July 19, 2020
It’s been a year since I last gave an update about My Quest for Top-Quality Fruit for Making Superlative Wines.
In April 2019, I started the following three wines from frozen must (20-L/5.25-gal pails) from the 2018 harvest sourced from Wine Grapes Direct:
- Sonoma Chardonnay, Russian River Valley AVA, Olivet Lane Vineyard
- Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Calistoga AVA
- Oregon Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains AVA
Here’s a quick update on where the wines are at.
2018 Sonoma Chardonnay, Russian River Valley AVA, Olivet Lane Vineyard
Just yesterday (July 18, 2020) I bottled this superb wine – just the style of wine I had set out to make. I was looking for a fuller-bodied, barrel-aged-style Chardonnay but without investing in a new barrel.
I aged the wine for 6 months with a Burgundy Toast, Allier French Oak WineStix and on the lees with stirring once a week the first 3 months followed by another 7 months of aging with a new WineStix. I did a bentonite fining and cold stabilization by placing the carboy in the fridge at 1–2°C (34–36°F) for 2 months. Potassium has dropped from 1726 mg/L to 869 mg/L – a sure sign that cold stabilization worked. I still performed cold stability tests using three methods to compare results: freezer test, conductivity test, and Concentration Product (CP) measurement. All three tests/methods proved that the wine is completely tartrate stable.
The wine was already exceptionally clear measuring 0.77 NTU after the bentonite treatment, but I chose to filter at 1.2 microns to give it extra brilliance; it measured 0.56 NTU after filtration. Whites should be bottled with a “clarity” (what’s called turbidity in winemaking-speak) below 1.0.
The final numbers at bottling are:
TA (g/L) = 4.53
pH = 3.50
%ABV = 12.65
RS (g/L) = 0.68
The wine has exceptional balance – acidity (TA), residual sugar (RS) and tannins are in perfect harmony. I did add 1 mL/L gum arabic (as a 30% solution) to give the wine extra mouthfeel. At slightly below room temperature – how such a Chardonnay is best enjoyed – the wine displays complex citrusy aromas with subtle oak notes and smooth flavors reminiscent of some Chablis I have enjoyed in my travels to Burgundy and some of the top Chardonnays from Sonoma. It will certainly get more delicious with some aging. We’ll see how it evolves in 18–24 months. It sure is promising.
This Russian River Valley Chardonnay surely delivered on its promise, well, at least expectations given its US$250 cost for a pail. That works out to just under $10 per bottle. It’s well worth the price. Ok! Ok! My cost is a bit higher given the 2+ liters (half a gallon) I used for tasting and testing. Quality control is important.
Simply a delicious wine. My only regret is that I didn’t make more.
2018 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Calistoga AVA
This Napa Cab has been aging for about 15 months now with a Burgundy Toast, Allier French Oak WineStix. It is still very closed in. It is also displaying some green-pepper aromas that I’m hoping continued oak aging will mask as they distract from the overall aroma profile. I am expecting this wine to take time to open up and show its full potential although I’m concerned about long-term ageablity given its high pH (3.87). But working with and aging high-pH wines is nothing foreign to me.
The wine still has high acidity (7.92 g/L) and tons of potassium, suggesting that a cold stabilization treatment can reduce TA. My concern here is that its relatively lower color intensity might drop further after a cold treatment (tartrates absorb and drop color pigments). The good news, as I reported in my June 25, 2019 update, is that the red color had gained in brilliance and the yellow/brown component had dropped significantly, the net result being that hue is in a favorable range with the wine displaying better color. Hue is a measure of how wine is aging by comparing the amount of yellow/brown color to red.
So we’ll revisit this wine in a few months to see how it is evolving.
2018 Oregon Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains AVA
This Pinot is starting to open up very slowly, very, very slowly – finally! It is characteristically an Oregonian Pinot displaying berry fruit, round and soft mouthfeel and good balance with the oak just starting to shine through after 15 months.
Here too TA is high at 7.09 g/L with a bit of a challenging pH of 3.60 but with much less potassium than the Napa Cab. The color is consistent and as expected for a Pinot, i.e., it is light in style, so I probably won’t put the wine through cold stabilization so as not to drop color further. I also feel that the 3.26 g/L of RS balances out the acidity adequately for my palate.
This Pinot might be delivering on expectations after all. It just needs more aging to further develop into something bigger. I had become very fond of Oregon Pinots during my travels to the region, and I’m hoping to recreate the same style that I have become to appreciate and enjoy.
Daniel, are you concerned about the high RS resulting in re-fermentation? I suspect you put the wine through MLF, so using sorbate isn’t an option. What will you do to prevent more fermentation once the wine is ready for bottling?
Which ones do you consider high? One is just below 4 g/L and the other just below 3 g/L. These are residual sugar measurements, which means they include many unfermentable sugars. Glucose & fructose levels would be much lower. There are no concerns here.
