La vigne en septembre 2011

A dix, nous avons vite fait de rentrer 32 kg de Merlot, 7 de moins que l’an dernier et 12 kg de Cabernet Sauvignon (8 kg de moins que l’an dernier).   Si une heure suffise pour rentrer les grappes, il faut deux heures pour érafler.  Les baies sont petites, avec peu de pourriture mais beaucoup de baies vertes.

Les baies sont foulées aux pieds dans deux fûts alimentaires de 30 L.  Le degré alcoolique potentiel du jus est estimé avec un mustimètre : 20 (12.4 à 12.8°).  Avec le refractomètre, le degré brix est 20 (11,5° alcool potentiel).  J’ajoute ¼ de cuillerée à café de méta aux fûts avant de les rentrer dans l’atelier où la température ambiante varie entre 20° et  24° dans la journée.  La fermentation démarre le lendemain sans ajout de levure.  Je décide donc de ne pas ajouter de levure et de laisser la fermentation se poursuivre par les levures endogènes.  Pigeage deux fois par jour (matin et soir).  Le degré brix descend à 13 le dimanche 11 septembre, à 10 le mardi quand nous  pressons neuf jours après la vendange.  Le “gateau” pèse 5 kg, ce qui nous laisse 39 kg de moût.  La densité correspondante à 10 °Brix est 1.039, ce qui fait 37,5 L de vin, recueilli (forcément avec aération) dans une cuve de 40 L en plastique blanc munie d’un robinet et un barboteur.

Cinq jours plus tard, le dimanche 18 septembre, le moût est à 1,0 au mustimètre (7 °Brix).  Le vin n’a pas d’odeur suspecte mais est acide selon mon goûteur de mari.  Je décide de faire la FML pour convertir l’acide malique avec son goût aigre de pomme verte en acide lactique, moins acide et plus gras.  Je soutire le vin sans aération dans quatre conteneurs chacun muni d’un barboteur.  J’active des ferments ML dans 20 mL d’eau et 20 mL de vin (2 pointes de couteau pour 6 pointes de couteau d’activateur).  C’est assez pour les 37 L de vin.   Le lendemain, j’ajoute ces ferments dans le vin et soutire dans 4 conteneurs.  Chacun est rempli à 3 cm du barboteur.  Je garde une bouteille de 375 mL au frigo pour voir la différence sans FML.   La température est estivale pour les prochaines semaines.  Je prévois une chromatographie ML mi-octobre.

Soutirage

Bordeaux clairet, a wine intermediate between red and rose wine, is closest to the wine the English called claret (or “clairet which means “pale” in the Middle ages.   The English claret was a rose wine but a peculiarly dark rose one.  The Plantagenet kings of England whose lineage was established by marriage with Eleonore of Aquitaine (a son was Richard the Lion hearted) encouraged the international wine trade.  Bordeaux winemakers were eager to cater to the tastes of English nobility and produced claret in quantity, to be sent in wooden kegs by boat down the Garonne River and then to England.  The meaning of the term changed over time, coming to refer to Bordeaux wine that had been spiced, then to simply mean Bordeaux rose wine.  French wine makers stopped making claret because of continuous warfare between England and France during the 18^th  century when the wine trade with England was either hindered or altogether blocked.

Today, claret in England refers to a dark, heavy, dry red Bordeaux.  Claret is now abusively used to describe not only red wines from Bordeaux, but wines made elsewhere in the Bordeaux style.

Both Bordeaux rose wine and clairet are typically made by “saignée”, i.e., a certain amount of juice is removed from the must of red wine grapes after a short period of maceration (12 to 18 hours for rose wine, 24  to 48 hours for clairet).  The difference in time of maceration allows the extraction of more tannins and color.  Our rose wine was not made like a Bordeaux rose wine.  I’ll have to think about whether I will make another attempt this year.  Another technique for making red wine introduces cold maceration before fermentation.

Two techniques have evolved for red wines.  The harvest is destemmed and lightly crushed, then kept between 10 and 13° C for 3 to 5 days to delay the start of alcoholic fermentation.  The addition of dry ice or a neutral gaz (nitrogen) is added to the cuve to prevent oxidation.  In this fashion, certain water soluble compounds (pigments, aromas, polysaccharides, tannins) are selectively extracted.  The pulp and skins are degraded enzymatically, allowing the extraction of compounds in the absence of alcohol.  This is reputed to preserve the delicate character of red wines lower in alcoholic content and results in light red wines, intense in color and fruit aromas.

