Ahhhh. It's Sunday morning and we don't have to be at the winery at the crack of dawn. It feels like I'm cheating!! I can drink some coffee because I like it, not just because I need some caffeine. After leaving the winery after sunset and arriving before dawn yesterday, this morning it feels strange to lounge around and find some time to return some e-mails and update the blog. Friday night there was a time while I was alone at the winery when I stopped and realized how amazingly cool it was to be there. I was bleeding some juice from two of the 5-ton fermenters (rose' anyone?) while I was also adding yeast to some juice in two of the "T-Bins" and thought: "Wow. I better not screw this up!" Actually, it was just cool to be involved in actually making wine. So much of what we do as interns is glorified janitorial work. That is not a complaint. It's just the reality that things need to be CLEAN!! After making homebrew, one thing I understand is the need for everything to be clean.
Yesterday, my buddy Tim visited the winery and put in a few hours of work - thanks for the help, Tim!! We actually had several people come by the winery yesterday and help us process about 5 tons of fruit. Again, it went really well. We then re-checked the remaining fruit at Sexton vineyard. OK, what happened?! Suddenly, the fruit remaining there which looked pretty rough and tasted green just the other day is looking fantastic and tasting really good. We got a similar report yesterday about the clone 23 hanging at Keefer Ranch (remember the pics?). That fruit has come around very quickly also. It seems the cooler days/nights have allowed the flavors in the fruit to catch up to the record setting sugar levels. A very good sign!
Just an aside - the brix levels on the fruit cold-soaking in a few of the five-ton fermenters was so high, we couldn't read it with our hydrometers. Eric had to buy a new one so we could read the levels without having to spend extra time making calculations that we weren't entirely comfortable with. Well, it turns out our high readings were right. The point is this: higher sugar levels can lead to higher alcohol wines (that is a major simplification) which isn't the style of wines that Freeman likes to make. Before deciding how to deal with it, you want to make sure the readings you get are accurate. So, I will just say this . . . If Freeman decides to bottle a 2008 Rose', back up the truck - it should be excellent.
Hopefully the fruit we bring in over the next couple weeks will be more winemaker friendly so Eric won't have to worry so much. :-)
BTW, I know I foreshadowed an '07 Zin update - I haven't forgotten. I'll write about that soon.
The Katie arrival countdown is in full swing . . . !! Sure hope this week goes by fast.
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1 comment:
Thanks for taking the time to write this blog John. This is way more complicated than brewing it seems, since the variability in the starting ingredients for beer is much less or at least much easier to control or manipulate after the harvest of the raw ingredients. You have grain which you can roast to your desired level and hops which can be adjusted based on strength and aroma, and you can tweak the water chemistry to get certain desired effects. With wine, you work with whatever mother nature provides and it seems like the experience and expertise of the winemaker really could make a profound difference. The education is appreciated and it's fun to hear the enthusiasm you have for this work. It sounds like a great experience. Keep the reports coming when you have the time. Steve K.
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