what to do with the data that is important though.
View a one-minute slide show about sorting tables and chemistry.
Not all winemakers sort grapes brought to the winery from the vineyards. Of those that do sort grapes, some wineries will use a single sorting table while others may use a double sorting table. One of the reasons that many wineries do not use sorting tables is the added costs to make a bottle of wine. There is a cost of equipment and then the labor involved.
Vint Hill Craft Winery uses a double sorting table. People along the first sorting table remove large materials other than grapes (MOG) as well as fruit that may be moldy. Generally the fuit is then sent to a destemmer wher most of the berries come off the stems. The the fuits goes to a second sorting table where jacks, stems that made it past the destemmer, small leaves and green berries are removed.
The use of sorting tables significantly reduces the green material (jacks and stems) that may be in the fermentation bins. These green materials produce harsher tannins. The video shows the sorting of Merlot and Cabernet Franc at Vint Hill Craft Winery.
I must be getting use to the science, at least the chemistry, part of the class. The third class explored fermentation or the fermentation done by yeast rather than other winemaking fermentations. I thought it was interesting to note that the temperature of the must rises by 1.3º C for each Brix fermented. I am also getting use to the metric system, however, they still use gallons. The fermentation biochemistry slide was a bit beyond my interest. I’m satisfied with put the yeast in and let it work while you monitor the readings to make sure it’s happy.
I was under the impression that some yeasts can tolerate higher alcohol percentages beyond 14%. This class seemed to disagree with that stating that yeasts will die of once the alcohol reaches 14%. I’ve had some 15% alcohol wines and was wondering about the techniques winemakers use to increase the alcohol beyond 14%.
The class discussed ways to regulate fermentation temperatures and carbon dioxide. Did you know that a 10,000 gallon tank of Chardonnay will put off 51,000,000 liters of carbon dioxide. That’s a lot. No wonder winemakers have to be careful about adequate ventalation. There was some discussion of wine yeasts (Saccharomyces) verses wild yeast. The class also looked at the criteria for selecting the yeast. Another misconception that I had was that different yeasts could cause different aromas in the wine. The class refuted this claiming that carbon dioxide blows off most yeast volatiles during fermentation. They did point out that wild yeasts are an exception.
The class concluded with discussions of stuck and stinky fermentations. They offered suggestions of what to do at the beginning so you don’t have these proplems as well as what to do if you do have these problems.
Chris Pearmund at Vint Hill Craft Winery showed me a copy of the 2009 Fermentation Handbook published by Scott Laboratories. You can download the pdf file. This handbook is a good reference for this class.
On a recent visit to California we had the opportunity to video tape harvest. Kathy and I helped Basignani Winery in Maryland, harvest Marechal Foch grapes in 2007. The workers in California put us to shame. They were much faster than we were and selective in what they took from the vine. The smaller clusters of grapes near the larger clusters were left on the vines. They filled the lugs in a fraction of the time we filled one. Of course we probably spent more time talking than snipping.
Harvest is yet another example of the work that has to be done to create a bottle of wine. Some California vineyards harvest during the nighttime. They have bought or made their own light systems that can light up the section of grapes that are being harvested. The nighttime temperatures are cooler for the workers as well as the grapes.
I didn’t have any inclination to jump in and help. I would have slowed the workers down. The video is of a harvest at the Lanza Vineyards in Suisun Valley, California.
I use to say this when I was young. So why on a beautiful fall day with an abundance of bright sunshine would I utter, “rain, rain go away” here in Maryland?
I’m anxiously awaiting the arrival of grapes from California. At Vint Hill Craft Winery the grapes are coming from Sonoma and at Tin Lizzie Wineworks the grapes are coming from Napa. Right now both Napa and Sonoma are having torrential rain. This is not good for the grapes that will act like a sponge and absorb the water. Hopefully the ground won’t absorb all the multiple inches of rain called for. Of course the grapes will loose some of the water over the next week or so, but then there is the concern of rot. I’m getting Cabernet Sauvignon grapes so this is less of a concern than with white wine grapes, however . . .
