Wines I'm Making: Bottling 2023 rosé and 2022 Cabernet

I spent some of the weekend of February 10 and 11 attending to winemaking chores I had been putting off. I bottled our 2023 rosé of Sangiovese, made labels, and got the labels on and did the same for our 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc. We ended up with 15 bottles of the rosé and 62 bottles of the Cabernet, which is pretty typical. This past weekend I also racked and sulfited our 2023 Cabernet and added oak on the assumption that the malolactic fermentation has probably gone as far as it was going to go, although I did not go to the trouble of doing a paper chromatography test to see. It is what it is.... I treated the wine for a slight hydrogen sulfide smell, which is a reminder that next year I'll need to go more to provide yeast nutrients during fermentation.

 

Wines I'm Making: 2023 Grape Pressing

Yesterday, November 11, the fermentation of this year's wines largely over, I racked the Sangiovese rosé into the container it will rest in until it clears. I added the yeast on October 23, so it was a long, slow fermentation of 19 days (8-12 days is typical for the rosé). Because of the late harvest this year, we had much cooler weather during fermentation than usual. We'll get 15 bottles of 2023 rosé. The wine should be ready to drink before Christmas.

I also pressed the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc. We ended up with 12 gallons of pressed wine, which will yield 60 bottles of wine. I added the yeast to the Cabernet on October 26 after a four-day cold soak. Fermentation took 16 days, which is slightly longer than usual (typically 12-14 days). The next step will be to inoculate the new wine to start malolactic fermentation. In addition, it will soon be time to bottle our 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc wine, which has been resting since this time last year. Thanks to my friends David and Kimiko for their help with the pressing yesterday. 

Wines I'm Making: Harvest 2023

I plan to harvest our backyard vineyard this coming weekend. The grapes are almost ideally ripe. The recent, very light rain has not caused the berries to swell and crack (this year, I have been able to dry-farm them; they've received no supplemental water at all), and we're starting to get some raisining, which is not an issue, as long as it's not extreme. I tested the Cabernet at just under 22º Brix last week (October 5) and a pH of 2.95 and the Sangiovese at 21º Brix and a pH of 3.00. The problem is that it is ideal to pick when the grapes are physiologically ripe; sugar level alone is not enough. I wanted one more degree of sweetness, the pips still looked a little green, and the pH is on the low side, so I waited, but I won't be able to wait much longer. It will be a busy weekend.