2009 Mendocino Zinfandel Arrives

Posted by Ben in 2009, General, Other, yeasts, zinfandelOct 11th, 2009 | No Comments This weekend, four crates of zinfandel grapes arrived from Lucchesi Vineyard from Potter Valley in Mendocino County, CA. They come from older vines on St. George root stock. They look to be in great shape, and are delicious fresh. They will comprise the Chez Ray Mendocino Zinfandel, 2009, vintage.


Similar to the Lanza merlot, I will ferment in separate batches with different yeast in each, accordingly:


Lalvin ICV-D254
Mendocino Zinfandel (ZM9A)

Lalvin ICV-D80
Mendocino Zinfandel (ZM9B)

Lalvin BM45
Mendocino Zinfandel (ZM9C)

2009 Mendocino Zinfandel Arrives

Posted by Ben in 2009, General, Other, yeasts, zinfandelOct 11th, 2009 | No Comments This weekend, four crates of zinfandel grapes arrived from Lucchesi Vineyard from Potter Valley in Mendocino County, CA. They come from older vines on St. George root stock. They look to be in great shape, and are delicious fresh. They will comprise the Chez Ray Mendocino Zinfandel, 2009, vintage.


Similar to the Lanza merlot, I will ferment in separate batches with different yeast in each, accordingly:


Lalvin ICV-D254
Mendocino Zinfandel (ZM9A)

Lalvin ICV-D80
Mendocino Zinfandel (ZM9B)

Lalvin BM45
Mendocino Zinfandel (ZM9C)

New red wines: Love VQ-15 (VQ15, Rockpile) Yeast!

Posted by Ben in 2008, General, Other, yeastsMay 29th, 2009 | No Comments On my 2008 vintage dry reds, the Rockpile (VQ-15, VQ15) yeast is blowing away the Assmanshausen (AMH) and Bordeaux (BDX) yeasts. It provides a deep, sweet fruit; overall chocolate edge; silty tannic style to the mix.

According to the wholesalers, VQ15 is a recently isolated Californian strain that was selected from spontaneous Rockpile Syrah fermentations by Vinquiry in collaboration with winemaker Jeff Cohn. VQ15 is a moderate rate fermenter with average nitrogen demands. Due to its' ability to develop a structured yet lush and balanced mouthfeel, VQ15 is said to be suited to making rich, concentrated reds. Initial winemaker feedback has indicated that VQ15 does well with emphasizing varietal flavor and red fruit character. In addition, with careful hydration and nutrients, VQ15 delivers good mineral and spice notes to wine. VQ15 is recommended for Syrah, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best results from 59 to 90 degrees F, with an alcohol tolerance to 16%.

My own findings are that it seems to be outstanding on syrah, and excellent for providing a lushness to cabernet sauvignon, at least in its youthful stages.

Fourth Pressing for the 2008 Chez Ray Vintage

Posted by Ben in 2008, General, Other, malbec, pressing, syrah, yeasts, zinfandelFeb 16th, 2009 | No Comments There were a few more buckets of red grapes still left to press from the 2008 vintage. We had done two earlier pressings last fall of the fresh grapes (one batch pressed dry, and a second under extended maceration); and a pressing two weeks ago of the first batch of frozen grapes. Brian joined me for these festivities (ie, work!).


A late arriving bucket of malbec was put to AMH and VQ15 yeast, and is dry after two full weeks of fermentation. Meanwhile, two buckets of Alexander West Side Syrah are approaching dryness after four weeks of fermentation (one with AMH, the other with VQ15 yeast).

And, finally, the crazy Limerick Lane Zinfandel from Sonoma, which started life at an incrediblly sweet 38 degrees brix, was being pressed today too. I may put half of this under brandy as port, leaving the other half with natural residual sugar. We'll see. Here's Brian checking out the zin:


Yum!

Fermaid-K

Posted by Ben in General, Other, yeastsFeb 14th, 2009 | No Comments I use Fermaid-K as initial and mid-fermentation nutrient mix for pretty much all fermentations. To use it, I add it directly to my five-gallon fermentation pails in two steps (following my initial rehydration of the yeast with Go-Ferm:

1) the day after I inoculate with yeast, I add a heaping one-half teaspoon (approx 2.5 grams) of Fermaid-K directly to the pail of juice or must, stirring well.

2) about 1/3 of the way through fermentation (time depends on yeast, grapes and temperature - usually a couple days to one-week), I add a second heaping one-half teaspoon (approx 2.5 grams) of Fermaid-K again to the pail, stirring well.

With the combined treatment of Go-Ferm for rehydration of the yeast, and Fermaid-K in split additions during the fermentation, I have not encountered HS2 problems in any of my fermentations, despite experiments with a wide range of musts, juices and yeasts, with widely varying YANC (Yeast Assimilable Nitrogen Content) levels.

