Blue Door Vineyard's Grapelog :: Grape-growing, winemaking & wine

It’s been a month since I last posted about the batch of Valiant wine I’m making. I racked it the other day and have to say I’m really looking forward to the day when it’s ready to bottle. One noticeable trait about it is the grapey nose. The strength of the aroma has subsided in the past month, but it’s still there. Sort of a Smuckers-like smell. It’s not bad, but just different. I expect it will disappear more with aging. Alcohol has landed at about 15% – a little on the high side, but not too bad.

In my winemaking, I refer to a number of different books. One of the more helpful ones is Winemaking: Recipes, Equipment, and Techniques for Making Wine at Home by Stanley and Dorothy Anderson. It includes many recipes from which to start experimenting as well as a ton of tips from processing grapes to which equipment they recommend. Check it out on Amazon.com.

The link below is to a set of documents put together by the kind people at Iowa State University. They have  compiled information from different sources on all grapevines that are generally considered to be cold hardy. Very helpful information for the grape grower and the wine maker.

http://viticulture.hort.iastate.edu/cultivars/cultivars.html

I racked the Valiant wine to secondary tonight. Overall, I’m pleased. If my calculations are correct, alcohol is a little under 16%. There is decent body, with a slight acidic bite. I added light oak chips to it right after racking. It’s a pretty dark color – more purple than red. But a nice color nonetheless. In about two weeks, I’ll rack it again and set it aside to age.

After punching down last night I checked the numbers on the Valiant wine…it continues to progress well. Here’s what I found last night:

Current SG: 1.023

Current Brix: 14

Residual Sugar: 95

Alcohol: 10.9%

It still has a very nice grapey/fruitey nose, but now the alcohol is there along with legs. I plan to move it to a carboy tonight after pressing.

As noted previously, I’m working very closely with a batch of Valiant wine. It’s been punched down 3 times per day (with the exception of today) and is evolving very nicely. I chaptalized the must to get it to 26 brix and the fermentation has been going ever since. Below is a chart of the fermentation progress: