Morning ya'll,
Well, this is the time of year where things just chug along in the vineyard and winery. The vineyard crew has been off for a couple of days as the weather has not permitted them to work. The winery crew has been busy prepping wines for the winter bottling's.
Soon we will be sending off samples for soil analysis. This is the time of year in which we will send soil samples to a lab to have analysis of their contents conducted. This analysis will allow us to check the health of our soils. Let's just say it is a yearly check-up of sorts.
The results will tell us a lot such as soil pH, micro nutrient content and macro nutrient content. Micro nutrients are those nutrients that plants need in small amounts and the Macro nutrients are those that a plant needs in larger amounts. Either big or small all nutrients are needed to help develop a strong and healthy vineyard. A deficiency in one micro nutrient can lead to a compromised plant. These plants are also then more susceptible to disease. So, if we can ensure a healthy vineyard an increased resistance to disease is encouraged. Once again plants and people are very much alike!
Soil is a living organism. It ain't dirt! Dirt is what we sweep from a floor. Soil is filled with life and at the same time can sustain life. It is an entire ecosystem within itself. Long Islands' soil is the result of glacier's melting during the last ice age. The glaciers ended where Long Island now rests. We were the GLACIER'S END. It was eye opening for me many years ago when I took a soil science class to find out that soil really is a complex and integral part of all of the world around us. It was something that I truly took for granted, but now look at differently.
Lastly, remember we have some great things going on at the vineyard this week. We have great cooking demos from Chef Frank Tramantano of Ever So Saucy Sauces and I will be hosting a chocolate and wine tasting with Chocalatier Tad Van Leer from J. Emmanuel Chocalatier. Both promise to be very palate rewarding experiences! Talk with ya'll soon.
Cheers,
- Juan.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Friday, December 5, 2008
Diamonds are Forever
Morning ya'll,
Well, this is the time of year when we begin the arduous task of pruning the vineyard. Our crew has begun shaping the vines into the base from which the growth in 2009 will come. We have started in Pinot Grigio and have moved along into Riesling. Each vine is tended one-by-one when pruning. There is indeed a technique to pruning. A proper technique will already begin to mold fruit quality that the vineyard will yield. As we prune we are already planning and discussing the 2009 Harvest.
At the winery we are preparing our white wines for bottling. Filtration and stabilization of the wines is underway. Stabilization is when we look to remove any hazes that the wine may have as well as remove tartrate crystals. Tartrates as we call them sometimes are referred to as 'wine diamonds'. Tartrates are in fact crystals formed from a naturally occurring acid called tartaric acid. However, with time and cold temperatures tartrates will form and drop out. We can accelerate this process by adding tiny amounts of cream of tartar which acts as a magnet for tartrates.
The removal of tartrates are only an aesthetic operation as they do not effect wine quality. However, the average consumer that may see these crystals in a bottle may think the bottle is bad. So, as a result all white and rose' wines are cold stabilized. Our red wines do not go through cold stabilization, but rather the time in barrel helps lose a large quantity of tartrates.
Lastly, we have just received our screw capper at the winery. We have been busy working on a customized Stelvin (Correct name for a screw cap) that will bear our logo. The new packaging will look quite sharp and help bring us to the fore front of what is happening in the wine world.
Cheers,
Juan.
Well, this is the time of year when we begin the arduous task of pruning the vineyard. Our crew has begun shaping the vines into the base from which the growth in 2009 will come. We have started in Pinot Grigio and have moved along into Riesling. Each vine is tended one-by-one when pruning. There is indeed a technique to pruning. A proper technique will already begin to mold fruit quality that the vineyard will yield. As we prune we are already planning and discussing the 2009 Harvest.
At the winery we are preparing our white wines for bottling. Filtration and stabilization of the wines is underway. Stabilization is when we look to remove any hazes that the wine may have as well as remove tartrate crystals. Tartrates as we call them sometimes are referred to as 'wine diamonds'. Tartrates are in fact crystals formed from a naturally occurring acid called tartaric acid. However, with time and cold temperatures tartrates will form and drop out. We can accelerate this process by adding tiny amounts of cream of tartar which acts as a magnet for tartrates.
The removal of tartrates are only an aesthetic operation as they do not effect wine quality. However, the average consumer that may see these crystals in a bottle may think the bottle is bad. So, as a result all white and rose' wines are cold stabilized. Our red wines do not go through cold stabilization, but rather the time in barrel helps lose a large quantity of tartrates.
Lastly, we have just received our screw capper at the winery. We have been busy working on a customized Stelvin (Correct name for a screw cap) that will bear our logo. The new packaging will look quite sharp and help bring us to the fore front of what is happening in the wine world.
Cheers,
Juan.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
MCV FARM NEWS - 11/7/08 - We're All In.
Morning ya'll,
Well, it has been a while since I have written the news and I apologize. Harvest is officially over as we have picked all of the fruit. It was an interesting vintage as Mother Nature gave us a complex and nuanced year. It was the year of all weather events. The good news is that our low yields have given us nice ripe fruit. The heavy spring rains during flowering of the reds greatly reduced the crop size. These rains at the time seemed to be a negative, but the reduced crop led to increased ripening. I have been quite happy and surprised by the numbers of the fruit this year.
The white wine fermentations are now finished and await preparation for bottling. We will begin clarifying the white wines and filtering them in the next several weeks. We have some really nice white wines and I am quite excited about the return of Sauvignon Blanc. The 'SB' is showing lots of nice intense tropical fruits. We will begin offering futures on the this wine in the tasting room. We will discuss 'futures' during our staff meeting this evening and on Sunday evening.
The red's that came in latest such as the Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot are still moving along. As I mentioned in a previous email the reds are fermented with their skins and seeds. As the fermentation moves along large amounts of Carbon Dioxide(CO2) are released by the yeast. This large amount of CO2 pushes all of the skins and seeds to the surface of the tank. The skin and seeds form a cap that literally floats above the fermenting juice.
Well, the skins and seeds in the cap have lots of valuable compounds that lead to flavor, color, and structure of the wine. So we need to get those good things into our fermenting wine. So, we utilize two main methods for obtaining these goodies.
The first is a punch down. A punch down occurs when we literally "punch down" the cap into the fermenting wine. This is done anywhere from 1-4 times per day depending on how active the fermentation. The second method is the pump-over. A pump-over occurs when we gently pump juice from the tank over the cap. This action gently washes the skins and seeds of there valuable compounds. This is also done 1-4 times per day depending on how active the fermentation.
Cheers,
Juan.
Well, it has been a while since I have written the news and I apologize. Harvest is officially over as we have picked all of the fruit. It was an interesting vintage as Mother Nature gave us a complex and nuanced year. It was the year of all weather events. The good news is that our low yields have given us nice ripe fruit. The heavy spring rains during flowering of the reds greatly reduced the crop size. These rains at the time seemed to be a negative, but the reduced crop led to increased ripening. I have been quite happy and surprised by the numbers of the fruit this year.
The white wine fermentations are now finished and await preparation for bottling. We will begin clarifying the white wines and filtering them in the next several weeks. We have some really nice white wines and I am quite excited about the return of Sauvignon Blanc. The 'SB' is showing lots of nice intense tropical fruits. We will begin offering futures on the this wine in the tasting room. We will discuss 'futures' during our staff meeting this evening and on Sunday evening.
The red's that came in latest such as the Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot are still moving along. As I mentioned in a previous email the reds are fermented with their skins and seeds. As the fermentation moves along large amounts of Carbon Dioxide(CO2) are released by the yeast. This large amount of CO2 pushes all of the skins and seeds to the surface of the tank. The skin and seeds form a cap that literally floats above the fermenting juice.
Well, the skins and seeds in the cap have lots of valuable compounds that lead to flavor, color, and structure of the wine. So we need to get those good things into our fermenting wine. So, we utilize two main methods for obtaining these goodies.
The first is a punch down. A punch down occurs when we literally "punch down" the cap into the fermenting wine. This is done anywhere from 1-4 times per day depending on how active the fermentation. The second method is the pump-over. A pump-over occurs when we gently pump juice from the tank over the cap. This action gently washes the skins and seeds of there valuable compounds. This is also done 1-4 times per day depending on how active the fermentation.