A second technique is to mix the harvest immediately with dry ice to bring the temperature to –minus 80°C.  This requires 500 g of dry ice per liter of must.  The grapes are kept at 5°C for a maximum of 15 days.   For large harvests, sulfitage can thus be reduced to a minimum without risk of microbial contamination.  Cold explosion of grapes liberates an intense violet-blue color and extracts aromas and fruitiness typical of beaujolais nouveau.

The second technique is not adapted to our small harvest, but the first technique might be interesting.  Another possibility for this year’s harvest.

The month of June is hot and dry.  Day temperatures alternate between temperatures between 18 and 22°C interspersed with a few days of higher temperatures (25, 29, 26, 23, 24° C on June 2 to 6; 24 to 26°C on June 12-14; 28 and 27°C on June 20 and 21, followed by a three day heat wave with temperatures of 31, 38, 40 °C on June 25-28.   The average night to day temperature is 13°/26°.  Until July 18^th, day temperatures rarely drop from 27-28°C to 23-24°C.  The soil is so dry that the leaves are turning brown and dropping.  Even the grapes are suffering with a few bunches shriveling and drying.  We usually do not water our vineyard, watering being reputed to lessen the quality of grapes.  But we don’t want the vines to die!  So we decide to water the vineyard for a few of the very hot days.  Then the temperatures drop to 20°C and it starts to rain, almost every day from July 17-26.  The average night to day temperatures are 15°/25°.  The Cabernet and Merlot grapes are turning color, from green to purple (veraison), two weeks earlier than 2010.  Signs of powdery mildew appear on a few grapevines.  Humidity plus warm weather are perfect ingredients for the development of mildew. The susceptible period of grapes should be over by now although leaves are still susceptible. We decide a final treatment with bouillie bordelaise and sulfur on July 25^th before installing the netting and after removing clusters on shoots with less than 10 leaves.  We predict an early harvest, perhaps even early september.

The grapes are turning color (veraison).

Three more chemical solutions, this time of flower smells, (coriander, rose and apple, cloves) prime our taste buds for the following white wines.  Three white wines where these smells may be present are next on the tasting agenda.  The first is Condrieu, 120 ha north of the Rhone Valley- Viognier – 2007.  Viognier is a varietal that was largely abandoned but in which interest is today renewed.  Acidity is low but the wine is aromatic, with terpenes conferring the sugarless taste of sweetness.  Aromas are those of apricot, wild peach, a note of violet.   Two wines from Alsace (Riesling and Gewurztraminer) are next.  Maison Trimbach, north of Colmar, cuvée Frederic-Emile 2002, is reputed for its Riesling.  Not raised in wood barrels, so no trace of wood notes, but those of lemon confit, citrus, coriander.  The taste is refreshing, rich, sugarless lemon jam.  The gewurztraminer made from pinot gris pink grapes, is a grand cru Osterberg.  A spicy traminer ; exuberant terpenes are what gives aromas of litchi, rose, apricot, a touch of cloves.   We can taste the  4%  residual sugar, but the wine is crisp, refreshing, with lasting power (une belle longueur).

The fifth session  is a study of two molecules : trichloroanizole (TCA) responsible for the cork taste and tannins.  A wine with the taste of  cork is considered spoiled and unfit for consumption.   Three bottles containing the same dry white Bordeaux 2008 contain no TCA or increasing amounts of TCA.  An amount of TCA too small to be detected by smell or taste still has an effect of decreasing aromas.  A larger amount is unpleasant both in smell and taste.  Next we are given solutions of tannins in water, in 12° alcohol and with the same amount of acid as in white wine.  The first gives an initial impression of cold, then comes bitterness and numbing of the tongue.  Together, these effects are called astringency.  The second is less cold, the bitterness is more like pepper and there is less numbing.  The third is ice cold and the tongue completely numbed, anesthesized even.  We can conclude that astringence due to tannins decreases in the presence of alcohol and is enhanced by acidity.  We know that tannins from grape skins are not as potent as those from seeds and stems.  Tannins are soluble in alcoholic solutions.  White and rosé wines, which are pressed before alcoholic fermentation begins, therefore contain no tannins.  A red wine poor in tannins is termed weak, lacking in structure.  Skin tannins are a marker of unripe grapes of the Cabernet cousins (cabernet, cabernet sauvignon and merlot).  They give green pepper and pea aromas.  These skin tannins are at their maximum at veraison (when grapes turn color) and decrease with maturation.

