|
|
 Virginia Cabernet Sauvignon grapes It is already October and time for Kathy and me to get interested in making wine this autumn. We spent most of the day in Virginia, promoting our book, A Wine Journey. Pearmund Cellars and Vint Hill Craft Winery will hold a book signing event. A date will be determined once we receive a release date by our publisher. While at Pearmund Cellars, I mentioned to Chris Pearmund that I would like to experiment making a white Cabernet Sauvignon. Last month, while traveling to wineries in Ontario, Canada, we tasted a white Cabernet Sauvignon. Earlier, we’ve tasted white Merlot, white Pinot Noir and white Cabernet Franc. We enjoyed the white Cabernet Sauvignon and wanted to experiment with making a white cab.
Chris said they were pressing some Virginia Cabernet Sauvignon and I was able to get a couple gallons. The juice measured a specific gravity of 1.068. That would produce almost a 10% alcohol wine. I added sugar to the juice raising the specific gravity to 1.094. That can produce a little over a 13% alcohol wine. For the two gallons of juice, I added just under a pound of sugar.
I went with a Lalvin DV10 because this saccharomyces bayanus yeast is considered very reliable for white wine fermentation. A few other winemaking products were added to the juice. Opti-White by Lallemand was added to enhance the smoothness of the wine. It also helps avoid browning from oxidation and protects fresh aromas during aging. Next, added was Fermaid K also by Lallemand, a nutrient for the yeast. Scottzyme® Cinn-Free is a pectinase that can help release aromas, something we are interested in with a white Cabernet Sauvignon. Kathy added this to the juice before we drove home.
The juice was a grayish burgundy color. Now that the yeast has been added, we’ll wait and see what happens. We may have another chance to make a couple gallons of a White Cabernet Sauvignon with Maryland fruit. Early October and winemaking has started.
Cheers,
Terry
As we keep an eye on Atlas Peek weather and anticipate the Cabernet Sauvignon harvest, we have an important first about to happen. Yesterday we sent our first book off to our publisher. A Wine Journey accounts our experiences with wine learning, winemaking and wine travel. The four chapters about winemaking includes early attempts at home that were unsuccessful as well as successful. There is a chapter about the barrel of Cabernet Sauvignon we crafted at Vint Hill Craft Winery in Virginia. Another chapter looks at our wine experiences at Tin Lizzie Wineworks in Maryland. The fourth chapters continues the story of home winemaking.
Even while crafting a barrel of Cab at two different wineries, we continued to make wine at home. Home winemaking gives one the time to experiment. If things go wrong, you only have a few gallons. On the other hand, if things go right and you really like the wine, you only have a few gallons.
In addition to the winemaking chapters, we discuss in A Wine Journey our learning experiences including a wine appreciation class at a community college, the Intermediate level of the Wine and Spirits Education Trust class and winemaking courses through Washington State University. About half of the book is devoted to wine travel, the people we met along the journey and concepts that were made or shattered.
We are hoping for the release of the book later this autumn. We are in the process of designing a book website that should be ready by next week. The book will be available for purchase through traditional channels including Amazon and Barnes and Noble. There will be a hard cover edition with black and white photos and an ebook edition with color photos. Check back for additional blogs about the book, A Wine Journey, and its release.
Cheers,
Terry
2145 and counting. That is the number of growing degree days in the Oakville area of Napa. We are sourcing grapes from Stagecoach Vineyards in the Atlas Peak area of Napa Valley. Their growing degree days would be slightly different. We heard from Dave Zuchero, winemaker at Tin Lizzie Wineworks in Clarksville, Maryland, that the expected time of harvest for Cabernet Sauvignon at Stagecoach Vineyards is the first week of October. Dave cautions us that the time frame needs updated. This aligns with the approximate time that growing degree days will reach around 2400, a measure of the time needed for Cabernet Sauvignon to be near ripeness. Of course there are other measures that vineyard managers will use to determine when a grape is ready for harvest: the level of sugar, acid levels and phenolics.
We are sitting on the east coast closely watching the weather on the west coast hoping the rains will hold off for another month. Our last California grapes we used for winemaking was harvested in 2009. That year was similar to this year, however, much of California received several inches of rain prior to the Cabernet Sauvignon harvest. Growers did leave the grapes hang a while to loose some of the absorbed water. We ended up getting the grapes the last week of July.
