Crush 2011 (part 2) - Four at Once

December 2011

Finally got the other grapes I was looking for from Brehm, a 2011 Chardonnay, a 2010 Viognier, and a 2011 Petit Verdot and a 2011 Pinot Noir.

The Petit Verdot from Plumb Ridge, Sonoma County, CA.  From White Salmon, Columbia Gorge, WA the Pinot Noir, the Chardonnay, and the Viognier.

 I ended up with two (2) 5-gallon pails each of the Petit Verdot and the Pinot Noir, and one (1) 5-gallon pail each of the Chardonnay and the Viognier.

The initial readings for each were:
                     SG        pH
Petit Verdot   1.09    3.39
Pinot Noir      1.084   3.52
Chardonnay    1.092   3.28
Viognier         1.078   3.42

Added some sugar to the Viognier.

Selected yeasts were:
    Petit Verdot      ICV-D21 BDX
    Pinot Noir         AMH RC212
    Chardonnay       ICV-D47
    Viognier            ICV-D47

I put a different yeast in each of the 5-gallon pails for the Petit Verdot and the Pinot Noir, will blend after primary.

January 2012

Finished the primary fermentation and racked to smaller carboys about a week ago, put the chardonnay and viognier into 6 gallon carboys and the Petite Verdot and Pinot Noir into 3 gallon carboys each as they were not to dryness and I wanted them separate as each had a b different year.  They all needed a little more primary, but wanted to get them off the gross lees.  Then this weekend (29 December) I racked them again as all where below 1.0 specific gravity.  And started them on malolactic fermentation.

The chardonnay and viognier are now in 5 gallon carboys.  I racked the two - 3 gallon carboys of Petite Verdot and the two - 3 gallon carboys of Pinot Noir into 6 gallon carboys.  At the same time I added MBR VP41 with Acti-ML to each.  I made one large batch and allowed it to rehydrate then put some into each carboy (approximately equal) before racking the wine onto it.

The chardonnay and viognier have both started MLF fermentation, but the reds are slow starting.  Keeping them at about 68 degrees F and allowing for a slow time.

End of January 2012

Finished the secondary fermentation, all but the Viognier has finished MLF.  Viognier probably has too high of an alcohol content (may have overdone it with the sugar addition), but tastes good).

 Add about 50ppm SO2 and will retest and balance in a few weeks.  Also added oak to the Petite Verdor, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay. 

 Did a quick tasting today and all are tasting well.

March 2012

Racked today and will continue for another month.  Probably rack in early April and start considering bottling.

April 2012

Racked the Chardonnay and Viognier on the 23 April and added bentonite for fining, will add sparkoloid later and rack in about a week.  Probably bottle in two weeks..

July 2012

Bottled the Chardonnay, Viognier, Petit Verdot, and  Pinot Noir on 1 July.  When I was done I had about 0.5 liters of Petit Verdot,  0.5 liters of the Pinot Noir, 1 liter of the Chardonnay, and 1 liter of the Viognier left after bottling, so I drained the whisky from the cake from Episode 4 and refilled them with this blend, to try a long aged fortified wine.