The project for 2005 will be using fresh grapes to create Syrah and Merlot wine.

Saturday Morning September 26:
Purchased 900 pounds of Syrah grapes from Presque Isle Wine Cellars (PIWC)on Saturday September 26. The grapes were in approximately 1000# boxes and labeled Oak Grove Vineyards, Lodi CA. They had arrived in a refrigerated truck the previous day about 4 PM. On Saturday morning they were still quite cold with an estimated temperature of approximately 50º F. The bunches were mostly tight with some looser bunches. The berries were approximately ½" in diameter and smaller. The stems were mostly green and the seeds greenish to very light brown. We had no molds or rotten bunches to contend with. The grapes had arrived in excellent condition.

We stemmed and crushed the grapes and placed the juice and skins in large black plastic drums. These drums had screw down lids to keep everything secure. We weighed the grapes into two batches. One of 180 pounds and another of the remaining 720 pounds. The expected total yield is approximately 60 gallons figuring 15# of grapes yields one gallon. Our plan is to trial two batches. The smaller batch will contribute some of the juice to the making of a Rose' (Saignee). We trailered home the grapes without a problem. Rich must have been either a teamster or rigger in a past life since his combination of ratchet straps, rope and bungee kept everything secure for the ride home.

• The Syrah grapes
  The sugar content for the Syrah was 24.4º (brix), acid .45% and pH 3.58. These values are typical for Central Valley grapes and it's not uncommon to have Syrah at this 'low acid' level. I measured the sugar using both a hydrometer and refractometer at home and got an average of 23.4º. Since some measurement error as well as variation in the batch is expected we considered the grapes to be at an acceptable starting sugar. The potential alcohol is expected to be 13.5% and no adjustment to the sugar level was done.

PIWC's Syrah recommendation for the acid was to add tartaric acid at the rate of 8 grams/gallon. We followed that recommendation for both batches. The estimated starting acid is approximately .65% with this addition.. (Typically 4.1 grams/gallon raises acidity by .1%) Since we did not have a scale (balance) we measured the weight using a volume conversion of one tablespoon of tartaric acid is approximately 15 grams.

We also added ground American white oak with medium toast as Oakmore at the rate of 10 grams/gallon estimating one cup equals 65 grams. In the smaller batch a combination of Oakmore and French Oak chips was used.

In order to extract as much color as possible a pectic enzyme Rapidase Ex-color was added as well as yeast nutrient (Superferment) both at the recommended rates. The grapes were still too cold (61º F.) to add yeast so we let them soak on the skins overnight.

Two smaller batches starting off at 180# each of Merlot and Syrah were handled a little differently. These two containers were allowed to sit outside for approximatlely 18 hours permitting some color to come out of the skins. Approximately 5 gallons (2.5 G. of each…Syrah and Merlot) total were pulled off. A 50/50 Rose' wine will be made from this juice and the balance allowed to ferment with a higher percentage of skins and seeds. It will be interested to see if the wine turns out differently. This process has a French word associated with it called Saignee

Tuesday September 27-
Fermentation is very active, and the temperatures continues to rise in all the containers. The largest container was 84º F. Wednesday morning and the smaller ones a little cooler at 81º F. Initially I could smell the oak addition and the fresh fruit aromas but once fermentation smells started coming off they dominated all else. The caps are all quite firm and are pushed down four times/day.

If everything stays on schedule we should be ready to press on Sunday (Oct. 2). The plan as it stands right now is to start pressing Sunday mid morning (about 10:00 AM). I expect it will take several hours to push that many grapes through the press. We'll collect all the new wine in a 'black oak barrel', add ML bacteria to start the secondary fermentation and let the wine settle (heavy solids and dead yeast need to settle out...it's sometimes described as 'swill'). We'll plan on filling the your carboys using a siphon Monday night.

