Our baby’s been waiting all week having been carefully attended to and dry iced. The Sangiovese Press is Saturday October 11th at 4pm at Crushpad. First time we get to taste it as wine.
(Thanks to Karol for the pic)
Yeast inoculation!
The sangio was inoculated this past Friday with a yeast strain native to Italy BM45. It was a super mellow process with us giving lots of love to the bin to spur those little yeasties to do their magic. For all the details about yeast inoculation, refer to the post for the cab as the process is similar. Although, this yeast had a much more wood scent and seemed almost smoky. And, it was mellow given that we had been through this once before. Isn’t that what parents always say, it’s easier with the second one because you know what to expect?
The color of the sangio looked awesome! Emi was so right about the 3 day cold soak extracting more color.
In terms of cap management, we are doing a submerged cap this go around. So, should you want to learn about that process, come on in one day this week and join us. Be warned, it is much harder then the punchdowns we did on the cab - there is a large plastic cap, metals clips, etc involved. However, there is one person in particular at Crushpad who is the master of the submerged cap so maybe we can have him teach us.
Fermentation Graph: http://www.crushnet.com/graph?id=a0x800000008x0SAAQ
Here is the current list of things that have been added to the grapes:
Date Action Item Amount Comments
09/29 Addition Enzyme 25.00g Vintage FCE
09/29 Addition Enzyme 160.00g Lysozyme
09/29 Addition SO2 60.00ppm 9% Stoc
09/29 Addition Tannin 120.00g
09/29 Action Crush
09/29 Action Destem
09/29 Action Soak - In
09/30 Action Punch Down
10/01 Action Punch Down
10/02 Action Punch Down
10/03 Addition H2O 50.00 L
10/03 Addition Nutrient 2.50 g Cerevit
10/03 Addition Nutrient 100.00g DAP
10/03 Addition Nutrient 120.00g Superfood
10/03 Addition Nutrient 180.00g Go-Ferm
10/03 Addition Tartaric Acid 100.00g
10/03 Addition Yeast 160.00g BM45
10/03 Action Ferment
10/03 Action Punch Down
10/03 Action Soak - Out
The Sangio crush was totally different than the cab crush. The pick was so clean that the work to do on the line was relatively little. This would have been the perfect set up for a glass of wine in one hand and the other hand doing the sorting. Susannah found one clump of acid bombs, there were a couple of leaves here and there but for the most part - just a fabulously clean pick.
On the vibrating table, the grapes were bouncing along, holding their shape, no jacks, no leaves, nothing to really sort. Alan even tossed in a couple of stems to keep it entertaining.
So, the best spot in the house was at the end of the vibrating table where the grapes cascaded into the bin creating what looked like a fabulous pile of fat juicy blueberries. From that position, your instinct was to reach into the waterfall and grab a handful of grapes to munch on while chatting with the team. Many of us found ourselves in that coveted spot.
The crew this go around was again FABULOUS! Abdur’s 4 year old daughter had the brilliant idea of wearing an apron on the sorting line. There were quite a few people tossing and catching grapes in their mouths, Silas being the one who caught the most grapes. Tons of fun conversation, catching up with people, ideas about what barrel to do next….
Now, for some nerdy wine details for those of us who are wine geeks.
Our grapes came from the Stolpman Vineyard and arrived the day of our crush. At harvest the measurements were: Brix: 24.8 TA: 6.2 pH: 3.6. All sorts of enzymes and tannins were added to the grapes immediately as they tumbled into the T-bin versus. Sulfur was added to protect the grapes from bacteria and spontaneous fermentation.
Vessel Date Meas/Add Item Amount Units Comments
The style we are aiming for on this wine is a dark fruit, with a slight toast, medium-full weight, balanced, fine-grained tannin.
The grapes will cold soak for about 3 - 5 days to get good color extraction. The yeast we are using in this go around is an Italian strain BM45.
We’ll press it dry and remember, press day is a great day to be at Crushpad as we get to taste the wine in it’s most youthful stages. Then it’ll go into a French oak barrel.
Come over to Crushpad (2573 3rd St) and join us for the sangio crush on Monday. You will be working with grapes, so wear something that can get dirty and ideally short sleeves. Also, the floor can get slippery so keep that in mind.
Our time slot for the crush is 7 - 8p but we will have lots of wine and Italian food pre and post to celebrate. Food and drinks will start around 6:00p.
Give us a head’s up if you’re coming so we can make sure we have enough food.
See you Monday!
2008 - Stolpman Vineyard - Sangiovese will be harvested on Monday September 29, 2008 .
Here are the most recent measurements taken from your vineyard block-
Brix: 25.00
Harvest Comments
With the recent heat spike, the Sangio is going to be good to go on Monday. We are picking it and will send it up to San Francisco on a refrigerated truck. Back in the winery at 7PM. MB
So, the tentative plan is to crush on Tuesday Sept 30 and have a kick ass Italian meal accompanying the crush. Hmmm….anyone know where to get boar by Tuesday?
2008 - McGinley - Roussanne has updated harvest information- Here are the most recent measurements taken from your vineyard block- Brix: 21.20 pH: TA:
Pick Window Wednesday October 15, 2008 - Thursday October 30, 2008 Harvest Comments Moderate temps in Santa Ynez has pushed the Roussanne and pretty much everything else back. We’re now looking at mid/late October. MB
The cab has been pressed and is now barreled! (Sniff, we miss playing with the grapes in the T-bin).
Pressing is a two step system. The first step is collecting the free run juice. To do this the T-bin is elevated and a tube runs from the bin to the barrel. Gravity sucks the juice from the T-bin into the barrel. The second step is to collect the press wine. The grapes are placed into the press and a bladder gently squeezes the grapes so as to extract the juice without breaking the seeds. The process occurs at different levels of pressure and at each pressure level, you taste the juice for bitterness. Once you taste the bitterness, you stop pressing. We did four presses - .3 (meaty & chewy), .6 (softer, more fruit flavor), .9 (soft, almost delicate), 1.2 (a slight bitterness). All four press levels get mixed together and added to the barrel with the free run.
Now the barrel will undergo malolactic fermentation in the warm room. This is a secondary fermentation process to reduce the acid content and make the texture more smooth and creamy. In 2 - 3 months we will begin barrel tastings to figure out the blending process.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/slourie/sets/72157607437157351/
http://flickr.com/photos/crystale/sets/72157607434708024/
What will we do now? Get ready for the Roussanne and the super Tuscan!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/slourie/sets/72157607410844072/
Crushcamp! a fabulous way to learn about varietals, crush, cap management, barrels, etc. Essentially it is a fun hands on tutorial for what happens with the grapes when they come in to Crushpad.
Fermentation Data
Vessel: FT070137
Last Measure Date: September 18th, 2008
Brix: 2.90 Celsius: 27.50
woohooo! getting closer. probably pressing on Sunday.