We learned of another experience of the damage rain can cause. We visited a Pennsylvania Winery, Nimble Hill Vineyard & Winery. We stopped by the vineyards where the vineyard manager, Gary Toczko, and winemaker, Kevin Durland, were leaf pulling the leaves around the Riesling fruit. Both commented on last year’s rain train. This is the same rain train that ruined our grapes in Maryland. Gary mentioned that they lost most of their crop. An inch of rain is not a big challenge. Several inches to a foot or more is however. Right now, we are just a couple weeks away from the possibility of a vintage year for Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon. For the next few days the weather forecast has the chance of rain at a low range from 0% to 6%.
Cheers,
Terry
We spent several days visiting wineries and vineyards in the Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Niagara Escarpment region of Ontario. Although growers were optimistic, they hesitated to fully commit to a vintage year. Paul Lizak of Legends Estate Winery in Beamsville shared that he was asked if he ever went to a casino to gamble. He responded that he gambles every day walking out to his vineyard.
Last weekend growers were looking forward to harvest. Then Tuesday it rained and people were gloomy looking on Tuesday and Wednesday. Owner Mauro Scarsellone of Ridgepoint Wines in Vineland said he won’t be happy until the grapes are in the tanks. Growers carefully watch the Gulf noting that remnants of hurricanes often make their way over parts of Ontario. Tuesday’s rains did not seem to matter much, brix and acids levels did not seem to drop.
Many wine enthusiasts don’t think of the optimism and pessimism of growers. Nothing is certain. Our Niagara grapes at home were at 12.5 brix prior to us traveling to Portland for a week in mid-August. When we returned home, the grapes were gone. It didn’t take the birds long to strip the vines. Another year that we were looking forward to ended in disappointment.
Now we wonder how things are going in the Atlas Peak area of Napa Valley. We are sourcing Cabernet Sauvignon from this AVA to craft a barrel of wine this autumn. So far, growers are optimistic about this year’s harvest. But we remember 2009, the last year we sourced grapes to make a barrel of Cab. Right before the Cabernet Sauvignon harvest, several inches of rain fell over California.
It seems that growers do gamble. Yes, they are eternally optimistic. However reality has a tendency to alter hopes and dreams. The same can be said for playing slots at a casino. Optimism is ever present, then reality shows up!
Cheers,
Terry
Now is the time of year to become anxious about what Mother Nature has in store for this year’s grape harvest. We are going to make a barrel of Stagecoach Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon at Tin Lizzie Wineworks in Maryland this autumn. So we have been monitoring the growing degree days in Napa to get an idea of the potential for this years harvest. Growing degree days is a calculation. Take the difference between the average high and average low for a day. This week Napa has been averaging highs in the low 80ºs and lows in the low 50ºs. The difference is about 30. For each day this week, 30 growing degree days are added to the year’s total. Fifty degrees is the base temperature since there is little growth that takes place below 50º.
As of August 26th, Napa has had about 1,871 growing degree days. Cabernet Sauvignon does well when it is above 2,500 growing degree days. Different areas of Napa Valley will have different numbers. It is interesting to note that currently, the degree days this year are about two weeks ahead of last year. They are also identical to 2009, a year we made wine with Stagecoach Vineyards Cab. The problem with 2009 was a storm that dumped several inches of rain in the area just prior to the Cabernet Sauvignon harvest. Although the growers waited a week for the grapes to lose some of the water they absorbed, the grapes still retained a bit of the water. So far this year, precipitation is much lower than last year and lower than average. If the current trend continues and the rains hold off until after harvest, the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon harvest will be outstanding.
On the current track, harvest of Cab should take place between the first and third weeks of October. Give a week to transport the grapes across country, we could be starting our wine by the middle to end of October. In 2009, we were destemming grapes on the last day of October. There is a lot of guess work right now. If Napa gets a sudden heat wave with daytime temperatures in the 90ºs, then harvest could be a little earlier. If rains come early, that will affect harvest. At this point, fingers are crossed hoping for a banner year for the grape harvest just weeks away.
Cheers,
Terry
We were touring wineries on Prince Edward County in Ontario, Canada when I received a frantic text to call Andy, our daughter’s boyfriend. The problem, there were no bars on the cell phone. Kathy held the phone as I drove to our next appointment. En route, there was an intersection where the phone indicated three bars. I called Andy and he asked permission to marry Meghan. They were off to Wales where Andy proposed on the Gower Peninsula. A few weeks later, the excited Meghan, helped us bottle our 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon. Meghan asked if we could serve some of our wine at her wedding.
