Blush and the New Bordeaux : Wine and Vine in January 2011

Making rosé wine follows the procedure of making white wine, except that the grapes are red wine grapes.  Only the juice is kept to be fermented, discarding the skins, pulp and seeds.  During fermentation of red wines, the skins and seeds contribute color, flavor and structure. This year we have decided to make rosé wine from 1/3 of our Merlot grapes.  After picking, destemming and crushing in the presence of 30 ppm sulfite, the crushed grapes are immediately pressed.  Less than 10L of juice are recovered into a plastic cubitainer equiped with a faucet.  The potential alcohol content as determined with a mustimeter is 12.5°.   Five g of a yeast strain developed for rosé wines (Predel Pink) are added.  The juice is allowed to ferment for  ten days, with frequent chasing of air, at which time the mustimeter reading indicates that all the sugar has been converted to alcohol.  The wine has no detectable off odor and has a pretty pink color but doesn’t taste anything like the rosé wines from the Bordeaux region that we are used to drinking.  The acidity is perhaps too high and a malolactic fermentation might be beneficial.  We add malolactic bacteria.  Two weeks later, paper chromatography shows that malolactic fermentation is still not complete.  The wine tastes better so we let malolactic fermentation continue for another two weeks.

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.

Le Millésime 2010

Vendange le dimanche 19 septembre.  C’est une journée ensoleillé (23°C) quoique fraîche la nuit précédante (8°C).   17 pieds de Cabernet sauvignon et 41 pieds de Merlot ont plus de deux grappes.  Avant la vendange, le niveau du sucre des baies est  analysé par refractomètre : CS 21° Brix (12° potentiel alcoolique); M 23,5 (14°), Treuille 17,5 (10°).  Les filets sont enlevés à trois (Alain, Anh Leriverain et moi).  A 10 h, Anh et moi coupons les trois règes de cabernet sauvignon : il y a 11 kg, 9 kg de moins que l’an dernier.  Nous sommes rejoints par nos amis vendangeurs : Patricia et Jean Eimer, Marti, Pierre Heugas, Edith Remond, Christine et Patrick Rôdel.  A dix, nous avons vite fait de rentrer 48 kg de Merlot, 9 kg de plus que l’an dernier.

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

Wine and Vine in July and August 2010

Friday, July 30^th.   Clos Ganda has a visitor from South Africa.  We met Jascha Wynchank, whose appropriate surname means “to give wine” in Dutch, some fifteen years ago, at a dinner party at his parent’s Cape Town home.  A student at Cape Town University and officer of the oenology club, Jascha invited Alain on a wine-tasting tour of the Paarl wine region, once the heart of the South African wine industry but today supplanted by Stellenbosch.  The tour was all about blending.  Alain learned that South African wines at the time were single varietals but that leading vineyards were experimenting with blending.  Results were often surprising, too daring to a Bordeaux palate, relieved to realize that the fellow tasters agreed that the “Bordeaux blend” consisting mainly of cabernet sauvignon with some merlot or cabernet franc was the best.

We learn that high-yielding Cinsault was originally the most widely planted red grape variety and its crossing with Pinot noir gave rise to Pinotage, a required component in “Cape blends”.  It is today the second most widely planted red grape variety, after Merlot.  Supporters of Pinotage consider it South Africa’s signature variety since it is hardly raised anywhere else in the world.   Critics point out Pinotage’s susceptibility to flaws such as green vegetatal flavors and tannins and banana and nail polish acetate aromas.

For Jascha, we opened our containers of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and the blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.  To our unpleasant surprise, a film covered the top surface close to the glass stopper of the blend.  We dipped under the film to withdraw the wine underneath.  Jascha found the merlot to have a floral nose, sweet and berrylike.  He could taste the wood and described the Merlot as “open” and “complex”.  The Cabernet Sauvignon was closed and more herbal. (Natural since the Merlot was harvested riper than the cabernet sauvignon).  The blend was not yet as integrated as the single varietals but fortunately showed no sign of decay.  We decided to add sufite to 50 mg/L to all the wine.  Hopefully, this will protect the wine from unwanted changes.

