2017 Wines - Chapter 6 - Blueberry

We had a few pounds of blueberries left over from 2016. Together with those we picked we wound up with 43# of berries. At the usual 6#/gallon rate we could have gotten 7 gallons of straight blueberry wine. But in an effort to stay out of a rut, I tried something different this time.

I split the berries up, putting 17# in the primary bucket. After the crush, I poured off most of the free run for the rosé. After gently pressing the remaining 26#, I added that cake to the primary as well, so we had the skins of 43# of blueberries altogether. I treated it with KMS.

After several hours I added 46oz of Merlot concentrate, 1 gallon of water, 3g Booster Rouge, 3g Opti Red, 0.6g Lallzyme EX, 6t of pectic enzyme, and 1.5tsp tannin. I adjusted the pH from 2.85 to 3.78 with calcium carbonate. 690g sugar brought the SG from 1.064 to 1.086 and I let it rest overnight.

The next morning the pH was back down to 3.29. A bit more carbonate brought it back to 3.44 and we pitched K1-V1116 with GoFerm during rehydration.

I made the usual bentonite and Fermaid-K additions and in 1 week we were down to 1.006. The wine was pressed yielding 3.5 gallons of dark, rich, heavy blueberry wine.

At 1.006 it has little more fermentation to go. If I don't see any bubbles in the next few hours, I may bring it up into the warm pantry to assure it doesn't stick.

2017 Wines - Chapter 5 - Sauvignon Blanc

In addition to the Zinfandel grapes, I picked up a 6 gallon Sauvignon Blanc juice bucket. Starting numbers were pH 2.97, TA 0.51%, and SG 1.090 - no adjustments needed. I added 6g Booster Blanc, 12g Opti White, and pitched QA 23.

I tried to keep this ferment as cool as possible with ice packs. The problem, as with the Zinfandel, was that vacation was approaching. I had to cut back on the ice packs and let the temp drift up in order for the ferment to finish before we left. I step-fed Fermaid K, added 9g bentonite on day 3, and by day 9 it had dropped to 1.015, where I racked it to the carboy.

The following day I topped it up and added the KMS. Upon return from vacation it was quiet, so I racked, topped up again, and now it just needs to be cold stabilized and cleared.

2017 Wines - Chapter 4 - Zinfandel

We pushed vacation back in order to avoid any conflict with fall grape shipments. As it turned out, we'll need every day in order to get the two California wines tucked away.

I drove to St. Louis for these 3 lugs of old vine Zinfandel. It was nice to meet one old friend and one new friend at St. Louis Wine and Beermaking. Jerry, with whom I have corresponded for years but had never met, gave me his leftover KMS. Stephen helped me with the dosing. There we crushed the 3 lugs, dosed the KMS at 50ppm, and I trucked the grapes and the Sauvignon Blanc juice bucket back home.

The numbers were decent - TA 0.58%, pH 3.45, and 22.5 Brix - good enough that no preferment adjustments were needed. I added 4.5t pectic enzyme and 1.2g Lallzyme EX, each divided between the 3 buckets, and stacked them in the fridge for a 2 day cold soak.

After warming, I added 8g Booster Rouge, 8g Opti Red, then pitched RC 212 rehydrated with GoFerm. To get the temp up, like last year, I added a nice comforter.

Over the next 3 days I used Fermaid K, 2t step fed, with 12g bentonite. Tm was 26.0C. It fermented steadily down to 1.004 on day 7. With vacation looming, I pressed.

I have 7-7.5 gallons (not sure if that is 6 or 6.5g carboy), but there is at least 1/2 gallon of gross lees. I expect it to be under 1.000 by tomorrow, at which time I'll rack off the gross lees and get the MLF started with VP41 on oak cubes.

Fall Has Arrived

Fall blew in suddenly last night. Fortunately yesterday we got most of the plants in the greenhouse. Still harvesting purple guava, passionfruit, sugar apple, acerola, and cherimoya.