To exercise our tasting capacity, we are given Couhins Lurton 2009 (Pessac Léognan, 4 ha, 100% Sauvignon blanc), a chardonnay (Domaine La Tour Beaumont 2004, Haut Poitou, 13% alcohol) and a Meursault goutte d’or 2002 premier cru, (Domaine Charles Buisson, 13% alcohol).  The first is a domain rented and later sold by Chateau Couhins (an INRA domain) to André Lurton.  Chateau Couhins Lurton has a nice nose of citrus and smoked Chinese tea (from barrel) but an initial bouquet of reduction.  This may be due to the screw cap, too impermeable to air, so that there is a slight smell of fermented cabbage.  With aeration, these defects disappear.  The Chardonnay has the nose of a wine past its prime, with a finish of asparagus and bitterness.  The Meursault is from a good, perhaps the best year.  We are told that lees possess an important  power of reduction, due to glutathione.  Old wines have no “carafe”; young wines have “carafe”.  The Meursault has a nice nose of nuts, almonds, noisettes, the taste lingers, a very mineral character.  The color is pale yellow, with green reflections.  An orange-yellow color would indicate undesirable oxidation.

The sixth session of the year  is a study of the effect of different terroir on wine made with the same techniques in the same year (1998) and from the same varietals (mostly Merlot with some Cabernet Franc).  Vineyards boasting the Pomerol or Saint Emilion appellation are located in the same region near the city of Libourne but are found on diverse terroir : three vineyards of the Pomerol appellation on arid soil, more black sand than gravel near the Isle River (Chateau Plince), more gravel than sand further away from the river (Chateau Lagrave) and clay under a thin layer of gravel (Trotanoy 13.4% vol, the small Petrus).   Saint-Emilion appellations found on a clay covered limestone hill are represented by two grand cru classé:  Chateau Larcis-Ducasse facing the Dordogne river to the south and Chateau Laroque.  We start with Chateau Plince (13% vol) : a light orange-brown color, nose of average intensity smelling of stewed prunes, both indicators of premature (?) aging.  In taste, not much structure and tannins that leave the mouth dry.  No finish.   Chateau Plince is past its prime and dying.  This is no doubt due to the terroir of sandy soil near the River Isle, which allows good drainage and easy access to water.  The type of terroir which often results in a wine poor in structural tannins.  The advantage of such a terroir is the early attainment of optimal qualities.  What makes a wine which can age well, is a dry summer which causes qualitative water stress phenolic compounds to increase.  The wine will develop the phenolic structure of a wine “de garde”, one which will improve with age.

Chateau Larcis-Ducasse is located on a limestone hill, on soils of diverse composition, ranging from a mixture of sandy clay on the bottom of the hill through clay limestone to “limino-argileuse” (molasse du Fronsadais) to clay limestone on the top of the plateau.  This diversity is said to account for the complexity of the wine blended from different terroirs.  The color of the 1998 bottle we tasted is even more orange than the Chateau Plince.   We smell dried leaves with not a trace of fruit.  The mouth has smoothness but the tannins are astringent and worn-out.  Our wine master says that if Chateau Plince is taking a bow, Chateau Larcis-Ducasse is leaving the stage.

Chateau Lagrave is violet-red bordeaux, perhaps a bit red-brick (tuilé).  It smells of red currant, toasted vanilla, a bit smoky.  The wine is at its best.  Its terroir of gravel and clay means that the drainage is good, roots grow deep and the presence of clay helps retain water during the dry summer of 1998.

Chateau Laroque is at the edge of the cliff, not much soil over the limestone beneath.  Roots grow shallow and the vines could suffer from lack of water.  But limestone can act as a sponge, releasing water during high heat.  Cool nights are useful for the preservation of phenolic compounds.  The color is a violet bordeaux, with a complex bouquet of spice and fruit (strawberry, raspberry).   This is great red wine ; no trace of astringence in the tannins, a nice acidity (to be expected in a terroir containing limestone) even if the final taste lacks smoothness.