Sunday October 2 -
Pressed the Syrah and Merlot. Had eight days of skin contact with more than six days of active fermentation. The Syrah continued to show a lot of fine solids that constantly clogged the press screen. Both batches were checked with a hydrometer and showed to be dry (less than 0º). Pressed the Saignee Merlot as well. This batch showed a brix reading of ~2.5º indicating some sugar remaining. Most likely the remaining sugar was a result of starting the fermentation about 24 hours later than the standard Merlot. We could have waited at least a day or two more on the Saignee batch to finish fermentation..

We added the Chris Hansen ML culture to the newly pressed wine along with some AR 2000 that Paul had from a previous year and let it settle overnight. Color was difficult to assess ; however, it looked typical and no off flavors or smells were noted. Pressing went very well with plenty of hands getting grape stained. Monday

Monday October 3 -
Pressed the Saignee Syrah and it showed 0º. The carboys were filled and final yields determined. Yields were better than estimated even considering the difficulties (suspended solids) with the Syrah batches. We ended up with 65.5 total gallons of Syrah and 32.5 total gallons of Merlot (almost 14 pounds/gallon verses our estimate of 15 pounds/gallon). The last carboy filled contained mostly Syrah; although all the remaining fractions were brought together in order to fill it up. Due to a generous discount from PIWC on the grapes (since our order was over 1,000#) as well as higher than estimated yields the final cost per gallon for the new wine (cost of grapes plus supplies for 98 gallons) was $12.10/gallon.

Wednesday October 5 -
I added ½ cup of French Oak chips to each of my Carboys as well as 1/3 cup to each of the Ryba's carboys. The Saignee Merlot continues to finish the fermentation process in the carboy's and the standard batches of Merlot and Syrah appear to have an active ML going on. Thursday (October 13) All the carboys look active regarding ML. The color of the Saignee batches is visibly darker. The Merlot appears lighter in color than the Syrah and the Merlot has strong fruit aromas and flavor. Although the Syrah has a much earthier smell it too also shows significant fruit flavor. The Syrah is also shaper tasting than expected; possibly due to the higher amounts of tartaric acid prior to fermentation. I expect some of this will diminish during cold stabilization. I hope to complete the ML as quickly as possible and get the new wine off the gross lees in order protect the fruitier aspects of both batches.

You should all find ML activity going on as long as the new wine is stored in a warm enough location (68º-74º). If you look closely at the mouth of he carboys you should see very small bubbles slowing coming up the wall of the carboy. ML bubbles are typically smaller than fermentation bubbles and as you would expect the smaller size slows them down a little. Please be sure your airlocks have water and that the stoppers are tight inside the mouth of the carboy. Most of the things that can go wrong require air/oxygen so try to keep everything tight. Now's a good time to be adding oak if you so desire. The choice is yours.

We did add some American oak at fermentation (10 grams/gallon). I chose to add 1/2 cup of French Oak Chips to each of my carboys. It's my feeling that the Syrah will benefit from an oak addition more than the Merlot. I like the sweeter more subtle taste of the French over the American. It's been my experience that the smaller size oak gives more effect than the larger size. I'd be more cautious adding American oak in granular form. Now's also a good time to be thinking about how you wish to finish the wine.

My Syrah smells earthy and tastes fruity. My Merlot is lighter in color, and I detect only fruit smells and a nice berry flavor. If you want more complexity and favor the earthy quality, keep it on the gross lees for an extended time period. If you want to push the fruity side think about keeping it in warm location to permit a quicker ML and rack it off the lees as quickly as possible. I typically like to let reds finish ML before the first racking and first addition of meta.

Thursday October 13
All the carboys look active regarding ML. The color of the Saignee batches is visibly darker. The Merlot appears lighter in color than the Syrah and the Merlot has strong fruit aromas and flavor. Although the Syrah has a much earthier smell it too also shows significant fruit flavor. The Syrah is also shaper tasting than expected; possibly due to the higher amounts of tartaric acid prior to fermentation. I expect some of this will diminish during cold stabilization. I hope to complete the ML as quickly as possible and get the new wine off the gross lees in order protect the fruitier aspects of both batches.