Jascha at Clos Ganda

Wine tasting

Wine tasting

July is warm and dry, with an average day/night temperature of 28/16° C.  Day/night temperatures in August  for the first 26 days are similar to July (27/15° C) but 8 days of rain in mid-August are good for the grapevines.   No sign of mildew is seen.  Preventive spraying with bouillie bordelaise on July 1 when the green berries are touching (“fermeture de la grappe”), marking the end of the period of high sensitivity to downy mildew and again on August 8^th when the grapes were changing color (véraison) should be enough to ensure healthy berries and leaves.  The vineyard is covered with netting on August 9^th.  At this stage, the vineyard is in excellent sanitary condition; no doubt the result of a combination of good canopy management, warm weather and low rainfall in spring and the beginning of summer and appropriate spraying.   I test the sugar content in green grapes : 8-9 °Brix, 13-14.5 from bottom to top of the cluster.  Two weeks later, the Merlot had already reached 15-17° Brix.  According to specialists, the grapes this year in the Bordeaux region are not ripening in advance and a harvest is expected for late september or even early october, depending on weather conditions.

véraison of cabernet sauvignon berries

véraison of merlot berries

August 1 2010

August 11 : the netting is up

Old wine

I have just finished reading The Billionaire’s Vinegar, an enlightening account by Benjamin Wallace on the fraudulent aging of wine, the old wine market and the determination of the market value and age of old wine.

In 2001, the rare and old wine market was flooded with 100-year old bottles of first growths. Wine has proven to be one the easier collectibles to imitate.  To artificially “age” wine, simply find an authentically old (even if empty) bottle of the required vintage and chateau and fill it with wine or even colored water.  Few if any experts know what these wines should taste like and many bottles are bought, not to be drunk but as investments.  But the value of an investment depends on the buyer’s confidence that he is buying and can eventually resell “the real thing”.   Proof of a wine’s provenance and age can be virtually impossible. The so-called Jefferson bottles are one example.  Reputedly discovered in a blocked up and forgotten cellar in Paris, the first of these bottles, a 1787 bottle of Chateau Lafitte etched with the initials Th.J, was sold at auction by Christies in 1985 for $156,000 to Malcolm Forbes.  Not so much as a bottle of fine wine but for a collection of Jefferson and other American founding father memorabilia. No record of these particular bottles were mentioned by Thomas Jefferson in his obsessively kept records. The search by one of the collectors, Bill Koch of Koch Industries, to validate his acquisition for hundreds of thousands of dollars of several Jefferson bottles proved inconclusive.  Bottles left to age in chateau cellars have long been reconditioned and topped up, using different, less rare vintages.  In the past, buyers could return a bottle to have them recorked, thus “validating” their provenance.  This practice has now been abandoned.

Several techniques based on radioactive dating are available to determine age but all are based on man-made radioactivity and its rise with the nuclear age.  Most require opening the bottle (and thus destroying its value).  One such analysis of an 1787 Lafitte Jefferson bottle was done on the campus of GSF-Forschungszentrum fur Umwelt und Gesundheit in Munich.   Thermoluminescence determinations showed that the sediment was 220 years old plus or minus 92 years, meaning it came from a vintage between 1680 and 1864.  However, measurements of tritium levels (low before 1945 and the first atomic detonations) or carbon-14 levels revealed a wine which could be dated to 1962.  A germanium detector, capable of measuring the presence and reactions of subatomic particles called neutrinos, is capable of measuring the level of cesium-137 in unopened bottles.  Philippe Hubert, the inventor of the detector, and Bernard Medina of the French agency charged with “fraud repression” carried out tests on 4 Jefferson bottles in a Bordeaux laboratory.  No significant presence of Ce-137 was found.  The wine in the bottles was older than 1952, but how much older could not be determined.