Go-Ferm

Posted by Ben in General, Other, yeastsFeb 14th, 2009 | No Comments I use Go-Ferm for rehydration of all yeast these days. For each five-gallon pail of juice or must, I mix one heaping teaspoon (6.25 grams) of Go-Ferm with 85 ml of water, and stir it until all the Go-Ferm is dissolved. To that I add one packet (5 grams) of yeast, stir and let sit for 15 minutes. Then I add that to the room-temperature pail of juice or must.

Fermaid-K will be added once fermentation gets under way, usually the next day.

Time for Racking off the Gross Lees and Starting Malolactic Fermentation

Posted by Ben in 2008, General, Other, yeastsFeb 8th, 2009 | No Comments A week after the 2008 vintage wine was pressed, all of the gross lees have settled to the bottom of our Chez Ray pails, and the wine can be racked (essentially, decanted) from the five-gallon pails into glass carboys. (We call them "carboys", but they're really the old three- and five-gallon glass water cooler jugs from the old days.)


To "rack" the wine off its gross lees, you simply pour the juice through a funnel into a carboy, stopping just before the gross lees (the yucky stuff on the bottom) makes its way to the funnel. Voila, clear racked wine.

At this point, it is appropriate to begin malolactic fermentation, which is a bacterial fermentation that helps to convert malic acid to lactic acid, softening the wine and leaving it more stable for storage.
For the 2008 vintage, I used Enoferm Alpha malolactic starter, mixed with Acti-ML as a nutrient solution. After mixing, I spooned it evenly across the freshly-loaded carboys.

I will let the carboys sit for a few weeks in warmer room temperatures to give the malolactic fermentation a chance to begin, then move them to the basement for longer-term storage.

2008 frozen grapes arrive

Posted by Ben in 2008, General, Other, yeastsJan 17th, 2009 | No Comments
The frozen Brehm grapes for 2008 vintage have arrived, purchased from the terrific folks at Winemaker Products. Here they are, waiting patiently on the deck, in nice chilly 7 degree Fahrenheit weather. No hurry to get them underway.

It gives me a chance to consider yeasts and process. Here's my plan around the yeasts:

This year, like in 2007, I'm starting multiple yeasts in some buckets, but on separate sides of the bucket. They will mix at some point. And eventually one yeast will dominate. But some complexity seems to be achieved, based on my past experiements.

Here's the yeast schedule, with the associated grape and Brehm code:

VQ15
534-07AWSS - 2007 Alexander West Side Syrah, Sonoma CA
731-08SGS - 2008 Stage Gulch Syrah, Petaluma Sonoma CA
526-07RMS - 2007 Rodger's Vineyard, Mendocino CA
705-08SLCS - 2008 State Lane Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa CA

Bordeaux (BDX)
731-08SGS - 2008 Stage Gulch Syrah, Petaluma Sonoma CA
705-08SLCS - 2008 State Lane Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa CA

Assmanshausen (AMH)
540-07UMPN - 2007 Underwood Mountain Pinot Noir, WA
534-07AWSS - 2007 Alexander West Side Syrah, Sonoma CA
731-08SGS - 2008 Stage Gulch Syrah, Petaluma Sonoma CA
526-07RMS - 2007 Rodger's Vineyard, Mendocino CA

VQ-15 & BDX & Assmanshausen
526-07RMS - 2007 Rodger's Vineyard Syrah, Mendocino CA
707-08CHCS - 2008 Chalk Hill Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma CA
720-08SRM - 2008 Suscol Ranch Merlot, Napa CA
739-08LLZ - 2008 Limerick Lane Zinfandel, Sonoma CA

VQ-15 & Assmanshausen
309 - 06CGMB - 2006 Columbia Gorge Malbec, Hood River OR

Cote des Blancs
100-05BOT - 2005 Botrytised Chardonnay/Chenin Blanc - Yakima Valley WA

58w3
328-06CGGW - 2006 Columbia Gorge Gewurztraminer, Underwood WA



This year, I'll incorporate Lallzyme EX enzymes into the red wine must before yeast innoculation, to drive higher color and polyphenols extract levels (except Malbec, which did not have Lallzyme EX added).

In addition to yeast, for the reds I'll incorporate about one ounce per pail of powdered American oak, and one ounce each of French and American medium toast oak chips. Fermaid-K yeast food will be added at rate of 1 teaspoon per pail about 6-12 hours after yeast innoculation, and 1 teaspoon when brix drops to 17 degrees (per the refractometer - actually about 12 degrees true brix).

All the Cote des Blancs pails (white dessert grapes) will be moved to cellar temperature once fermentation is underway. All other pails (red grapes) will ferment at (warm) room temperatures, and will be pressed as fermentation ends. Based on the test with fresh grapes earlier this (2008) season, I find that extended maceration seems to blunt both aromas and flavors to an extent that I do not favor.

Finally, for the reds, malolactic bacteria will be innoculated after the pressing and settling, at room temperature. There they will be left for an additional few weeks, so the bacteria can begin establishing before I remove pails to the cooler basement for aging.