I can hope that the vineyards just happened to have harvested the grapes before the rain started. They were scheduled to be harvested this week. So I am in a wait and see mode. The grapes are at the mercy of the weather. Weather must drive growers nuts. Do they harvest early or wait. What are the consequences for both decisions? If my grapes weren’t harvested before the rains started, hopefully they will have an opportunity to loose the water they absorbed before some other harmful tragedy sets in.
Many of us at Vint Hill Craft Winery and Tin Lizzie Wineworks are sourcing grapes from California. Kathy and I just returned from California where we visited vineyards and wineries in Suisun Valley, Lake County, Napa and Sonoma. The largest acreage of vineyards that we visited was Snows Lake Vineyards in Lake County. Snows Lake has 810 acres under vine. Their clients include wineries such as Rosenblum, Cakebread, Dynamite, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and La Famiglia. The vineyards were beautiful, well kept and picturesque. While in Lake County we also visited Fortress Vineyards, Brassfield Estate Winery and Langtry Estate and Vineyards.
All the vineyards visited in Lake County are considered high elevation. The vineyards ranged in elevation between 1500 feet and 2400 feet. This puts them above the fog line. We noticed that more grapes had already been harvested than in the other regions. Lake County vineyards are warmer than Napa, Sonoma and Suisun Valley to the south. The grapes ripen a couple weeks earlier. The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes fermenting in a bin at Vint Hill Craft Winery looked very good. They were from a vineyard in Lake County.
Take a moment to view a short one-minute video of Lake County vineyards.
Had an opportunity to talk with many winemakers while in California. They were different and had different ideas and ways of doing things. Kathy and I saw a great double sorting table at Del Dotto Estate. One person was on the first sorting table removing the larger items. The grapes then went to the destemmer. They came out of the destemmer in excellent condition. Seven people were on the second sorting table, three on each side and one on the end. They were removing the jacks and MOG (materials other than grapes). The grapes going into the fermentation bins were in great shape with no MOG.
Compare that winery to another winery where we observed punch down. They had a pneumatic hand punch down for large tanks. The small fermentation bins had hand held punch downs. One bin was used for an old family recipe. The punch down stick was nearly a century old. It was a branch from a tree. We observed the smaller fermentation tanks. There were several stems and jacks floating on the cap.
Most agree that wine is made in the vineyard. However the art and science of the winemaker can make the same grapes from the same vineyard into different wines. We are looking forward to working on a sorting table at Vint Hill this weekend.
 Harvest in Lake County has been going on for some time now. Not all grapes are harvested and those that are not are left on the vines. What happens to them? Bear, wild boars, deer and turkeys certainly take their share. The grapes that survive shrivel up and eventually will become raisins. How do these raisins compare to store bought raisins?
Just as store bought grapes can’t compare to the sweetness, aroma and taste of fresh wine grapes, wine grape raisins are also better. While touring through the vines at Langtry Estate and Vineyards, we stopped to pick some Merlot raisins. Wow! They were great. High sugar levels and more taste than mass-produced raisins. I wish I had the time to pick a couple of cups to make oatmeal raisin cookies. In the photo, the grapes in the lower right are raisins. The others are on their way. Some winemakers will use raisins in the must in order to increase the sugar levels.
If you live near a vineyard ask if you may stroll through the vineyard after harvest. See if you like wine grape raisins.
My brother-in-law is a beekeeper in upstate New York. He once told me that if you ask eight beekeepers the same question, you’ll get twelve answers. I’ve discovered the same is true with winemakers. During visits to wineries in the Suisun Valley the last couple of days, I’ve asked for advice on making a barrel of Cabernet Sauvignon. They agreed that Cab is forgiving. One winemaker said just add yeast and let it alone.
Where they diverged in thought and practice was what is done during and after fermentation. Some preferred a gentle punch down during fermentation. Others believe that a gentle pump over is the same. Others disagreed on this point.
Another point of contrast was aging the wine. We had responses from place in neutral oak to begin then transfer to new oak, to go ahead and place in new French oak. Another winemaker suggested to place in one-year old French oak. Another liked American oak.
Seeing as how I do not have control over the barrel that Vint Hill Craft Winery or Tin Lizzie Wineworks is going to use for my Cab, this is a mute issue. It is interesting that there are different opinions. The most important point I picked up from winemakers is that the Cab is forgiving. I hope to be forgiven for making mistakes.
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