The wedding was to be in Ohio, on August 4, 2012. Ohio during the summer is hot and humid, not the best conditions for a bold Cabernet Sauvignon. So last September, I decided to buy a top of the line wine kit, featuring a Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region of New Zealand. Kathy and I had visited wineries in Marlborough just nine months earlier. The Sauvignon Blanc turned out much better than expected. By this summer, it was quite good. We took a case of the Sauvignon Blanc along with a case of the Cabernet Sauvignon to Ohio.
The wedding day was hot and humid. Rain had threatened all day, but there were some rays of sun during the wedding Mass. By the evening reception, the skies opened up and the rains came. Although the humidity was damp, spirits were not. The wine winner for the evening was the Sauvignon Blanc. In fact nine bottles of the Sauvignon Blanc were drunk to the three bottles of the Cabernet Sauvignon. This was fine. It seems that the white wine was just right for the time. Meanwhile, the Cab can continue aging in the bottle.
A decision made a year ago turned out to be a winner. If the wedding were at another time of the year, perhaps the Cab would be more popular. In a few weeks, Kathy and I will celebrate our fortieth anniversary. Some of our children are planning a get together. We’ll have our wines. Although we’ll open a Cab, I’m pretty sure the temperatures will be in the nineties and the humidity will be near 100. The Sauvignon Blanc, served at 55º F will be a hit. So may Kathy’s peach wine, served with a frozen peach slice in the glass to help keep the wine cold.
As much as we like our Cab, the Sauvignon Blanc and peach wines just pair well with August.
Cheers,
Terry
People have commented that wine is a living thing. It changes and evolves in a wine bottle. It is easy to understand how it evolves while in French oak for twenty months. But it also changes in the bottle? Early last August we bottled our 2009 Illuminatus Cabernet Sauvignon we crafted at Vint Hill Craft Winery. At first we noticed the fruit, some oak influences and the tannins that were silky. By January 2012, the fruit on the aroma was very noticeable much more than around bottling time. There was a hint of licorice on the taste. The tannins were still silky. While in Italy, two Italian winemakers tasted the wine. The liked the dark purple to black color, the fruit and tannins; however, both thought the wine needed four to six more months in the bottle. Six months has elapsed and wow!
We recently had a bottle of the wine as did my brother in Michigan. The dark purple to black colored wine has dark fruits on the aroma. Meghan commented that she could smell the wine three feet away from it. There are more than black fruits on the aroma, there is also the influence of the oak, something that was lacking earlier. Although blackberries were on the taste, what was really amazing were the different layers of other tastes that were picked up. We also tasted licorice, anise, cocoa and a hint of cedar. The wine also offered a touch of earthiness. The tannins were silky and integrated in the wine. Right now I enjoy the wine as a walk around wine without food. Tim had it with a steak and liked the pairing.
The wine should age well over the years. A drawback is the limited number of cases that I have. I’ll have to reserve some bottles for ten years and twenty years just to see how it is doing then. We’ll try it again at Meghan’s wedding next month. If the aroma and taste are like the bottle we had this week, the wine will be well received.
Cheers,
Terry
When we started making wine in 2008 we had to learn about patience. Our mead took ten months to clear, and we were forewarned to be patient. Where do you draw the line between patience and procrastination? We finally bottled our peach wine today. It could have been bottled months ago, however, we procrastinated. Kathy gave me a filter for Christmas. It took six months to use the filter to filter the peach wine. Is this patience or procrastination? To be fair, I gave Kathy a cheese making kit last Christmas. She is just using it today, six months later.
I was a bit concerned that keeping the peach wine in a carboy would damage it, however it was fine. So late last week we filtered the wine and back sweetened it. We made a small amount of the peach wine, about three galloons. We almost filled 15 bottles. The 15th bottled we’ll consume today. One of the nice things about making small volumes of wine is that you can take risks and do something you haven’t done before. This was the first fruit wine we tried to make and we are pleased with the results.
We plan to drink the peach wine during the summer when the temperatures roar past 90º. When it is that hot outside,I’ve noticed that a chilled wine heats up rather quickly. Something we’ve done in the past is to freeze fruit and put a frozen piece of fruit in the wine to keep it cool. With the peach wine, use a frozen peach slice. This will help keep the wine cooler longer and give you a slice of peach that just spent some time in wine. It’s a win-win situation.