In “Bottles for the sink”, an article published in the local newspaper Sud-Ouest (26 january 2010), César Compadre interviewed Jean-Christophe Lucquiaud.  Few bottles really improve with time and many wines stored in private cellars are undrinkable, according to Jean-Christophe, who estimates the commercial value of such wines. Nearly all rosé and dry white wines should be drunk within two years after bottling.  The less expensive red wines (5 to 10 euros a bottle), unlike the great dry red and dry or sweet white wines, are not expected to improve with age.  Wines can improve with age only if the storage conditions include the correct cool and even temperature and humidity.   (It is generally agreed that cool and even temperatures slow the growth of noxious bacteria while humidity keeps the cork from drying out).  The Bordeaux vintages dated 1987, 1992 or 1993 should be drunk rapidly.  We are reminded that the techniques for prolonging the cellar life of bottled wines were developed after the 1980s.

We have a cellar with bottles dating back one or two generations.  The older bottles were rescued from the cellar of Alain’s maternal great-aunt one day in the nineteen seventies when her cellar was flooded.  Over the years we opened a few bottles to share with knowledgeable friends and were sometimes pleasantly surprised.  The bottles had been kept in anything but correct conditions.  The level of wine in some of the bottles were low, having evaporated through the porous cork.  We know that the higher the level, the more likely the wine will be drinkable.  Dark purple precipitates were more or less abundant, with one bottle having lost most of its color.  The originally red wine was a pinkish yellow !  As expected, the sweet sauternes were the best preserved.  Corks which when removed smell moldy are bad signs for the wine within.  Most of our old wines had lost bouquet and alcohol and the wine was usually faded and tired.  Old wine connoisseurs such as Broadbent wax poetic about the “sweetness of death”.   These old wines predate the American rootstocks (pre-phylloxera wines), have not been artificially clarified (with egg whites), and the vines producing them have not been treated with chemical insecticides and fungicides.  They would be expected to be quite different from the more recent vintages.  I have decided to carry out an inventory of our old bottles and plan to do a more informed tasting one day.

Can Clos Ganda improve with age ?

All of our vintages were made with short (7 and in later vintages up to 14 days) maceration.  During this time, tannins and phenols from skin and seeds are extracted.  The longer the maceration time and the more frequent the “punching down” of cap, the more tannins and phenols are extracted.  Removal of jacks ensures that the more bitter tannins and vegetative aromas are reduced.

The molecular changes that occur in a sealed bottle of wine involve the gradual interaction of oxygen and wine.  Tiny amounts of oxygen (the “micro oxygenation” of Michel Rolland) are thus beneficial but too much will destroy the wine.  Antioxidant tannins protect wines from excessive oxidation.  Once they clump together and fall out, the wine loses its fruity character, is said to leach out and is “faded” at best or maderized at worst.  A wine is considered mature when flavor possibilities are maximized but not yet deteriorated.  The time it takes depends on the amount of tannin : more tannic wines take longer to reach maturity than less tannic wines.  Once maturity is reached, the time before death depends on the storage conditions.  Coolness of the cellar decelerates chemical reactions.  Humidity and horizontal storage keep the cork moist and maintains a seal against oxygen.  Large bottles age more slowly than smaller ones.  Wines with high alcohol, high sugar and high acid live longer because these conditions inhibit bacterial growth.

Vertical tastings.  A series of vintages of the same wine is called a flight :  we now have a five year flight 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005.  We have done short 3-year flights (2006, 2007, 2008) of Clos Ganda, starting as is customary with the youngest.  After one year, the wine is already drinkable but improves after a second year in the bottle.  It will be interesting to see what the wine is like after a third year.