Cheers,
Juan.
Friday, October 17, 2008
MCV FARM NEWS - 10/17/08 - Soaking and Marinating
Morning Ya'll,
Well, it has been another busy week of picking here on the farm. We have picked our Merlot, Semillon and Syrah in the past couple of days. I am quite happy with the quality of our fruit. We had very ripe Merlot as our yields were very low in the vineyard. Low yields equals riper fruit. Earlier in the year we had severe rains during flowering which greatly lowered yields. Our yields have been low in Merlot, but quality high. Semillon was picked and allowed to have skin contact prior to being pressed. We wanted to extract some of the precious flavors that are held in the skins. It is exciting and a large relief to have most of the grapes now safely in the winery.
When the red grapes are picked the fruit is de-stemmed and put into stainless steel tanks where they will cold soak for several days. Cold soaking is the equivalent of allowing a steak to marinate. During the cold soak we obtain extraction from the skins of the grapes. Cold soaking will help us assure that we get as much of the tannins as we can from the skins. I typically soak on average about 3-4 days prior to starting the fermentation. This helps assure that we have the softest and richest tannins on the palette.
After several days of cold soaking I will call in the aid of yeast and fermentation will commence. Fermenting reds are handled differently than fermenting whites and I will talk about this more next week. As always please feel free to ask any questions that you may have in the tasting room! Talk with ya'll shortly.
Cheers,
Juan.
Well, it has been another busy week of picking here on the farm. We have picked our Merlot, Semillon and Syrah in the past couple of days. I am quite happy with the quality of our fruit. We had very ripe Merlot as our yields were very low in the vineyard. Low yields equals riper fruit. Earlier in the year we had severe rains during flowering which greatly lowered yields. Our yields have been low in Merlot, but quality high. Semillon was picked and allowed to have skin contact prior to being pressed. We wanted to extract some of the precious flavors that are held in the skins. It is exciting and a large relief to have most of the grapes now safely in the winery.
When the red grapes are picked the fruit is de-stemmed and put into stainless steel tanks where they will cold soak for several days. Cold soaking is the equivalent of allowing a steak to marinate. During the cold soak we obtain extraction from the skins of the grapes. Cold soaking will help us assure that we get as much of the tannins as we can from the skins. I typically soak on average about 3-4 days prior to starting the fermentation. This helps assure that we have the softest and richest tannins on the palette.
After several days of cold soaking I will call in the aid of yeast and fermentation will commence. Fermenting reds are handled differently than fermenting whites and I will talk about this more next week. As always please feel free to ask any questions that you may have in the tasting room! Talk with ya'll shortly.
Cheers,
Juan.
Monday, October 13, 2008
MCV FARM NEWS - 10/10/08 - Yeast are People Too!
Morning Ya'll,
I apologize for the delay in writing, but things have been "full-on" in the last two-weeks. As of today we have almost all of the white wine grapes in the winery. The only thing we have left in the vineyard are Semillon, a touch of Riesling for Himmel and a tiny bit of Viognier to be co-fermented with Syrah.
Once the grapes are picked they are brought to the winery and are quickly pressed. The juices are collected in tanks and are allowed to settle for 36-48 hours at 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Any solids such as grape skins and pulp will sink to the bottom of the tank much like pulp in O.J. The clean juice is then 'racked' (winemaker way of saying transferred) to another tank where I allow the juice to resettle again for another 48-hours before being racked a second time. This now very clarified juice has some yeast nutrient and yeast added to commence fermentation.
The yeast we use comes in a form much like the yeast that you would purchase for bread making. There are many yeast strains to select from each having unique properties. There are many different types of yeast but, there are yeast that are specialized for winemaking. We could not use bread yeast to ferment wine.
A winemaker's yeast is his greatest friend during fermentation and it is my job as a winemaker to make sure they are happy while they are doing there job. Unhappy yeast will let you know they are unhappy by not working efficiently, creating off-aromas, and/or quite possibly just refusing to work. Yeast are people too!
