Dan’s Cellar Notes for July 2003
By Dan Mouer
Here come da Grapes!
It’s July! Summer is here. In the vineyard bud-break is long past and by now the fruit is set, and the vineyardist has some idea what sort of crop will be coming in just a few short weeks. WHAT? Did I say a few short weeks? But, summer just began…
Harvest arrives sooner rather than later, it seems. Now is the time most of us are thinking about summer vacations, getting the kids into camp, heading for the beach…we’re not thinking about the fall harvest! But now is the time to begin thinking about, and planning for, the grape harvest, which, by the way, generally comes in the late summer, not fall. Only a very few very ripening varieties will stay on the vine until late September or early October here in Virginia.
If you make wines from Virginia grapes—your own or those you buy—the harvest begins in the 2nd or 3rd week of August. At that time, things begin to move very quickly, so you must have all your ducks in a row. (What? You haven’t even reserved your grapes yet? DO IT NOW, before finishing this article!) When the call from the vineyard comes, you must be prepared to go, on a moment’s notice, and pick—or pick-up—your grapes, or you’ll likely lose them. If rot or birds get them, you’ll likely end up with no grapes, but a hefty bill from the vineyard nonetheless! Now is the time to make a checklist of what you’ll need and start to check off those items that require extra lead time.
Crusher and Press. Do you own, or have access to, a crusher and press? If not, do what it takes to line these up now. Within a couple more weeks the rentals may be spoken for, and the new ones sold out for the season. You don’t need a crusher if you plan to make white wine pressed by the “whole cluster” method. Nor do you need a crusher for small batches—you can always use hands and feet! You do need a press unless you are content to undertake the inefficient and very tedious method of pressing through cheesecloth. If you have your own crusher and press, now’s a good time to check them over for any rusty spots that need cleaning and repainting. It’s also good to assure yourself that you didn’t leave any chunks of gunk stuck to the press basket or crusher rollers last season. How about lubrication? If these tools look reasonably clean, properly greased (food-grade grease, please!) and free of rust, no need to worry now. A hosing-off of the spider webs and dust the day before the crush will be adequate.
Fermentation vessels? Do you have a vat or food-grade bucket to use for primary fermentation of reds or whites with maceration? If you’re making a barrel fermented wine, do you have an appropriate size and type of barrel? Has it been properly leached and cleaned? If you’re only barrel-aging the wine, it is still time to make sure you have a sound, clean, appropriate barrel or barrels. Trying to order barrels after the harvest season might be exasperating, to say the least! Have you got ample carboys? Remember that for each 5 gallons of finished white wine, you will need two 5-gallon carboys for primary fermentation. Every winemaker should have a good assortment of available carboys in different sizes, along with a number of 1-gallon jugs, half-gallon jugs, 1.5-liter and .75-liter wine bottles, with appropriate stoppers and fermentation locks. Even a small batch of wine requires various-sized bottles for fermentation and bulk aging. While you’re at it, go ahead and buy new plastic tubing for racking. Last year’s tubing belongs in the trash can. Don’t take the chance of introducing a host of buggies to you new wine by being cheap about tubing.
Chemicals and biologicals. Now is the time to make a list of the yeasts and malolactic cultures you want to have available, and to at least ask your source when they think you should place your order. These things tend to run very short once the harvest grows near. If you’re using dried yeast or freeze-dried malolactic culture, buy these early and store in your fridge (yeast) and freezer (malolactic culture). This is a good time to order or purchase cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, new acid testing reagents, and potassium metabisulfite. If you have a bunch of old meta, better use that for general cleaning and sanitizing purposes, and get fresh powder for adding to the wine. Make sure you have Ph test strips, if you use them; Ph meter calibrating solutions, if you need them; acid blend or tartaric acid powder. Put sugar on your list, in case you need to bring up Brix, but it’ll be available come harvest. Have you been tempted to try some of the new enzyme additives? Now’s the time to order them! Do you use oak chips or beans? Order them now. If you are planning to use oak chips left over from last year, I’d check them very carefully for mold or any signs of moisture!
Other goodies. What do you use to de-stem your must? Now is the time to think about coming up with something that works better than wading into a vat of must with both hands. Try making a rake of stainless or galvanized nails or screws. On the other hand, maybe this is the year to buy that gorgeous motorized all-stainless crusher-destemmer! Are you still punching down your caps and stirring your lees with wooden implements? Now’s a good time to go shopping for some stainless steel or food-grade plastic to take care of these chores. Sure, wood has been used for centuries—millennia even—but wine has been spoiling for just as long.
The winery. Whether you use your basement, your garage, your kitchen, your living room, or the back deck for your winery, now is the time to think about what needs to be done to prepare for the crush and the rush of primary fermentation. Do you have to get a ton of junk out of the way? Clean the moldy stains you forgot to get up after last year’s harvest? Double check with your spouse to make really sure she doesn’t mind your red-wine fermenters bubbling over on her new, white, cut-pile Persian carpet?
Your checklist may have more, or fewer items, but now is the time to make it up and start checking items off. Then you can relax and go enjoy your summer, waiting in anticipation for the call to come telling you the grapes are ready.
Virginia Wines of the Month
I love to drink Virginia wines. I am constantly surprised that so few folks in the state realize that there are dozens of wineries making hundreds of excellent wines each season. The Virginia wine industry has matured incredibly since my first “difficult” encounter with Meredyth Vineyard’s Marechal Foch back in the 1970s. I’ll mention some of them here each month for those who like to seek them out.
I have greatly enjoyed a number of Pinot Gris (or Pino Grigio) wines from Virginia. My current favorite is made by AmRhein Cellars, located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway not far from Roanoke. AmRhein is making very high quality wines—they won last year’s Governor’s Cup for their Viognier, and this years’s for their Late Harvest Vidal. I really love their Pinot Grigio, which has won three silver medals. Like most Virginia wines made from this grape, theirs tends towards the crisp, clean, citrusy style similar to the best of the breed from Italy. However, AmRhein also captures some of the honeyed aroma, rich mouthfeel, and nutty flavors I associate with the Mercedes of Pinot Gris wines, the Alsatian Tokay-Pinot Gris. It sells for around $14-15 a bottle, and is well worth it. Equally good, very rich, but more distinctly Italian in tone, is the 2001 Pinot Grigio Reserve from Villa Appalachia winery, also located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. You’ll pay a few dollars more for this one, but it, too, won’t disappoint.
Wine Kit Notes
I’ve recently taken some “barrel tastings”—carboy tastings, actually—of my Brew King ’03 Estate Series Yakima Gewürtz/Riesling blend. I’ve fined one of two carboys of this wine, but have not added the supplied “F-Pack,” a sweet reserve, to either. I am a fan of dry Gewürztraminer and dry Riesling, and this wine seems to me to be an excellent candidate for finishing dry. It’s not too acid, and full of varietal flavors. Perhaps I’ll finish one with the sweet reserve and one without. Either way, I’m pleased with the quality of this wine.
Thanks, as always, to Weekend Homebrewer (http://www.weekendbrewer.com/) for affording me this monthly soapbox. Just don’t blame them for anything foolish I may say! :-}
Comments? Questions? Write me at dan.mouer@verizon.net