Finally, Chateau Trotanoy (100% Melot), of which greatness is expected.  The terroir is that of Petrus, heavy clay. Our wine master is not disappointed.  In color, Trotanoy looks older than Laroque, intense, a touch of red brick.  The nose is intense, complex and smells of white truffles, the signature of a clay terroir, and chocolate.  The attack is silk, fruity and the final taste is smooth velvet.

May 1-7.  The weather is warm, between 19 and 27°C during the day and 10-14°C during the nite.  It rains periodically with a short-lived thunderstorm on Friday afternoon.  The rain is scant enough and the weather warm enough so that the leaves dry fast and we decide not to spray.  The vines are extending rapidly and we spend hours attaching the individual branches to the top wire.  The grapes are still in agglomerates but the grapevine over the garage is in bloom.  Since this hybrid grapevine underwent budbreak 10 days earlier than the other varietals, we expect flowering in mid-May.

May 18.  The weather has remained hot and dry.  The vine is in full bloom.  This is the period of highest susceptibility powdery and downy mildew.  This year we remove tendrils and lateral shoots.   We also hedge shoots that reach their maximum length (12 to 15 leaves).  This is the first year that we have done this.  We are following the advice of experts to improve the quality of our grapes.

May 26.  Some signs of fungal attack is seen on leaves of the hybrid vine trellis so we spray again with sulfur and bouillie bordelaise on May 26.

Berries are almost 1 cm in diameter

June 5.  Berries in grape clusters on different vines and even on the same vine are quite heterogeneous in size :  the largest berries are almost 1 cm in diameter.  This is a full two weeks in advance compared to last year.  Clusters with very small berries will probably have to be removed.  The grapevines closest to the street have almost empty clusters ; either the flowers have not developed into berries or the developing berries have fallen.  The vineyard appears to be in perfect health, no sign of fungal attack.  However, the hybrid vine trellis bothers me.  The leaves look fine, but the grape clusters where berries have already reached  the closing stage, berries touching each other, are covered with a powdery white substance.  Is this powdery mildew ?  I will consult an expert to see what can be done.

June 4, 2011 : Vineyard

Two months later, it’s time to rack the wine again.   I decide to analyse the new wine for free SO2.  A search on the internet found the oenology laboratory closest to my home, Bordeaux Oenoconcept, located on the right bank of the Garonne, in Artigues près Bordeaux.  It cost 10 euros to determine volatile acidity and free SO2.  The two are necessary to determine the optimum amount of sulfite to be added.  Volatile acids are by-products of fermentation and in a well-fermented wine, these are present in very small amounts (lower than 0.3 g/L).   Anything higher than that is a sign of the presence of spoilage organisms and calls for drastic and immediate action.  This means racking and fining, adding a double dose of sulfite, and racking again as soon the fining is finished.  The object is is rid the wine of the spoilage organisms (bacteria and yeast).   In the case of the red and rosé wine, the analysis shows 0.24 and 0.16 g/L for the red and rosé wine, respectively.   Free S02 has decreased to 10 and 3 mg/L for the red and rosé wine.  Appropriate adjustment is made to add sulfite to 50 mg/mL.

One month later at the end of April,  the 2010 vintage is fined with egg white.  We have used gelatin in the past.  Egg white is the fining agent traditionally used in the Bordeaux area. We need half an egg white (20 mL) for 20 L of red wine.  The egg white is beaten with a pinch of salt and added to the rosé and red wine in the appropriate amounts.  The wine is placed in the refrigerator (we only have 17 L of red wine and 5 L of blush wine) until a sediment forms, usually 48 to 72 hours.   The clarified wine will then be racked and bottled.

During this time, the grapevines have awakened and there is much to do.   The grapevines are pruned at the end of March as usual.

April 3 :  The Petit Verdot and the cabernet sauvignon are in advance of the merlot.  Bud break is just beginning for the latter, while two to three leaves are expanding in the former.  Day temperatures have been at least 15°C since March 7 with several periods of sunny days with temperatures over 20°C.   Bud break is not homogeneous.  The vines are now in the period of high susceptibility to powdery mildew (oidium), so are sprayed with sulfur.