Microvino in Tom Press

Tom Press offers everything one needs for home made food preparations, from land to table.  I bought much of what I needed for wine making through Tom Press on the internet.   The new catalogue ofTom Press for spring/summer 2010 has a section on how-to books.  My book on making wine from my microvineyard is featured and can be bought through TomPress. http://www.tompress.com

Wine and Vine in May and June

Wine in May and June

June 18 : Third and last racking.  According to our tasters, the Merlot is already pleasant to drink while the Cabernet Sauvignon is too acid, probably as Guillaume had already concluded in an earlier tasting, because the cabernet grapes were less mature than the Merlot.  We decide to bottle three kinds of wine, a blend of 60% merlot and 40% cabernet, 100% merlot and 100% cabernet sauvignon.  Used bottles were sterilized using aseptol larroche, a product sold to sanitize wine containers obtained from Tompress.  The wine will be allowed to age naturally, with no further addition of sulfite and no addition of fining material (such as egg whites or gelatin).  Excessive fining can precipitate desired aromas.  Sulfite is added to “stabilize” wine, that is, to inhibit the growth of micro-organisms and also to prevent oxidation.  We are taking a risk by not adding sulfites before bottling. The risk is calculated since we do not intend to let the wine age for long and we have sanitized the bottles and are using glass stoppers.  In addition, we are using 6-L bottles.  During bottling the wine is allowed to flow along the sides of the bottle to minimize oxygenation and the bottles are filled well up into the neck.  This is our millésime 2009, reputed to be as good a year for Bordeaux wine as 2005.

Le Clos Ganda, millésime 2009

Vine in May and June

The first 15 days of May are cold and humid.  Light rain almost every day and sometimes heavy rain at night.  I was away in Bayreuth (Germany) for the last 10 days and on my return on May 15^th, I rush to examine the vines.  They are in perfect condition, no sign of mildew and starting to flower.  A second obligatory treatment with bouillie bordelaise and sulfur was done on May 27^th during mid-flowering followed by an optional treatment when the grapes were the size of small peas on June 16^th, following three weeks of rainy cold weather.

May 16, 2010

Summer weather finally arrives at the end of June with temperatures regularly up to 30° C for the past two weeks.  Another treatment followed on July 1st to protect the developing grapes which are still green but starting to touch (fermeture de la grappe) from a predicted period of rain.  Humidity plus warm weather are perfect ingredients for the development of mildew.  The susceptible period  should then be over and no further treatments should be necessary.  So far, leaves and grapes are in perfect sanitary conditions with no signs of powdery (mildiou) or downy (oïdium) mildew.

July 1, 2010

The tops of the vines were trimmed (hedging) once the shoots had attained about 12 to 15 leaves above the top cluster.  Newly formed clusters are removed.   The idea is to limit the number of clusters per shoot to two and to achieve a light and air penetrating fruiting zone.  This will allow sun to ripen the grapes and air to dry the grapes and prevent rot.

Merlot grapes, July 1

Cabernet grapes, July 1

Wine and vine in March and April

Wine

March 18 :  Second racking (first was after malolactic fermentation).  Took 2 h.  To 11 L of cabernet sauvignon with malolactic fermentation), we want to add MBS up to 1 g of MBS (1/4 tsp of potassium MBS) for 20 L.  1 g dissolved in 20 mL of water.  Estimate that 50% of MBS added after first racking has combined with particles (lots of dark violet crystals were at the bottom of the container).  So should add 0.5 g or 10 mL of my solution for 20 L.  Since I have 11 L, I add 11/20 x 10 or 5.5 mL.  I added 6 mL.

I had 2 plastic conteneurs with 11 L and 9 L of Merlot with malolactic fermentation.  I added 6 mL to both.  I have another 2 L of Merlot with no malolactic fermentation and 0.75 L of Cabernet sauvignon without malolactic fermentation.  MBS was added accordingly.  These are to be kept separate to test whether I can see the difference between with and without MLF.

The containers are replaced in the cellar maintained at 17°C during a very cold winter. March and April were particularly cold this year in the Bordeaux region, with night temperatures below zero in March and rarely above 10°C even in April.

Plans are still to rack again in June when we return from Bayreuth.  I am presently hesitant about collage.  I have previously tested the use of egg white and gelatin.  The risk is to remove some of the desired aromas and to end up with “neutral” wine. We will decide then whether or not to blend the different varieties and in what proportion.  After blending, the wine will be bottled.

