PREMIUM RED WINE FROM FRESH GRAPES
by Bob Suber, updated by Dave
Lustig 8/99
Targets for Red grapes:
Sugar 22-27 Brix
Acid 0.65-0.70 TA
pH 3.2-3.6
I. CRUSH AND DESTEM GRAPES
A. Rinse a clean primary fermenter with
sulfite solution and drain. Place the bucket under the crusher / destemmer. Add
grapes ½ lug at a time. Keep hands and fingers out of the mechanism. Add to
your primary fermenter.
B. If you are preparing a liquid starter for
either your yeast of your Malo-lactic culture, put about 1 cup of juice into a
wine bottle with the same amount of water, then the yeast culture, use a cotton
wad as a stopper.
C. Sulfiting is no longer recommended unless
you are ‘pre-macerating’ (also called ‘cold soaking’), any of this early
browning will fall out in fermentation and settling. If sulfiting, use ½ tsp.
per 100 lb. of grapes. Pectic enzyme (pectinase) may be added here to aid in
color extraction and later clearing.
D. Check and adjust sugar and pH levels to
the above indicated ranges. It is OK to go outside the range of TA in order to
achieve the proper pH. Later cold stabilization will correct things.
E. Cover the primary fermenter with a lid or
plastic sheet. Cool the grapes, if you can, to 40 degrees and hold for a day or
3 ("cold soak"). Keep the must well stirred.
II. PRIMARY FERMENTATION
A. Let warm overnight. Re-check and
re-adjust component levels to the above indicated range. Sugars will rise from
the raisins soaking into the must and pH will rise from the absorbtion of
potassium from the skins and stem pieces.
B. When warmed to around 60 degrees add
yeast; dry (rehydrated) or starter. Do not mix in. Allow the yeast colony to
grow 4-12 hours then mix in. Fermentation should start within 24 hours and a
cap of pulp will rise to the top.
C. Push the cap down into the juice at least
twice a day to keep it moist, obtain color / character, and prevent mold. Feel
for any ‘hot spots’ and stir to keep the temperature fairly constant.
D. Your Malolactic starter should be added
after the cap floats and the must warms to over 70 degrees. Don’t forget M/L
nutrient. Malolactic bacteria have different nutritional requirements than
yeast.
E. Ferment at 60-85 degrees. Cooler
fermentations tend toward fruitier wines, slightly higher alcohol and are
slower, higher temperatures extract more of the flavors and colors from the
skins and complete sooner. Too cold a fermentation may tend to stick near the
end. Warming things when below 5 Brix will help prevent this.
F. Ferment until:
1. Partial dryness; 3-5 days, 5-12 Brix
2. Total dryness on the skins; 4-11 days
3. Extended maceration; 11 + days; cover and
CO2 blanket after 11 days (or when cap thins and sinks). Don’t do this if you
have cold soaked before fermentation started.
III. SECONDARY FERMENTATION
A. Press the skins and siphon the wine into
a clean secondary fermenter. Try to siphon the clear(ish) juice from below the
cap first so that only the skins are exposed to air while pressing.
B. Attach a fermentation lock and fill with
sulfite solution. At this point all air must be kept from the wine by keeping
topped up into the neck of the bottle (about 1 inch below the stopper) and
sulfite solution in the lock. You may wish to keep the later wines from the
hard pressing separate as it will be more tannic (possibly bitter) and of a
slightly different color. Do not worry that the wine is a lighter color than it
should be as most of the stuff that settles initially is light colored.
C. Rack the wine off the gross lees 24 hours
after pressing, top up and re-attach the fermentation lock. This racking helps
prevents the formation of H2S (rotten egg smell). You may go a second day if
you are seeing a lot of early settling.
D. Rack again in 3-7 days (longer if
malolactic fermentation is not yet complete), adding a scant ¼ tsp. sulfite
powder, top up, re-attach lock, fill with sulfite solution. Do not add any
sulfite until malolactic fermentation is complete!
E. Rack again in 4 weeks or later when
sufficient (½") sediment forms on the bottom.
IV. CLARIFYING AND AGING
A. Test and sulfite to around 40 ppm
"free" at the completion of the secondary fermentation and settling.
Be sure you have verified that malolactic fermentation is complete. See various
references for required sulfite levels based on pH. For a 5 gallon carboy the
amount will be about ¼ tsp. at a pH of 3.5.
1. Red wines will normally clarify without
fining. Store in a cold location, down to 40 degrees for 2 or more weeks to
drop tartrates. Rack the wine off the tartrates immediately after allowing the
wine warm up.
2. Red wine can be fined with bentonite to
remove protein that can form a haze or solids if the temperature goes up. If
the wine does not clear in 4 months, gelatin. caesin (skim milk), egg white or
Sparkolloid fining agents may be used.
B. Age at least 3 months in bulk (5 gallon+
container) before bottling. Longer storage / aging in bulk will improve the
wine.
C. Barrel aging smoothes / mellows the wine
in addition to imparting oakiness.
V. BOTTLE
A. When stable and clear, test / verify /
adjust SO2 levels, siphon into sanitized bottles and insert corks.
1. Allow to age for 3 months before
consuming.
2. ENJOY !
VI. NOTES
A. Sanitized means rinsed in sulfite solution
and allowed to drain.
B. CLEANSING / SANITIZING SOLUTION.....Add 1
teaspoon of sulfite powder and ½ teaspoon of acid blend to 1 gallon of water.
Sulfite needs acid to activate it.
C. Never add powdered sulfite to wine at any
stage. Always mix it with a liquid first, either the juice or wine as it
progresses through fermentation and clarification.
D. Prevent oxygen or air from getting to
your wine once fermentation has started. Keep containers topped up and
fermentation locks attached and filled with sulfite solution.
E. All component adjustments to the wine
should be made prior to fermentation.
F. Hold bottles cork up for around 48 hours
to allow the cork to dry slightly and expand to fully seal the bottle. This
time will also allow the pressure to adjust within the bottle and prevent
leakers and corks moving out. Recork if necessary.
G. Always store your corked bottles on their
sides in a cool, dry location.