Daniel, on the WGD Chardonnay, did you ferment without tartaric acid adjustments? Did your starting measurements agree with the Brix: 22.1, pH: 3.45, TA: .65 advertised? I’m guessing the chardonnay definitely went through ML. The TA of 4.53 seems so low. I have a bucket of the same chardonnay coming and am curious.
You can see the previous blog with all the starting numbers, but no, no acid adjustments. Brix and pH were very close to theirs but my TA was lower at 5.2 g/L. Yes, it did go through MLF. And 4.53 g/L is just perfect for me, for this style of wine.
Hello Daniel, I’ve started drinking my WGD 2018 Russian River Chardonnay – nice aroma, taste, and mouthfeel, but I’m picking up a bit of a bitter aftertaste and wondering if you have any thoughts regarding what might be the cause.
At thawing I added a recommended dose of Lallzyme C-Max, then Opti-White and Tannin FT Blanc Soft at yeast pitching. I added malolactic culture just after primary fermentation, which concluded fully. I racked 4 times over 8 months and cold conditioned for 2 weeks before bottling. During rackings 2 and 3 I added light toast American and French oak chips, respectively, not looking for too much toastiness. I added tartaric in the latter stage to target TA = .50%. The wine clarified nicely without fining or filtering. Final numbers were pH = 3.55; TA = .48%; SO2 = 35 ppm.
I’d be interested to hear whether you think I could have/should have done anything differently. Thanks!
Hi Ron,
It’s an absolutely delicious wine; I’m treating it as gold as I only made <20 L (5 gal).
I cannot be sure of the reason for the bitter aftertaste without knowing the exact details of your additions, but it might be due to the oak chips, either the amount or type you added or the duration of contact. pH and TA are very good and almost identical to mine.
You also seemed to have racked a lot in a short time; that's the only thing I see that I would do differently. I racked only 3 times in 15 months. A tad too much oxygen may be a factor in your bitter aftertaste.
Next time, or perhaps trialing with one bottle, try adding gum arabic, about 1 mL/L, and see if that solves the problem.
Cheers,
Daniel
Thank you, Daniel, always helpful.
Ron
Hi Daniel, just a follow up. It really is liquid gold! Just about to bottle and it is the best chard I’ve ever made. I regret not buying more juice when I had the chance. I’m bottling 2.5 gallons in 500ml bottles and 375ml bottles, just to stretch it out a bit more!
Hi Andrew,
Yes, it is, and, well, I guess I’m treating it as gold too as I’m saving the last 3 bottles I have for some REALLY special occasion. I too regret not having made more.
Cheers,
Daniel
Hello Daniel, I’m wondering how your batch of the Calistoga Cab is progressing. I’ve been working the same, and found it to still be pretty “tight” at bottling, plenty tart and tannic. Not alarming, but I’m wondering how much time it will likely need in the bottle to mellow somewhat. Have you tasted lately? Thanks!
Hello Ron,
I taste my Calistoga Cab on a regular basis. My notes would seem consistent with yours. The wine is indeed tight, still very much closed in. But this is no surprise; this type of wine needs time and patience. My batch is still aging in a carboy and now 24 months with a WineStix oak stave. I don’t expect much change for up to another year.
Cheers,
Daniel
Thank you! It’s all about the patience, isn’t it?
Cheers,
Ron
Yes. I always say that patience will reward you richly.
Hello Daniel, a couple of Wine Grapes Direct follow-ups. Have you tasted the Chardonnay lately, bottled in 2020? Mine is coming along nicely, bottling very soon. Wondering if it changed much in the bottle.
Also, I have a small batch of Roussanne “Orange” wine from WGD must. It’s also been progressing nicely, and clarified exceptionally without any fining. I recently placed in the fridge to cold condition, and it developed a noticeable haze as it cooled. Any thoughts why that might be?
I’m holding on opening any of the Calistoga Cab bottled last year, patiently trying to give it a nice, long rest.
Thanks very much,
Ron M
Hi Ron,
I’m unfortunately down to my last couple of bottles that I’m holding on dearly to see how well this wine will age. I tasted it last maybe a couple of months ago; it has not changed and I don’t expect it to change quickly, for sure not.
It’s unusual for a white wine in cold storage to develop a haze. Cold stabilization will produce fine particulates that will form larger crystals, but they won’t make the wine look cloudy. I mention this because some people can mistake the two. But this is an orange wine though, which likely has some tannins. The tannins are likely interacting with proteins and forming a haze, which will then precipitate.
You should always treat white (and orange) wines for proteins. The wine can clear perfectly on its own, but proteins, in untreated, can cause the wine to become cloudy. This usually happens at warmer temperatures, but it can also happening a room temperature. So yes, always treat for proteins, then cold stabilize.
Cheers,
Daniel
Thank You!!