My job once the juices are 'inoculated' (Fancy winemaker way of saying the yeast has been added) is to see that the yeast are happy. I will taste the individual fermenting juices up to several times a day to just make sure that all is going well with the ferments. In addition we are monitoring the temperature of the fermentation and its Brix reading. Remember, Brix is the measure of sugar in the juice and as fermentation proceeds the yeast are consuming the sugar and creating alcohol, carbon dioxide and heat as by-products. So, I am looking to see that there is a slow and steady decrease in brix as the yeast breaks down the sugars.
So, I am relying on the lab for there numbers as well as my palette for detecting yeast unhappiness. Ironically enough different yeasts have different needs/personalities. Some like warmer temps., some like colder temperatures, some have high nutrient needs, some have medium nutrient needs, some have low nutrient needs, some like to ferment white grapes, some like to ferment rose', some like to ferment red wine, some are high alcohol tolerant, some only tolerate lower alcohol, some are slow workers, some are medium paced workers, others are fast workers, some do not mind working with others, some like to work by themselves, some are French, some are Australian, Some are German, etc... You can really begin to see some20of the parallels here between yeast and people. So remember, Yeast are people too!
As always please feel free to ask any questions and if anybody is interested in visiting the winery I would like to make myself available for a tour on Monday morning of next week (Oct. 13). I know it is a big weekend for us on the farm but I am sure some of you would be interested. I was thinking earlier than later perhaps 9A.M. or 9:30A.M.? If anybody is interested just shoot me an email. Talk with ya'll shortly.
Cheers,
Juan.
I apologize for the delay in writing, but things have been "full-on" in the last two-weeks. As of today we have almost all of the white wine grapes in the winery. The only thing we have left in the vineyard are Semillon, a touch of Riesling for Himmel and a tiny bit of Viognier to be co-fermented with Syrah.
Once the grapes are picked they are brought to the winery and are quickly pressed. The juices are collected in tanks and are allowed to settle for 36-48 hours at 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Any solids such as grape skins and pulp will sink to the bottom of the tank much like pulp in O.J. The clean juice is then 'racked' (winemaker way of saying transferred) to another tank where I allow the juice to resettle again for another 48-hours before being racked a second time. This now very clarified juice has some yeast nutrient and yeast added to commence fermentation.
The yeast we use comes in a form much like the yeast that you would purchase for bread making. There are many yeast strains to select from each having unique properties. There are many different types of yeast but, there are yeast that are specialized for winemaking. We could not use bread yeast to ferment wine.
A winemaker's yeast is his greatest friend during fermentation and it is my job as a winemaker to make sure they are happy while they are doing there job. Unhappy yeast will let you know they are unhappy by not working efficiently, creating off-aromas, and/or quite possibly just refusing to work. Yeast are people too!
My job once the juices are 'inoculated' (Fancy winemaker way of saying the yeast has been added) is to see that the yeast are happy. I will taste the individual fermenting juices up to several times a day to just make sure that all is going well with the ferments. In addition we are monitoring the temperature of the fermentation and its Brix reading. Remember, Brix is the measure of sugar in the juice and as fermentation proceeds the yeast are consuming the sugar and creating alcohol, carbon dioxide and heat as by-products. So, I am looking to see that there is a slow and steady decrease in brix as the yeast breaks down the sugars.
So, I am relying on the lab for there numbers as well as my palette for detecting yeast unhappiness. Ironically enough different yeasts have different needs/personalities. Some like warmer temps., some like colder temperatures, some have high nutrient needs, some have medium nutrient needs, some have low nutrient needs, some like to ferment white grapes, some like to ferment rose', some like to ferment red wine, some are high alcohol tolerant, some only tolerate lower alcohol, some are slow workers, some are medium paced workers, others are fast workers, some do not mind working with others, some like to work by themselves, some are French, some are Australian, Some are German, etc... You can really begin to see some20of the parallels here between yeast and people. So remember, Yeast are people too!
As always please feel free to ask any questions and if anybody is interested in visiting the winery I would like to make myself available for a tour on Monday morning of next week (Oct. 13). I know it is a big weekend for us on the farm but I am sure some of you would be interested. I was thinking earlier than later perhaps 9A.M. or 9:30A.M.? If anybody is interested just shoot me an email. Talk with ya'll shortly.
Cheers,
Juan.
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