Vine in March and April

This year, we are using the POD (Processus Opérationnel de Décision: Decision Making Process) of Laurent Delière and colleagues to determine when to spray, in an effort to reduce spraying to the minimum of four.  To summarize, the growing season is divided into 7 periods, defined by growth stage, observation and time since the preceding treatment.  At each period, the different indicators are combined to determine whether or not to spray.  The first stage follows bud break into 5 to 7 expanded leaves.  If no symptoms of fungal infection are observed, the first obligatory spraying is with sulfur alone, to preventively protect the vine from oïdium (powdery mildew).  The first spraying with sulfur alone (active against oïdium and red spider mites) was done on April 15.   Two weeks later, red mite attack was observed but no evidence of mildew or oïdium.  A second (optional) treatment was nevertheless done on April 29 with bouillie bordelaise and sulfur (reduced to 7.5g/L) because of a predicted period of rain.  It is the humidity generated by rainfall during the period when the flowering and developing grapes are especially susceptible that favors fungal infection due to the presence of dormant spores.  It rained heavily the next week so that the treatment had to be repeated on May 6^th.  On May 15th, the vines show no signs of fungal infection so we intend to wait until the flowering before treating again.

Cold weather the first 15 days of May delay vegetative growth

Merlot vs Cabernet Sauvignon developing grapes

Merlot

Cabernet Sauvignon

Pruning of mature vines.  Our grapevines were planted in 2002 and are now considered mature.  We added a handful of compost per vine during the winter dormant period.  This winter was particularly harsh.  I start pruning the vines in mid-March and attach the selected canes to the fruiting wire.

before pruning

after pruning

Pruning is a profession and local growers hold competitions to recognize the best pruners.  In the Bordeaux region, the traditional technique is called Guyot, a single Guyot being the selection of a single cane on alternate sides and a double Guyot that of double canes.  It is not easy to decide which canes to keep.  I have a tendency to keep too many canes and too many shoots, in hopes of increasing grape quantity, forgetting that limiting the quantity of grapes is essential for grape quality.  Last year, in 2009, we harvested 20 kg of grapes from 20 mature cabernet sauvignon and 40 kg of grapes from 40 mature Merlot.  Optimum quantites are about 3 kg of grapes per grapevine according to Florent Granier, our vine and wine consultant.  Jeff Law (“The Backyard Vintner”) suggests 1.5-2 kg/m of canopy, equivalent to 1.5-2 kg per vine.  We are in the right ball park.  I can try to increase the yield but not by too much.  This year I have decided to prune very conservatively, waiting for the risk of frost to past, before removing buds.  I conscientiously remove suckers, the shoots that grow from the trunk.  When I find two shoots growing from the same node, I remove one.  A week of warm weather in April is followed by a cold spell.  But by the first week of May, I presume that the risk of frost is past and I try to remove excess shoots.  Ten shoots per vigorous vine, judiciously placed, are left in place and the others removed, those that are slow in development.  The idea is to leave those shoots with ten well-developed leaves, sufficient to ripen a single cluster.  We want the clusters to ripen at the same time.  Canopy management is an important part of disease prevention.  Shoots should be spaced along the trellis such that the clusters are well exposed to sun and air.  This would permit grapes and leaves to dry after a fungus encouraging rain.

Vigne et Vin de Janvier à Mars 2010

Vigne et Vin de janvier à mars 2010/Vine and Wine from January to March 2010

Les mois d’hiver suivant la fermentation malolactique et le premier soutirage sont des mois de repos, pour le vin, la vigne et le viticulteur!  Il y a juste à apporter une poignée d’or brun au pied de chaque cep.  Je profite du repos hivernal de la vigne pour faire un voyage aux USA, histoire de voir les petits enfants Nathan et Gabrielle à Chicago et ma mère et la famille à Honolulu.  De retour à Bordeaux le 8 mars, il est temps de penser à la taille.  J’attends que le temps se rechauffe pour m’y mettre ; il est plus agréable de travailler dans le jardin quand les températures dépassent 10°C.   La taille est terminée le lundi 15 mars.  Il n’y a plus qu’à attendre “les pleurs”, signant la monteé de sève, la sortie des bourgeons et l’apparition de petites feuilles vert tendre.  A l’ouverture de celles-ci, je ferai le premier traitement oïdium (soufre) obligatoire d’après nos collègues de l’INRA.