Cheers,
Terry
I really don’t know why I have a propensity of waiting six months to use my Christmas presents. Kathy gave me a filter for Christmas. We did not filter wines and Kathy made a Muscat that has sediment in the bottle. Normally sediment doesn’t bother us. However, once you pour a glass of the Muscat and tip the bottle back up, the sediment immediately mixes with the wine in the bottle and turns yucky. Of course if we decant the wine, we can get most of it out of the bottle before the sediment reaches the neck. The sediment in the Muscat was probably the motivation to give me a filter for Christmas.
Kathy made peach wine last fall. We racked it a couple times, but just stalled filtering and bottling the wine. So today, I pulled out the filter, read the directions twice, then filtered the wine. Prior to filtering, the wine had a straw color and the aroma and taste reminded me of the white peaches we used to make the wine. After filtering, the wine was still a straw color but the aroma and taste changed a bit. It resembled more of a peach cobbler than a white peach.
The filter worked well. It was easy to put in the filters after placing them in water for a minute. We did run a solution of potassium metabisulfite through the filter mostly because I get very concerned about sanitization. I then ran water through the filter to rinse out the potassium metabisulfite solution. Kathy and I then filtered the wine. We caught the first liquid to come through the filter thinking that it was mostly water. Afterward we started filling a sanitized carboy. We left just a bit of the wine in the first carboy along with some sediment that covered the very bottom of the carboy.
The level of wine in the carboy is down a bit after filtering. I assume we lost a bit at the beginning of the filtering, left a bit in the carboy along with the sediment, and did thief off a couple of glasses of wine prior to and after filtering. Since we are going to back sweeten, we needed some extra room in the carboy, so things seem to work out. If I were to guess, it looks like we may have lost a bottle of wine in the process. We were told to wait a few days before bottling, so we’ll bottle early next week.
We are looking forward to some peach wine this summer. When our temperatures reach over 90º it’s nice to have a glass of peach wine with a frozen peach slice in the wine. Bring on the heat!
Cheers,
Terry
I attended three sessions at the Wineries Unlimited Trade Show and Conference that were joint viticulture and enology sessions. They were slanted to viticulture though. The speaker line-up was interesting. There wasn’t a single American accent. Dr. Paolo Sabbatini was from Michigan via Italy. Dr. Markus Keller was from Washington via Switzerland. Professor Pascal Duran was from France. The first two speakers were easier to understand.
Dr. Sabbatini spoke about research studies that he had done centering around early basal leaf pulling’s effect on reducing rot. The data certainly supports basal leaf pulling at pre-bloom and bloom periods. How much this helps seems to be variety specific. Dr. Keller spoke of his research involving nitrogen. The vine needs nitrogen however too much nitrogen isn’t good. Several things were discussed to reduce or increase the amount of nitrogen to add to a vine. Professor Duran spoke of the movement that is supporting a more scientific approach to winegrowing and winemaking.
From today’s sessions, winemakers can take home a better understanding of things that are going on in the vineyard. Winegrowers can look at their own vineyards and determine if leaf pulling to reduce rot and nitrogen additions are something they should consider or not.
Quotes of the day:
Wine is not the end product of the grape; vinegar is.
Don’t compensate a mistake by making another.
Cheers,
Terry
|
|
First Book: A Wine Journey Sent to Publisher
As we keep an eye on Atlas Peek weather and anticipate the Cabernet Sauvignon harvest, we have an important first about to happen. Yesterday we sent our first book off to our publisher. A Wine Journey accounts our experiences with wine learning, winemaking and wine travel. The four chapters about winemaking includes early attempts at home that were unsuccessful as well as successful. There is a chapter about the barrel of Cabernet Sauvignon we crafted at Vint Hill Craft Winery in Virginia. Another chapter looks at our wine experiences at Tin Lizzie Wineworks in Maryland. The fourth chapters continues the story of home winemaking.
Even while crafting a barrel of Cab at two different wineries, we continued to make wine at home. Home winemaking gives one the time to experiment. If things go wrong, you only have a few gallons. On the other hand, if things go right and you really like the wine, you only have a few gallons.
In addition to the winemaking chapters, we discuss in A Wine Journey our learning experiences including a wine appreciation class at a community college, the Intermediate level of the Wine and Spirits Education Trust class and winemaking courses through Washington State University. About half of the book is devoted to wine travel, the people we met along the journey and concepts that were made or shattered.
We are hoping for the release of the book later this autumn. We are in the process of designing a book website that should be ready by next week. The book will be available for purchase through traditional channels including Amazon and Barnes and Noble. There will be a hard cover edition with black and white photos and an ebook edition with color photos. Check back for additional blogs about the book, A Wine Journey, and its release.
Cheers,
Terry