April 11 :  The grape buds are now clearly visible and five to six leaves are fully expanded.  This is the period of high leaf susceptibility to both downy and powdery mildew so we spray with bouillie bordelaise and sulfur .  Watersprouts growing along the trunk and head area have been regularly removed.  So were unfruitful shoots unless we decided to keep them for future cane or spur renewal.

April 28 :  There are now eight to nine fully expanded leaves on a fruiting shoot.  On a few vines, leaves have been attacked by erinose mites.  These result in blisters on the surface of the leaf ; the underside of the blisters are filled with a dense mat of whitish hairs.  This has occurred previously and has no adverse effect on growth of the vine or fruit production.  When a leaf is heavily infested, I remove the leaf.  The individual grapes in a cluster will be clearly visible before flowering.  Before this stage is reached,  we spray with  bouillie bordelaise and sulfur to prevent contamination with fungal spores.  These contact sprays are protective measures and need to be applied before the disease becomes active.  This means spraying before rain since humidity activates the dormant spores.  Rain is forecast so the vines are sprayed with bouillie bordelaise and sulfur.

Our vineyard has never been sprayed with insecticides.  I recently met Michèle Bechet of Chateau Fougas (Bourg sur Gironde) who is converting to organic wine making.  She uses biodynamic techniques to control insects.  She described how she was able to prevent caterpillar infestation by collecting ten egg sacs, removing the eggs and treating the eggs with silica (6 g per L of water) in a « dynamizing » machine.   The dynamized water was used to treat 10 hectares of grapevines.  Lo and behold, no more caterpillars.

The vineyard in perfect health on May 1, 2011

Wine trade standard 12.5 cL ISO tasting glasses are provided to the beginners’ group.  Wine glasses should never be washed with detergent, simply rinsed several times with hot water.  Champagne will have less capacity to bubble if the glass has been washed with detergent.

The first two sessions introduce us to the mechanisms and techniques of wine tasting.  Wine tasting draws on four senses: sight, taste, smell and touch.  The visual impression comes first.  The wine taster looks for clarity and the color expected for the type of wine being examined.  Intensity and hue in a red wine are useful indicators of body, age and health.  Next comes smell.  After a first sniff, the wine is swirled in the glass to release more aromas.  Finally, the wine is taken into the mouth and swished around.  This operation warms and oxygenates the wine, releasing more aromas and eliminating some of the unpleasant ones.  After holding the wine in the mouth for a short time, it is spit out.  Taste buds found only on the surface of the tongue can sense four different tastes, in sequence according to their location:  sweet at the tip of the tongue, salty close to the tip and just behind, sour along the sides, and bitter in the back.  The touch sense records heat and cold, astringency, viscosity.

We are told that wine is composed of two different phenolic compounds, anthocyanins which confer color and tannins responsible for astringency.  Tannins are divided into two groups, soluble tannins present in oak barrels and insoluble tannins found in the grape (skin, seeds, stems).  These give organoleptic qualities such as body (fullness), structure, and texture (gras, charnu) but also flaws perceived as bitter, hard, thin, sharp.  The qualities or flaws depend on the nature of the tannins but also on their balance with the acids and sweet tasting substances (residual sugar, glycerol, alcohol).  Acidity brings out the astringency of tannins while alcohol attenuates it.  A good wine has no defects and has balance, when alcohol, acid and, for red wines, tannins are in harmony.  A great wine in addition bears the signature of the soil (the terroir) and its harmony includes a complex interplay of aromas.

In the next few lessons, we will be taught to detect flaws through unpleasant smells and to identify them.  These include animal odors (horsey, mousey, sweaty, sauerkraut-like, yeasty) due to microbial contamination but also chemical (sulfur and petroleum) and earthy (moldy cork, mushroom, dusty) odors.  Vegetable odors could be a sign that the grapes were not fully ripe when harvested, but others are typical of certain varietals.  Odors contributed by raising in wooden barrels (e.g. vanilla, coconut, toasted bread) should not be overwhelming.  The taster looks for a clean, balanced smell with no detectable flaws.