Avant la taille/Before pruning

Après la taille/After pruning

Je me tourne maintenant au vin.  J’ai 22 L de Merlot et 11 L de Cabernet Sauvignon.  Le vin a bon nez et je ne détecte pas de pîqure au goût.   Je fais un soutirage le 18 mars sensé être sans aération mais mon système n’est pas parfait.  Une prise d’air dans le tuyau introduit des bulles d’air.  Espérons que cela ne nuit pas au vin!  J’ai aussi 2 L de Merlot dont la fermentation malolactique est incomplète.  Avec une si petite quantité, j’ai pu réussir le soutirage sans aération.  Au fond de chaque conteneur repose les lies et des crystaux d’un violet profond, sans doute des  crystaux de tartrate de potassium.  Estimant que la moitié du sulfite ajouté lors du premier soutirage s’est combinée avec ces dépôts, je sulfite à 25 mg/L.  Mon vin est maintenant au stade des primeurs.  Les viticulteurs professionnelle font leur assemblage avant la campagne des primeurs qui débute mi-mars.  Moi, je vais attendre le 3ème et dernier soutirage avant la mise en bouteille.  Je pense en faire une fête et convier les amis.

Vine and Wine from January to March 2010

Following the malolactic fermentation and the first racking in early December, the young wines are left to raise themselves in a cellar maintained at 15°C.  I have discovered that I am a “noninterventionalist” winemaker according to an article in the New York Times by Eric Asimov (Letting a Grape Be a Grape).  I admit to using commerical yeast and bacteria for alcoholic and malolactic fermentations, but these have not been selected or manipulated to express specific characters.  I use minimal amounts of sulfur dioxide as a stabiliser and trust to cleanliness and exclusion of oxygen to avoid contamination by undesirable microorganisms. Most importantly, my grapevines are grown in a terroir (Graves) with soil quality and climate known to produce fine wines, naturally balanced.  Summers appear to be hotter than in the past so that high levels of ripeness typical of Napa Valley grapes may also become more commonplace for Bordeaux grapes.  The danger is the loss of balance between acidity and alcohol content. The Institute of Wine and Vigne (INRA) is already preparing for such a catastrophe, selecting cultivars which are adapted to hotter, drier summers.

Vines are dormant in January

The grapevines are also in their dormant period, needing only a bit of organic fertiliser to prepare them for spring awakening.  So the winter period is the time I take to travel, this year to Chicago to visit my grandchildren, then to Honolulu to celebrate the Chinese New Year and my mother’s 93rd birthday.  On my return to Bordeaux in early March, it is time to prune the grapevines.  Some of the trellises should be replaced.  It is also time to rack the young wine for the second time.  All is well.  I detect no off odors or taste.  A healthy amount of deposit is left behind.  I add a minimal amount of sulfite and return the young wine to the cellar.  The young wine is now at the stage of “primeurs”.   The Merlot and the Cabernet Sauvignon have not yet been blended as is being done by the professional winemakers for the marketing campagne which will start in mid-March for Bordeaux new wines (les primeurs).   These wines have not yet reached their full potential but are being sold in advance at reduced prices.  I expect to blend (or not) the Merlot and the Cabernet Sauvignon after the third racking and before bottling.

