Wines I'm Making: 2010 Cabernet Bottled/2011 Cabernet Pressed

Yesterday (November 7) I put capsules and labels on the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc wine I bottled yesterday. The day before, I pressed the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc and transferred it to glass carboys. Yesterday, Monday, I inoculated the new wine with malolactic bacteria to start the malolactic fermentation. Malolactic fermentation converts malic to lactic acid, a routine procedure in making red wines. Malolactic fermentation is a bacterial fermentation that requires a little more warmth than the yeast-based primary fermentation. So, the carboys are wrapped in blankets in the living room with a small electric blanket between them to keep the temperature up. Malolactic fermentation is somewhat mysterious. It can take anywhere from three weeks to two months and it doesn't always show outward signs. The only way to really know what's going on is to do a paper chromatography test that shows the levels of tartaric, malic, and lactic acid in the wine. Sometimes tiny bubbles form at the top of the wine, indicating that some sort of activity is going on, but not always. I tend to take it on faith that the process is under way, but I'll be looking for signs the next couple of days.

The Sangiovese rosé fermentation is just about finished. I'll need to rack that wine off the gross lees soon--probably tomorrow. The wine is beginning to clear. Less carbon dioxide production means the suspended material is beginning to fall out of the wine. I think we'll end up with a very pretty pink. The harvest was so late this year, though, that I don't think the wine will be ready by Thanksgiving, as it usually is. We'll have some for Christmas though.

The 2010 Cabernet is finished now. I put the back labels on today. I'm pleased with the labels I designed for both the front and rear of the bottle. I decided red capsules would look best with the deep red of the front label. The capsules are on. The wine is ready to drink. The samples I tried while bottling and with dinner after bottling was done suggest the wine is good despite the cool summer last year. It seems a little soft compared with other years, which suggests it may not age as well as other vintages, but only time will tell.

Wines I'm Making: 2011 Fermentation (November 5, 2011)

The 2011 Cabernet is mostly done fermenting. The cap is no longer rising, my punch-down tool has started sinking into the liquid (rather than riding on the cap), and the liquid tastes like wine--there is no longer any trace of sweetness. Just to be sure, I tested the wine using my hydrometer and got a specific gravity reading of 0.996, which indicates fermentation is mostly finished. I will probably press the wine tomorrow, although I had planned to bottle the 2010 Cabernet tomorrow. We'll see if there's time to do both.

I crushed the Cabernet grapes on October 24 and inoculated them with yeast on October 28, so the fermentation took only eight days, although the wine has been on the skins for 12 days now. Eight days is faster than some fermentations I've done, and usually at warmer temperatures (because earlier in the year). I'm not sure why this cooler fermentation was shorter, but every fermentation is different.

The Sangiovese rosé continues to bubble gently. Fermentation appears to be continuing. The intense red of the liquid just after pressing has softened considerably. The wine is now a nice medium pink, but it's hard to  know exactly what color the wine will be until the CO2 gas stops rising and the suspended matter begins to fall out of the wine. So far, the rosé has been fermenting for 12 days.

Wines I'm Making: 2011 Wines

Our Sangiovese rosé is now in its fifth day of fermentation. The container is fizzing lightly and a great deal of the deep color present initially has already disappeared to leave behind a pretty pink. The color of the finished wine won't be apparent for another week or two, but so far it looks good. The fermentation is proceeding slowly (by design). I expect it to last another seven or eight days at least.

The Cabernet Sauvignon/Franc is also undergoing fermentation, soon to enter its third day. I added the yeast on the morning of Friday, the 28th. I'm punching down the cap of skins that rises on the surface four times a day, as I usually do. The liquid is a deep, inky purple. As I did a four-day soak before adding yeast, the skins have been giving up color for nearly a week. Fermentation will probably last another eight days or so. The 2011 wines are moving along nicely.

 

Wines I'm Making: Waiting to Harvest 2011 Grapes

I did a proper test of a representative sample of grapes in our small backyard vineyard today. It seems we still need to wait. I'm nervous only because I'm afraid whatever has been stealing grapes will steal too many before I get a chance to pick. Yesterday I checked the nets carefully again and closed a few small holes. I don't know if they were new holes or holes I'd missed before.

The Cabernet grapes tested at 22 brix and a pH of 3.13. The Sangiovese, from which we will make a rosé, as usual, tested at 20 brix and a pH of 3.10. One school of thought says grapes for red wine should be picked when the square of the pH times the brix reading is around 260 and that whites grapes (or red grapes for rosé) are optimally ready when that formula yields 200. Using this method, the Cabernet grapes are at 215.5, the Sangiovese at  192. If the grapes were at the targets I usually use (the Cabernet at 24.5 brix, the Sangiovese at 22 brix), the Cabernet would be about right if by that time the pH had risen a little--say, to around 3.3. The Sangiovese grapes are closer. In any case, I think waiting is the right decision for both. So far, there is no sign of mold or other damage to the grapes, although I did notice a yellow jacket in a grape with a broken skin. Vigilance is in order. What we really need is a few days of temperatures in the upper 80s (which may be wishful thinking--the 10-day outlook is for cloudy skies and temperatures mostly in the mid-70s). The past four days of dry warmth have done little to raise sugar levels. The waiting game continues.

Wines I'm Making: Still Waiting to Harvest 2011 Grapes

It's sunny and warm today. It was sunny yesterday. If this weather holds, we may make some decent wine after all. In 2010, we harvested grapes on the 12th (Cabernet) and the 16th (Sangiovese) of October at rather low sugar levels (only 17 brix in the case of the Sangiovese, at a better 23.5 brix in the case of the Cabernet; ideally, I like to pick the former at about 22, the latter at about 24.5). The rosé in 2010 was light and without the rich flavors that made the 2009 so good. Happily, sugar levels are already higher than they were last year (the Sangiovese is at about 20 brix, the ripest Cabernet berries today tested as high as 24 brix). Now that I seem to have foiled the critters for the time being, I'm content to wait and let the grapes fully ripen. If it rains and turns cold again this weekend, I may have to think again, but early next week may be the right time to harvest anyway.

Wines I'm Growing: Sulfur Spraying Yet Again (2011)

After our bizarre end-of-June storm (0.8 inches of rain) it was necessary to go out this morning again to spray the grape vines with sulfur. A layer of sulfur prevents mildew from forming on the plants or the grapes. Bad mildew can make the grapes useless. The vineyard is so small (34 vines) that any loss of fruit is significant, so I do my best to prevent it. Let us hope that we have no more rain now until after harvest, probably in early October. As is evident from the photo, the grapes are well on their way to forming clusters.

Wines I'm Making: Sulfur Spraying (2011)

Today I finally judged it safe to spray the grapes with sulfur for what I hope will be the last time this season, although one more application may be prudent. I had been waiting for the vines to finish flowering and for the fruit to set before getting them wet. The Sangiovese looks excellent this year, with full clusters of tiny grapes already coming along, but the Cabernet vines don't seem to have set fruit very well despite my waiting. I had rather hoped for a good crop this year, as the weather was mostly dry and windy during flowering, but it's still early to judge things. Anyway, so far no signs of mildew on the vines. I topped the most vigorous vines as well, as they were beginning to shade the back row. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Plants I'm Growing: First Blooms--Opuntia Elata, Chitalpa Tashkentensis

First blooms of 2011 today on the Chitalpa tree in the back garden and first blooms yesterday, June 21, on the large cactus, Opuntia elata, a type of prickly pear with unusual orange flowers. It is originally a native of Argentina. I have no record of the first bloom last year, as I was away in Europe, but Opuntia elata bloomed on June 4 in 2009.

The Chitalpa is a small tree that resembles a Catalpa tree, which is logical as one of the two parents of this hybrid is the Catalpa (Catalpa bignoniodes). The other is the Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis). These small trees are fairly drought-tolerant and look very attractive at most times of the year. The flowers attract hummingbirds. The Chitalpa tree in my garden bloomed on June 1 in 2009. I have no record for this plant for 2010.

Wines I'm Making: A Dilemma

Finally, the weather has cleared. It now seems safe to say that summer is here and that the chance of further rains is negligible. Time to spray the grapes again with sulfur to prevent mold from forming on the plants. With that in mind I went out to inspect the small vineyard out back yesterday and was both happy and dismayed to see that the vines are in full bloom (grape flowers are not much to look at, but without them there would be no grapes and no wine). The problem is, spraying the vines while in bloom runs the risk of seriously reducing fruit set. That's to be avoided, but the vines do need protection. I've decided to wait, however, as the weather remains fairly cool, there is still some sulfur on the vines (not ALL of it was washed away by the rains), and there has been a decent breeze the past few days. I will wait until flowering is finished to spray. I hope that will prove to have been the right decision.

Wines I'm Making: Third Sulfur Spraying (2011)

Yesterday I sprayed the vines with sulfur again following the heavy rains we had a few days earlier, hoping to get a layer of dust on again, to prevent mildew. I brought up the drop wires to hold the canes in place. Everything looks good, so far. The weather remains cool, so I don't expect mold to be much of a problem, but better safe than sorry.

[Update: Because of more rain, I had to spray the grapes for a fourth time this season on May 28.]

Wines I'm Making: Shoot Thinning (2011)

I got into the vines today and made the final selection of the canes that will be allowed to grow and fruit this year. Tomorrow morning, if time permit, I'll do a second sulfur spraying to protect the vines against mold. So far, the plants look excellent. A lot of rain over the winter and cool, dry weather so far this spring have got them off to a very good start. I hope the wine will be as good as the condition of the plants promises. The photo above shows the vines before thinning, the photo below shows them after thinning.

[Update: Did the second sulfur spraying of the season the following morning, May 11.]

Wines I'm making: First Sulfur Spraying (2011)

Yesterday I did the first sulfur spraying on the grape vines, managing to get what looks like only a very light layer of sulfur on the new leaves, but the forecast is for cool, dry weather to continue for the time being, so the risk of mildew developing seems small at the moment. I will spray the new growth again in a week or so, when the shoots are approaching about 18 inches.

Wines I'm Making: First Grape Leaves (2011)

With the return of warm, dry weather, not only have flowers started blooming in the garden, but the grape vines in our backyard--and all over the county--have begun to come alive again. Another season begins. 2011 will be my eighth season making wine from the grapes that grow behind the house. Since 2007 or so, the wines have been getting appreciably better each year. The verdict on the 2010 (not yet bottled) remains out. It's not clear what the cold summer last year will have meant to the wine, but I'm hopeful. If it turns out to be less good than the 2009, I have the 2011 to look forward to. We'll see what the summer brings.

Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Dwarf Peach, Nanking Cherry

First blooms today on the Nanking cherry by the birdbath (Prunus tomentosa), a bush cherry with very delicate pretty, ever-so-slightly pink blossoms. Yesterday we had the first blossoms--a rich, deep pink--on the dwarf peach in the back garden.

The Nanking cherry bloomed on March 2 in 2009 and on March 8 in 2010, for a year of 362 days this year and 371 days the year before, averaging to 366.5 days, close to an astronomical year. The Dwarf peach bloomed on March 2 in 2009 and February 22 in 2010, for a year of 377 days this year and 358 days in the year before, averaging to 367.5 days, also close to an actual year.

Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Rhododendron "Noyo Dream," Yellow Daffodils (2011)

First blooms today on the Rhododendron "Noyo Dream." The plant bloomed in 2010 on February 7 and in 2009 on Februray 25, which makes this seem quite early. The plant has thus calculated a year of 360 days this year following a year of only 347 days in the preceding year. These average to 353.5 days, still a short year.

The first yellow daffodils opened today as well. The first yellow daffodil bloomed on February 5, in 2010, for a year of 362 days, much closer to a calendar year.

Plants I'm Growing: First Blooms--Daphne Odorata, Candytuft (2011)

Somewhat belatedly I report that the first buds on the big Daphne under the coral bark maple tree opened recently--on January 21, to be exact. Soon the entire bush will be covered in the tightly clustered white blossoms blushed with pink and smelling of citrus and perfume. This is probably the most fragrant plant in the garden. It's a slow grower and finicky, but this one seems to be happy. A second bush planted last year appears to be coming along well (in bud, but not yet blooming), but it's toppling and needs to be staked; night creatures have been scraping at the earth at its base--probably raccoons or skunks, looking for food.

Daphne odorata bloomed on January 18 in 2010 for a year of 368 days. The plant bloomed on January 20 in 2009 (a year of 363 days). So far, Daphne has calculated an average year of 366.5 days--very close to an actual year. I imagine people of long ago who lived closer to the land and paid attention to these things didn't really miss calendars. The signs of the passing of time are everywhere.

I note also first blooms on the Candytuft (Iberis) in the garden--although this one's very hard to call. There are about five of these in the yard and they all bloom at slightly different times and over a long period. The first flowers open slowly and sporadically. It's hard to say exactly when the plant first comes into bloom. A month from now, the little bushes will be covered in starkly white flowers of very cheerful appearance--nice to have when the weather is still cold. Taking today (January 23) as the first day of bloom, however, the plant has calculated a year of 367 days (I chose January 21 as the first day of bloom in 2010) and a year of 364 days in the preceding year (first blooms were on January 22 in 2009). The average year so far is thus 365.5 days according to Iberis--again, very close to a calendar year.