The third session  introduces us to the expression of aromas in wine.  We are presented with a series of bottles containing a solution of six different spice extracts and asked to name them.  I swirl the liquid in my glass and smell.  Most recall a spice but I can’t quite put a finger or a name to them.  But once the answers are given, the answers are obvious:  orange blossom, anis, cloves, cardamon, pepper, cinnamon.  In a bottle of wine, alcohol reinforces the aromas, making them easier to smell but the aromas are multiple and their interaction changes the way they are perceived.   Aromas are floral:  carnation, honeysuckle, acacia, apple blossom, iris, rose, violet or fruit : black currant, blueberry, lemon, peach, strawberry, abricot, grapefruit, passion fruit, litchi.  Different aromas and their combination are countless.  The trained wine taster expects certain aromas in a white or a red wine.  These depend on the varietal and the wine-growing region.

A special session in combination with the advanced group presents goat cheese and the world-wide expression of Sauvignon blanc.  Grapevines of Sauvignon blanc are strongly dependent on their terroir (climate and soil) and the resultant wines are more diverse than those from Chardonnay grown around the world.  The wine should be tonic, invigorating, a result of a healthy acidity.  The vegetable taste of pea and asparagus appreciated in South Africa is considered a defect in France.   The first group of wines is from the Southern limit of Sauvignon blanc.  We taste a wine from South Africa (Walker Bay – Bouchard Finlayson – 2009) and two from New Zealand (Cloudy Bay – 2010 and Clos Henri – 2009).  Walker Bay has the expected but not very intense aroma of citrus.  We can taste residual sugar and a final bitterness.  The two from New Zealand are more typical of mature Sauvignon blanc grapes :  a clear-cut citrus smell in the second, associated with the smell of asparagus and ivy in the first.  Clos Henri has the typical mineral taste of Sauvignon Blanc, but is a bit smoky (from barrel raising?), and has a slight reductive character (loss of oxygen).  The owners are from the Sancerre region of France and obviously know how to make a typical Sauvignon wine.  The first two wines of the second group come from France (Bordeaux – Chateau Reynon – 2008 and Pessac-Leognan – Chateau Couhins – 2007) and the third comes from Italy (Collio – Ronco delle Mele – 2009).   They all share a citrus note but are more complex, with the smell of candy in the first, of acacia and star anis (from the barrel) in the second.  The taste is mineral, sweetness without sugar.  The third wine smells of flowers and fruit : white peach, apricot.  The third group come from France in the region optimal for the expression of Sauvignon blanc (Sancerre – Domaine Alphonse Mellot, Cuvée Edmond – 2008, Sancerre – Domaine Gérard Boulay – Comtesse – 2007, Pouilly-Fumé – Domaine Didier Dagueneau, Cuvée Silex 2007).  These are iconic Sauvignon Blanc wines.  The nose is powerful, complex, elegant ; we smell grapefruit rind, anis (the sign of a great Sauvignon Blanc), a certain minerality.  The wine is tonic, refreshing, sugarless jam.  Perfectly balanced.

During the month of February, the grapevines are resting and so are we!  It isn’t until March 4th that we do a first light pruning, merely cutting the tops of the canes to the level of the catch wire.  We are following the French saying : “taille tôt, taille tard, rien de vaut la taille de mars”.  By the end of March we have pruned the grapevines, leaving one (simple Guyot) or more often two (double Guyot) canes, one on each side of the trunk.  The canes are pruned to about 15 inches and tied to the fruiting wire.  We have had a week of warm weather (20°C) to be followed according to the weather forecast by a week of light rain.  The dormant buds are swelling (bud swell) and we expect the first green leaves to appear soon (bud break).  When the first leaves open, it will be time to spray with sulfur, to prevent contamination with powdery mildew.

March 28, 2011 : the canes are tied to the fruiting wire

It is now November 3rd and although the weather in Bordeaux is starting to cool down enough to warrant turning the heater on, temperatures are still not enough for cold stabilization of the wine.  Luckily, we plan a trip to the U.S. so there is room in our refrigerator for two cubitainers of 30 L red wine and one containing 10 L of rose (blush) wine.  The wine will be left for two months before a second racking for the red wine and the first for the rose wine.  Cold stabilization will help to precipitate tartrate crystals and clarify the wine.  We expect to add gelatin this year to both red and rose wines.

On our return to Bordeaux in late November, the leaves in our vineyard have turned to yellow. The picture below was taken on November 26, 2010.

The wine is removed from the refrigerator and moved to an unheated back room in our house, where temperatures in December are particularly cold at night.  It even snows on December 2.