Fin de la fermentation malolactique et Elevage

Fin de la fermentation malolactique

La deuxième chromatographie réalisée le 2 novembre révèle que la fermentation malolactique ne progresse pas.  Je décide d’ajouter des bactéries malolactiques conservées au congélateur à -20°C depuis l’an dernier et obtenues grâce à Microflora.  D’après Joana, il faut 50 mg/L de bactéries lyophilizées et 150 mg/L d’activateurs.  Pour 10 L il faut donc 500 mg de bactéries et 1g 500 d’activateurs.   Ai-je trop peu ajouté ?  Mais selon Chervin, 150 mg pour 15 L ou la pointe d’un couteau.  C’est ce que j’avais fait.  Une pointe de couteau de bactéries et trois fois la pointe de couteau pour les activateurs.   D’après Laffort Oenologie qui m’a fourni Lactoenos 450  PreAc pour le millésime 2006, il suffit de 10 mg/L de bactéries et 50 mg/L d’activateurs.   Les conditions optimales de survie sont un pH entre 3,1 et 4, moins de 40 mg/L SO2 et une température à partir de 15°C.   De plus, il aurait fallu acclimater les bactéries.  Le protocole de Laffort :  maintenir le vin à 20°C.  La veille de l’inoculation, prendre 20 mL d’eau et 20mL de vin à 20°C.  Y mettre l’energizer puis les bactéries.  Homogénéiser puis laisser reposer 24 h à 20°C.  Après ce temps, inoculer la préparation dans le vin et homogénéiser.

La troisième chromatographie effectuée le 18 novembre montre que la fermentation malolactique a bien progressé  mais n’est pas terminée.   Elle est terminée le 8 décembre.  Au nez et au goût, le Merlot est plus équilibré que le cabernet sauvignon.  Mon dégustateur favori ne détecte pas de différence entre le Merlot vinifié par les levures endogènes et celui vinifié par les levures du commerce.  Je décide donc de réunir les deux cuves de Merlot par soutirage dans un cubitainer de 20 L.  Le cabernet sauvignon est soutiré dans un cubitainer de 10 L.   L’air est chassé le mieux possible et les cubitainers placés dans notre cave maintenue à une température de 16°C pour l’élevage.  Un deuxième soutirage est prévu pour la fin février.  Fin mai nous fêterons le dernier soutirage après collage en réunissant des amis pour l’assemblage.

Elevage

Dans quoi élever le vin ?: Cubitainer ou bag-in-box ou bonbonnes dame-jeanne en verre ou barriques

L’élevage du vin se fait pour les grands vins dans des fûts en chêne.  Celles-ci confèrent la « structure » ou le « boisé » du vin et équivaut à l’extraction des arômes et des tannins du bois, différents selon l’origine du chêne, le traitement pendant la fabrication (chauffage), et le temps en barrique (un an pour une barrique de 220 L).   La porosité du bois permet une micro oxygénation considérée comme bénéfique.  Mais pour les petites quantités de vin, l’élevage en barrique a des désavantages prohibitifs.  Le coût d’un tonnelet est élevé, près de 100 euros, qu’il soit d’1 à 20 L, et on ne peut pas diminuer le coût en achetant des tonnelets d’occasion.  Les fûts sont difficiles à nettoyer, aseptiser et désodoriser, et les risques sont grands que le vin tourne ou se pique.   Le temps d’élevage est plus critique pour de petits volumes, risquant de produire un vin sur boisé.

Les bonbonnes dame-jeanne en verre sont faciles à nettoyer, mais ne procurent pas de micro oxygénation et sont de volumes fixes.  Cubitainer ou bag-in-box sont aussi faciles que les bonbonnes en verre à aseptiser et ont l’avantage additionnel de pouvoir s’adapter au volume du vin, tout en excluant l’air.  Un barboteur n’est donc pas nécessaire.  Le cubitainer (nom déposé) inventé par Hedwin Corporation (selon Wikipedia) est thermoformé à base de polyéthylène et est beaucoup plus épais qu’une poche de bag-in-box.   L’air doit être chassé manuellement.   Les poches bag-in-box s’affaissent pendant le soutirage, empêchant l’air d’entrer dans la poche.  De ce fait, le vin peut se conserver assez longtemps.   Le bag-in-box a ainsi progressivement remplacé le cubitainer sur le marché du vin vendu en vrac.

