Frontenac is known for being difficult to make into good red wine. I tried a rosé last year but was disappointed. Even though I pressed it immediately, it was still to dark in color for a rosé. Then it browned, either due to color instability or oxidation (or both). It's drinkable but barely.
So as with the Foch, we're trying a red this time around, with the addition of an extra dose of tannin immediate after fermentation to see if it will stabilize the color. We got around 200# from 8 vines, the ninth vine turning out to be Frontenac Gris which merits a separate wine and a separate post. So, destem, crush, 12g Opti Red, 12g Booster Rouge, 0.8g Lallzyme EX, 7t tannin, 2T pectic, and in for a 3 day cold soak.
Once out, we got pH 2.96, TA 14, adjusted with 160g calcium carbonate (double salt method) to 3.59 and 9.0 respectively. Light toast (1c) and heavy toast oak chips (1/2c) went in, and we have almost 20 gallons of must.
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| Potential disaster averted |
The must had a cap even before adding the yeast. I used 10g (2 packs) of 71B, again to try to manage the acid. Twelve hours later I coinoculated with VP41 rehydrated only with spring water. It took another day to get my MLB nutrient, 8g Opti Malo. The yeast was step fed with Fermaid K, and I also added 12g bentonite on day 3. By September 2, the cap was starting to drop, so it was time to move to carboy. While I put this wine through the press basket, I basically took only the free run wine and didn't actually press it at all. I think I have enough.
The following day I racked off the gross lees and added that second dose of tannin and 10 oak cubes per gallon.
The malolactic bacteria look better with this Frontenac than in the Foch, maybe because I remembered the bentonite in the primary. The color is good so far, only time will tell. Will seriously consider blending these two wines as is done up north.
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