Snow in our vineyard on Dec. 2, 2010

Temperatures at night rarely exceed 4° C (only 8 nites) and day temperatures usually under 10 degrees.  There still appears to be slight fermentation as evidenced by the accumulation of carbon dioxide spaces and the slight frizante detected in tastings.  Alain finds the Bordeaux nouveau to his liking and several liters are served to guests at dinner parties.  All agree that our new wine beats the Beaujolais nouveau hands down.  We decide to let the wine sit until mid-January before the second racking.  On January 14, we turn over the ground and add organic fertilizer to each grapevine.

Vendange

Si une heure suffise pour rentrer les grappes, il faut deux heures pour érafler.

la table de l'éraflage

Les baies sont foulés aux pieds (d’Alain) dans deux fûts alimentaires étanche de 30L.

foulage aux pieds

Le degré alcoolique potentiel du jus est estimé avec un mustimètre : 13°.  20 kg de moût est pressé immédiatement après foulage pour faire du rosé.   Moins de 10 L est obtenu et mis dans un cubi de 10 L.

pour faire du rose

Christian et Odile Coulon arrivent pour le repas de vendange qui commence par la dégustation du millésime 2009.

Les mono cèpages Cabernet Sauvignon et Merlot sont typés et bons.  Le Merlot a un nez assez alcoolisé, rond, avec des arômes de pomme reinette d’après Pierre, poivron selon Christian.  Le Cabernet Sauvignon est plus acide, boisé, avec une légèreté trompeuse.  Le nez est comme le Merlot alcoolisé mais il y a aussi du fruit (cassis/mûr/noisette ?).  L’assemblage a un problème.  Au nez et au goût, on détecte un défaut, peut-être le début de vinaigre.  Pas assez d’oxydation d’après Christian.  Quand il introduit de l’air en bouche, c’est mieux.  Christian nous conseille de faire goûter l’assemblage à sa fille Joana qui pourrait nous donner des remèdes.  Ce sera fait !

dégustation des mono cépages et de l'assemblage

Menu de vendange

Entrée : cake au chorizo et parmesan (Rodel)

Bouillon de poule avec vermicelle (comme chez les Coulons) et chabrot

Poulet marbella avec couscous aux tomates et oignons

Salade verte

Fromage

Dessert contribué par les Eimers (assortiment gateaux tunisiens) et Edith (flan aux figues)

Nous arrosons avec le merlot, le cabernet sauvignon et l’assemblage de l’an dernier (millésime 2009).  Christian nous a apporté une bouteille du Cadillon-Mercadier 1988 (excellent).

Nous avons terminé la journée par la mise en bouteille d’une partie de l’assemblage : Six bouteilles sont donnés aux vendangeurs : Christian  (2), Vallots (1), Rodel (1), Edith (1), Pierre (1).

Mise en bouteilles

Nous rentrons les deux fûts et le cubi 10 L de rosé dans l’atelier que l’on chauffe pour atteindre 20° C.  Mesure de l’alcool potentiel au refractomètre.  Le rosé est à 22 Brix (13°) ; le Merlot à 23 (13°), le CS/Merlot à 21 (12°).

Merlot /CS (2:1) : 1×6 L, 1x3L, 2 x 750 mL (8 + 4 + 2 = 14 x 750 mL

Merlot : 12 x 750 mL

CS : 1 x 750 mL

Le lendemain lundi je vais à l’ISVV pour une consultation avec Joana.  Elle confirme qu’il y a un défaut, trouve les marqueurs d’oxydation (éthanal, précurseur du vinaigre).  Au microscope, beaucoup de microorganismes, levures et bactéries.  Joana suggère de coller puis de sulfiter.

D’où est venu le problème ?  En janvier, Guillaume ne détecte pas de défauts.  Le premier soutirage après la fermentation malo le 10 décembre (sans aération ? ) dans cubi avec sulfitage.  Le deuxième soutrage le 18 mars (sans aération?) avec sulfitage.  Le troisième soutirage (sans aération?) avec sulfitage et l’assemblage (2 :1 Merlot : CS) dans bouteilles de 6 L.  Le cubi Merlot  de 11 L assemblé avec la totalité de CS (sauf 2 L dans conteneur).    11 L Merlot + 5.5 L CS =  16.5 L  (2 bouteilles de 6 L :  4 L M, 2 L CS).  2×3-L : 2 L Merlot 1 L CS).   Les bouteilles sont bouchées avec des bouchons en verre et ne sont pas étanches.  Un filme s’est formé sur toutes les bouteilles, indication de contamination de microorganismes (présence d’air???).