Sega Palms did not make the greenhouse cut this year

The juice and grapes from California arrived. I picked them up Friday in St. Louis. It was fun to run into Jerry, who I have corresponded with now for a couple of years but had never met. Also great to meet Stephen, head of a St. Louis-area winemaking club, who provided some helpful advice on sulfites. The Sauv Blanc and Zinfandel are underway, full posts to follow.

I bottled some wine. Blueberry is smooth and delicious.

Passionfruit is Sauv Blanc-level sharp but polished and beautiful; it fills the room with passion fruit aromas. Maybe it could have used a little more sugar.

The QA 23 left our Vignoles with plenty of tropical aromas as well. I got this guy off the fine lees, now we just need to wait for it to clear.

We have just a bit more yard work to do to be ready for vacation. I fear we will return to winter.

2017 Wines - Chapter 3 - Pawpaw

We ended up with about 9# of pawpaws, so I decided to go ahead and try making the wine.

They look like potatoes

• 5# pawpaws, consisting of 2# pulp and 3# peeled fruit
• Sugar, 2# 1oz
• Tannin 1/2t
• Pectic 1t
• Lallzyme EX 0.1g
• Citric acid 2.75t
• Water 8.5 pint
• Opti White 1.9g
• Booster Blanc 1.1g
• Bentonite 2g

The pH started at 4.51 but adjusted to 3.54. SG 1.085. I used QA 23 and started off in a cooling bath, but when the fermentation didn't really take off, I let it come up to room temperature.

I added bentonite day 3 and then pulled the fruit bag at 1.032 on day 7. Racked to carboy on day 9.

As you can see, this wine is a pulpy mess. A few days later when the wine was quiet, I racked off the pulp, coming up about 100ml shy of a gallon.

At this point I topped it with some Vignoles and dosed with KMS. The pawpaw smell (closest perhaps to bananas) is gone, and at this time the aroma is closer to pineapple than anything else. We can count it as a success so far, having avoided any stink during the ferment. 

Roll Out the Barrel

There comes a point with certain endeavors that you realize you might be in too deep. With winemaking, that point has almost certainly been reached when you install a vineyard. But a better, more accurate marker might be the acquisition of a barrel. 

This is a little 10L barrel which matches my most common 3 gallon batch. It sealed up in a couple of days. Today it received the 2016 elderberry-blackberry blend.

I'm not wild about the spigot, it tends to leak. And the hole on top is too small to admit my autosiphon. But it sure smells great. We'll leave the 2016 EB in for 2-4 weeks. Next up is the 2016 Syrah. I'm hoping it will concentrate it to an acceptable level.

The barrel wasn't the only toy which arrived this week. I got a backpack mister/sprayer. I found a little powdery mildew on some of the grapes. So yesterday I fired up the sprayer for the first time. It's pretty darn heavy when full. Four gallons of Captan and Immunox were sufficient for one pass through the vineyard. It will take some fine tuning to make this whole spray process more efficient.

Paybacks and Payoffs

I have not yet decided whether to make pawpaw wine. I'm freezing the pulp as they ripen, and I've got over 4# now which should be enough for a 1 gallon trial. It would be easier if I knew whether it would be any good. Online reviews are scarce and indeterminate. One person paraphrased Jack Keller, calling it "life-changing," but given what Keller wrote I think that is a bit of a stretch. For now I'm content with smoothies.

In the greenhouse I made a discovery that will be meaningful to very few of my friends. We have fruit set on garcinia intermedia. This is most commonly known as Lemon Drop Mangosteen. This garcinia is a seedling from my first PR trip in 2010. It is not the first it has flowered but it is the first time to set fruit. It is hard to contain my excitement.

As a thank-you for the grapes and support, I took the Books some wine. I sent two bottles of their 2016 Chambourcin and one each of the 2016 Blackberry and my 2016 Motley Red blend. Early reviews, based on the text messages, were favorable.