Vino Italiano 2011

[Richm]

Hi all. This year's grapes arrived unexpectedly last Saturday so we quickly assembled our gear and crushed Rachel's on Saturday and mine on Sunday. They are Montepulciano d'Abruzzo again from the same importer in Coventry –20 crates or about 147kg of grapes in total each. Rachel put about 20 bunches of her own home grown grapes in, and I insulated my barrel and put a blow heater under it to keep the September chill off it, other than that we both did exactly the same thing. Interesting then that mine has been fermenting like crazy and is down to about 1001SG from 1090SG, and hers is still at 1090 and smells like nail varnish? She want to go ahead and press tonight and bottle it, so hopefully fermentation will commence in the 'damigianni' ? I'll be pressing and bottling Sunday (family commitment tomorrow).

[NorthernWiner]

If Rachel's grapes are at 1.090 and smell of nail varnish, then she has a real problem. This smell is associated with ethyl acetate and means that there was too much exposure to air.

Also, bottling right out of the fermenter will lead to nothing good. Beware of bottle bombs.

[lockwood1956]

The nail varnish smell is not good at all....

Ethyl acetate.

Description. The commonest ester in wines, ethyl acetate forms from the reaction of ethanol and acetic acid. It imparts the unmistakable and usually objectionable aroma of nail-polish remover (acetone).
Cause. Ethyl acetate frequently develops in grapes on the vine from contamination with Acetobacter spp. and other aerobic bacteria converting alcohol produced by yeasts in wounds to acetic acid. It is a frequent contaminant of thin-skinned varieties of shipping grapes and of skins of grapes pressed for juice and allowed exposure to air before being used for second runs. Acetic bacteria are ubiquitous but their activity is greatly reduced by low pH, low temperature and anaerobic conditions. Sulphite is lethal to them.
Prevention. Grapes - particularly thin-skinned varieties - should be processed as soon as possible after harvest, and for second runs, crushed skins should be sprayed with sulphite solution if they can't be submerged quickly.
Treatment. Sometimes ethyl acetate will revert to the much less evident acetic acid but usually, once detected, it is very difficult to correct. Refermentation in another must will reduce it to some extent and bubbling CO2 through a sintered air-stone, then heavy PVPP fining can be effective as a last ditch measure.

I agree with Steve, dont bottle from the fermenter, thats asking for trouble, or do you mean pressing and then into 54 litre carbuoys?

regards
bob

[billybuntus]

I take it you didn't sulphite?

[Richm]

Thanks for the replies. By bottling I did indeed mean transferring to carboys and pressing the remainder. She isn't too worried, this is how we did it last year and the resultant wine was good (see my previous vino italiano post). What I don't understand is how two identical batches of grapes can turn out so differently, the only difference in technique being that I kept the temperature up at the beginning until the natural yeast took over and maintained a steady 26-28ºC. She also added some home grown grapes, which is maybe where some nasties got in? What are second runs?

[Cellar_Rat]

What I don't understand is how two identical batches of grapes can turn out so differently

Sorry to be flip - but they were not identical Different weather, soil, light, shipper, handling = different fruit = different wine.

Winemaking IMO is 50% art and 50% science and 50% experince - and that is why it doesn't always add up

[billybuntus]

Sorry to be flip - but they were not identical! Different weather, soil, light, shipper, handling = different fruit = different wine.

Winemaking IMO is 50% art and 50% science and 50% experince - and that is why it does alway add up.

Should that not be 33.3%?

[lockwood1956]

No...that would add up

[lockwood1956]

What are second runs?

Adfter pressing you add sugar syrup (at SG 1.080) or a cheapo wine kit to the pressed skins, the ferment takes off immediately and you get a 2nd batch of wine.....

I normally aim for my 2nd run to be about 1/2 of the original volume

if using sugar syrup you will need extra nutrient and acid levels will need to be adjusted too

2nd runs can be very good indeed


I'm not sure i would want to do it on wild yeast though....but thats just me

regards
Bob

[Richm]

Sorry to be flip - but they were not identical Different weather, soil, light, shipper, handling = different fruit = different wine.

Winemaking IMO is 50% art and 50% science and 50% experince - and that is why it doesn't always add up

Sorry if I wasn't clear. They were all from the same vineyard, shipped over in a refrigerated truck, transported from Coventry to Stratford. He dropped 20 crates at Rachel's, 20 crates at mine. Estimated time between picking and crushing 2-3 days. Bunches in great condition, all mouldy and squashed ones weeded out. See http://ladolcevino.blogspot.com/2010...0-vintage.html for details of last year's adventure...

Went to look at Rachel's this morning and the must is bubbling very enthusiastically in the 54l carboys. Am just about to press mine. Not as much as last year, must have been a very dry summer over there. Any thoughts on topping up? Water, shop wine? last year's wine?

[lockwood1956]

I probably would use last years batch...

you going to try a 2nd run?

regards
bob

[Cellar_Rat]

Identical: each crop in each vineyard is different each year. The weather, the soil, the temperatures, even the pruning makes a difference. Chemically the transformation from grape to wine is very complex and still not fully understood.

It is all part of what makes winemaking great fun and challenging at the same time.

[Richm]

Have only four bottles left from last year. I'll try and keep a couple for comparison with this year, and drink the others, so not enough to use for topping up. On the positive side, yesterday we produced about 110 litres, spread around one 54l carboy, two 23 l plastic carboys and three 1 gallon demijohns, so should have enough to top up from. One demijohn is free run only – my premier cru. We pressed twice, fishing out the stalks after the first press (they make very good kindling apparently) then pressing the skins again. As I'd never heard of a second run until yesterday I wasn't really prepared to do that. It looks a delicious deep purple colour and tastes, well, like wine!