Pour essayer de corriger le défaut, je soutire donc sans aération 2 x 6 L (dans bouteilles de champagne) d’assemblage dans 2 cubi, ajoute 6 mL de blanc d’oeuf (battu avec une pincée de sel) à chaque cubi.  Les cubi sont mis au frigo le samedi 25 septembre le soir. Après 72 h de collage, je sors les cubi du frigo pour laisser le vin venir  à la température ambiante pendant la nuit.  Le lendemain, je soutire dans les deux bouteilles de champagne qui sont bouchées.

Mise en bouteille : CS non collé (750 mL), 6 bouteilles de Merlot non collé (750 mL), 1 bouteille de l’assemblage avant traitement.

Je décide de levurer.   Lundi 20 septembre (6°/26°) :  Ajout 5 g S22D Predel par fût de 20 kg; 5 g de LSA Pink Predel dans cubi de 10 kg   Levure mis dans eau tiède à gonfler pour 15’.  Atelier chauffé à 23°C la nuit.  Les nuits sont fraîches et il faut chauffer.

Huit jours plus tard, le dimanche 26 septembre, le moût est pressé.  21 L de free; 7 L de presse.  Le tout est mis dans cuve de fermentation blanc Tompress avec barboteur .  Le moût après presse est à 10° Brix.  La semaine suivante,les nuits sont fraiches, il faut chauffer. Le jour, la température dépasse 20° C et  nous ne chauffons pas.

Le 1 octobre, le moût mesure moins de 1,0 selon la mustimètre.  La fermentation alcoolique est terminée. Le moût est transféré :  13,4 L dans poire en verre munie de barboteur, 11,5 L dans cubi avec barboteur, 5,6 L dans conteneur fermé.  Ajout de ferments malo dans les trois, y compris le rosé toujours dans cubi.  Les nuits continuent à être fraiche avec des températures élevées le jour (jusqu’à 28°C).

On voit beaucoup de bulles dans les cubi, même avec barboteur et je dois faire sortir des bulles plusieurs fois de jour.  Est-ce la malo???  La quantité de bulles me surprend, surtout que dans la poire muni de barboteur, il n’y a pas de bullage excessive.

Le mercredi 6 octobre, les clubs de golfe tombent sur le cubi avec barboteur, ce qui fait sortir le barboteur et répandre le vin, heureusement dans le bac vert dans lequel le cubi est posé.  Il est minuit mais il faut vite transférer le vin dans un deuxième cubi et récupérer le vin dans le bac vert.  Est-ce un erreur????  Ca continue à barboter fort.  Je songe à goûter pour s’il n’y aurait pas de différence entre nos différents conteneurs.

Le dimanche 10 octobre, dégustation de chaque conteneur avec Alain et Marti.  Le rosé a une très joie robe mais il est jugé pas très agréable, et un peu pétillant.  Le vin du cubi avec barboteur  est moins pétillant que le vin dans le conteneur de 5 L.   Mais il n’y a aucune différence de goût.  Les deux ont un nez de fruit et sont plutôt agréable à boire.  Ce serait le Bordeaux nouveau!! Marti trouve la longeur en bouche plus grande dans le vin le moins pétillant.  Alain compare le vin le plus pétillant à un Lambrusco ou Merlot vénicien.   Je décide de laisser le vin continuer sa fermentation ML pendant une deuxième semaine, puis je ferai une analyse ML par chromatoraphie sur papier.   Pendant cette semaine, je suis quand même obligé de chasser l’air (?), beaucoup dans les cubi, un peu dans le conteneur de 5 L et pas du tout dans la poire.  Je suppose que la ML serait terminé, après quoi je devrais soutirer avec aération puis sulfiter (50 mg/L sulfite).  A partir de ce moment, il faut impérativement éviter l’oygénation.

Le 16 octobre, chromatographie des 4 conteneurs :  ML terminé sauf pour le rosé.

la vigne après la vendange 7 oct 2010