Finally

Well, I have finally racked that smelly Chardonnay and the worst thing I can say about it is that there is just a bit too much free SO2.  Since I did not do as clean a racking as I might have liked, I'll have to wait a week or so to bottle.  Yes, it is that close.  I may have to wait a bit after bottling to drink any, but patience is a virtue best practiced.  I am resettling the lees in the 'fridge.  Even though a refrigerator slows down any Brownian Motion and settling in general, it has the advantage of shaking in two modes.  One mode is when the compressor kicks in (small) and the other is when you close (slam?) the door (big).  These two modes of shaking help compact the lees, so it is easier to rack from a small (half) bottle.  It doesn't hurt that the cold does also slow down the oxidation, if you don't have a full bottle.  What is not to like about a 'fridge?   

Continuing Chardonnay Saga

All right, I know it's been awhile.  Unfortunately, I have been busy with non-wine things.  Blaspheme, I know.  Today we can continue with the saga of the mishandled Chardonnay.  After the hard racking and adding Noblesse, it is still high in free SO2.  Since there is now a sediment, I'll be doing another racking and I will not try to be gentle.  However, upon tasting, there is some nice fruit underneath it all, so there is hope.  Even with the high SO2 (I REALLY wish that I could do subscript and superscript!!) it is rather smooth.  I may have to wait a year or two before it is drinkable, but I am patient.
If things go according to plan (And when do they ever do that?), I should be making what could pass as an ancient Bordeaux or a Bordeaux of the lesser grown varieties.  That is not to say lesser grapes.
I reported earlier that Jancis Robinson (et al) will be bringing out a new version of Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes.  I thought that is would be this year, but it sounds like it will be a year from now.  I do hope to get it for Christmas or my birthday in 2012.  

Chardonnay

OK, I still have not bottled my 2010 Chardonnay.  However, that is good.  ???  Because I have been having "issues" with it.  OK, the issue is hydrogen sulfide.  I have fixed it with copper wire. The three short lengths were nice and bright when I put them in, but now there is a slight black tarnish.  Yes, they did the job.  That black tarnish is copper sulfide.  However, in the meantime, I did add too much potassium meta-bisulfite, so it has too much free sulfur dioxide.  That is MUCH easier to fix.  Here is what I did.  I did not siphon it off of the copper wires, as I normally would rack wine, but I poured it off using a large funnel, and did not try to be gentle at all.  This is worked.  Further, I did use some Chardonnay and Viognier from the resettled lees, so I got more than that which would fit in the six gallon carboy.  After rinsing/cleaning all of the equipment, I did take a sniff of what was in the carboy.  It was still high is free sulfur dioxide, but I could smell some wine.  This is most encouraging.  Before, I could only smell sulfur dioxide and it had no taste at all.  That is a lot like ATA (ATypical Aging), specifically the no taste/flavour part.  Now, what??  I just happen to have some Pixie Dust Noblesse.   How did I get that?  I was in the right place at the right time.  You can also buy some.  I have added some to a bit of the overage and I'll be judging that in a bit.  If it does what I want it to do, then I'll be adding it.  I'll let it settle and then retest and if it is what I want, then I'll be bottling it.  Finally!  Stay tuned.  

Guide to Wine Grapes

There is a book that I have repeatedly turned to when determining what grapes to make wine from.  It is "Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes".  I have the original version, printed in 1996.  From what I have heard, she is preparing a new version, which would be the third for those keeping count.  I should be out late this year or next year.  This is one book that I would recommend for any winemaker or viticulturist.  Why?  It rates the wine that is made from each grape.  Further, it does tell where the grapes are grown.  If you are looking for grapes to grow, then you will know if you have a chance of successfully producing wine from a particular grape.  Besides it is interesting reading.  Since I also have "The Oxford Companion to Wine" it looks like the information about wine grapes was extracted from there.  This is not bad as, "The Guide" did not cost nearly as much as "The Companion".  It is smaller and lighter too.  I don't know what format/size the new "Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes" will be, but that is the least of anyone's concerns.  Do buy the book.  It is worth it.  

New York State Home Wine Seminar

For those of you who did not go to the New York State Home Wine Seminar, you really missed a good one.  Yes, I know that I can say that truthfully every year, but I think that this year was special.  I will get the PDFs up on the website this month.  I hope.  Still we can post every document that our speakers have, but you can't ask questions unless you are there.  So make the effort for next year, it will easily be worth your while.  Just by asking your question, you can make a good presentation much better, and not only for just you.  We always entertain topics to be presented.  In general we try to come up with solid winemaking topics, but we don't know what you want to know or learn more about.  Case in point:  Inactive Yeasts.  We did not really know about this, but we did trust the source Sigrid Gertsen-Briand of Lallemand, so we went with it.  It was a great presentation.  Sigrid did hang around at lunch and did impromptu demonstrations of inactive yeast.  It was quite remarkable.  One attendee called it "pixie dust", with a good connotation.  Who knows what we are going to have next year, so plan now to attend.  Clear your calendar, and check the New York State Home Wine Committee website:  http://www.nys-homewine.info/SeminarNYSHWC.html

Age

Last month, I have had the experience of tasting three different, but fairly old Pinot Noirs.  Two were 2002, including my own and one was a 2003.  The two that were not my own were from the same winery, that will not be revealed.  First let's compare the two 2002's.  Of the two, I liked mine better.  Expected that did you?  Really, you would have as well.  Why?  Simple.  The commercial one was oxidized.  Not so bad that you could not drink it or tell what virtues it had when it was younger, but oxidized none the less.  What could cause this difference?  I don't know exactly, but here are some ideas.  Mine had more free SO2 when bottled and/or more tannins.  I really can't say about the free SO2, but I am sure about the tannins.  How do I know?  About 5% of the grapes were raisined when I made the wine.  That will increase the intensity of all characteristics of a grape.  As we all know wines that are made to age start with more tannins.  You knew that, right?  Good!  The 2003 obviously is just a year younger, but the difference between it and its older "brother" was remarkable.  There was just the sign that it was not a youthful red wine anymore, but still it was not "bricky". There was more fruit than either of the 2002's.  What would happen to the 2003 if it were a year older?  I don't know and I won't find out, as that was the last bottle I had.  Think of this as you are making your red(s) this year.  Maybe you will want to treat them a little differently.  

Make more

Just the other day I enjoyed dinner of grilled (charcoal) steak, baked potato, and corn-on-the-cob with a 2001 Bordeaux blend of mine and I have to say it was REALLY good.  It was not the fruit bomb that you can get from the "Left Coast", but something that can and did age well.  You could tell from the color that it was not a young wine, but the color was still strong. It had just lost its youth.  Could it reach twenty years?  Maybe.  It has the tannins and acids to do so.  I still have about a case left.  No, I did not make just 5 or 6 gallons, but 15.  I use a beer (extremely well cleaned) half keg for blending.  It works great for that.  The real issues is:  Don't drink it all in one year.  Really!!  Professional winemakers don't only drink their own wine.  In fact they go out of their way to find wines that they have never heard of or have wanted to try.  There is a phenomenon called:  house palate.  This is where you get used to what you have made and since it is the only thing that you drink, then it tastes good eventually, no matter how bad it is.  By tasting other wines regularly, then you can be much more objective about your wine.