Elevage (Aging)

Elevage (Literally, “raising” the wine as in “raising” children) or Aging

During the winter, the small particles settle, leaving the wine clearer and brighter.  The aromas evolve, grape and alcohol notes are refined; tannins extracted from wood (chips or barrel), skins, seeds and stems gradually soften.  The wine is developing its character and personality. Aging in oak barrels is usually not an option for the micro vintner.  Quantites are too small.   We have a choice of glass carboys or plastic containers (cubitainers or bag-in-box).  These are easy to clean and maintaining for re-use.  Oak barrels with their porosity and rough surface makes them difficult to adequately clean and the risk of spoilage organisms so much the greater.

End of Malolactic fermentation

Malolactic fermentation (MLF) is a secondary fermentation by bacteria that converts malic acid to lactic acid and carbon dioxide.  Many kinds of malolactic bacteria are present in small numbers in the must, increasing in numbers only at the end of alcoholic fermentation.  This secondary fermentation was previously considered a sign of “illness”.  It could be eliminated by treatment with a large dose of metabisulfite, malolactic bacteria being especially sensitive to sulfur dioxide.  Today, MLF, considered beneficial for Bordeaux reds, is encouraged by winemakers.  Lactic acid produced by malolactic bacteria makes young wine creamy and less acid, the latter resulting in a natural acid/alcohol balance characteristic of Bordeaux red wines.  The acidity of Bordeaux wines contributes to the development of the tannins and therefore structure.  In countries where ripe grapes lack acidity, MLF is not recommended.  Wines deficient in acidity are called flabby or dull.  Optimal conditions for MLF are a pH above 3.2 and a temperature between 18°-22° C.  The pHs of the new wine in our three secondary fermenters are all above 3.2.  Temperatures in Bordeaux during the months of October and November are often considerably below 18°C, especially at night.  The secondary fermenters are therefore placed in a small laundry room where an electric radiator maintains the temperature at 22°C.  On October 20, one week after the end of the alcoholic fermentation, an analysis by paper chromatography detects the conversion of malic acid to lactic acid.  Two weeks later, a second analysis shows no decrease in the amount of malic acid.
I decide to add commercial bacteria obtained from Microflora, a small company in Bordeaux, to activate the process.  Two of the secondary fermenters are air-tight plastic containers, so it is easy to visualize the production of carbon dioxide produced by the bacteria.  The third fermenter is equipped with an air-lock.  An air-space between the wine and the stopper is rapidly created, enlarging with time, so that it is necessary to release the carbon dioxide regularly.  During this period, exposure to oxygen must be avoided, since acetic acid bacteria can rapidly convert wine to vinegar but need oxygen to survive.  I hope that the air space I see is due to carbon dioxide and not oxygen!  I allow the commercial bacteria to do their job for 5 weeks.  A final analysis by paper chromatography on December 8th shows that MLF is complete.

All of the malic acid has been converted to lactic acid

The wine, as expected, is less acid, with an increase in pH to 3.8.  By taste, the Merlot, whether fermentation was by indigenous or commercial yeast, and the Cabernet Sauvignon appear to have similar acidity.  There are no suspicious odeurs.
The new wine is racked into new bag in boxes on December 10.  Racking is done by siphoning the wine from one container into the second, this time without aeration.  We assume that all the potassium metabisulfite added has combined with the lees, which have been removed by racking.  We sulfite with 50 mg/L, enough to reduce the risk of bacterial contamination and also oxydation of the new wine.  We now have 22 L of Merlot and 11 L of cabernet sauvignon.  The wine is placed in our wine cellar, maintained at 15°C.   The wine will be racked again in two to three months, probably at the end of February.  We expect to clarify the wine by “collage” with egg whites in April and will decide at that point whether and in what proportion to mix Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.  A final racking will precede bottling.