Sunday in the Wine-rage

It's been a few weeks since we last had work to do in the winery-in-the-garage .  Today we had to rack both of the wines again to get rid of the lees on the bottom.  Note how clear the chardonnay is getting.  I know it looks very overly yellow in this carboy container, but check out the next photo of the wine in the glass.

In the glass you can tell that it is very nearly clear.  It's a really pretty and transparent color.  The last time we tasted it we thought we were going to have to throw out the whole batch. It smelled sulphur-y and was not inviting to try.  Today, much to our surprise and relief it has changed; it's very crisp and to me tastes sauvignon blanc-like.  We are hoping it stays that way.  I think we made a good decision to get it off the oak so quickly.  

Here is the Soldato being racked into a new carboy...tasting smooth and delicious!   We were thrilled when all of our kids gave it a big thumbs up when they sampled on Superbowl Sunday!  

Brad (in his winemaking sweatshirt) is checking levels

Good legs, crisp taste, and best of all, will be drinkable by this summer!

Two Wines In The Garage

There was action tonight on both wines.

We were quite excited when Brad "thiefed" a taste of the Soldato to see how it was coming along. Right off the bat we could see the clarity and the legs! We loved the sniffy-sniff, so we were already liking this wine with our eyes and nose. Tasting was just as encouraging! There is great flavor developing but we definitely tasted vanilla notes so decided it was time to take if off the oak. (We hope that is the right decision) We want that flavor to remain but the intensity is supposed to back off a bit when the oak is gone.

Checking the color and clarity of the Soldato

Racking it again to get it off the oak

The chardonnay is still fermenting. After talking to a respected winemaker in Woodinville about the advantages of cold fermentation, Brad moved it to the garage so it would be in a cold environment. So he is making the white wine quite differently than the red. It still tastes pretty yeasty since it is in      the fermentation stage but underneath that we like what we taste.

Chardonnay fermenting

Both wines racked and staying cold

All of this is hopeful banter since we have never seen this through the full cycle, but we are enjoying all of the stages of our new adventure!

A Wine Of A Different Color

We want to keep practicing our new craft but our Soldato is in a quiet season. There just isn't much to do right now except wait and be patient. A stop at a grape distributor in Vancouver BC helped fix that, and we are back in business, this time trying our hand at making a Chardonnay. Thus far it seems much less complicated than making red wine, but that seems sensible since white wine is less complex than red wine (at least to us).

Brad the Winemaker has pitched the yeast and added the bentonite for clarification. We are warming the room to enhance the fermentation process and will keep an eye on the sugar content. Fingers crossed we'll be sipping a nice chilled Chardonnay in the heat of this next summer! I know we've got some white wine lovin' family &friends to join us!

Wine Without A Barrel?

The wine has been "falling clear" for the past two weeks. The sediment has been falling to the bottom and the wine is becoming more and more clear (and I might say, TASTY!) Tonight Brad made the decision to get it on oak, but since we're a tiny little endeavor we do not yet have a barrel! The method, if you do not have a barrel, is to put the oak IN the wine, instead of put the wine ON oak. Several weeks ago we purchased oak chips from a winemaker's supply store, and the chips are now settling into the two carboys full of wine. The oak chips will alter the flavor and clarify the wine even more. We will taste it again in two weeks, and eventually will decide when the wine has had enough oak.

Wine Thief

We sampled some wine for the first time tonight with our 

beautiful new wine thief from Jennifer and Brian.

First Racking

It was time tonight to do the first racking - taking the wine off the dead yeast 

that has settled to the bottom of the carboys.

First, Brad had to carefully weigh the sulfite to add to the wine. It had to be measured to the gram so he used a balance scale for accuracy.  The sulfite stabilizes the wine and kills bacteria.

Here we are preparing for the siphoning process.  In the picture below you can see that the dead yeasts have settled at the bottom of the carboy. 

 

                                          

                                     This is what's left at the bottom of the empty carboy.

                

                                     Topping off the transferred wine (a trick we learned in Woodinville)
             

Blending Experiment

Tonight we set up a very organized and systematic blending experiment.  After reading about mixing cabernet sauvignon or merlot with our sangiovese to achieve a more full bodied wine we arranged an experiment by blending in increments...100% of our Soldato Sangiovese, and then an 80/20 blend, 60/40, and 40/60.

Problem:  The tasters (that's us) are supposed to spit after each sample.  We can't figure out how to do that!  We tried every possible scenario, but we are simply unable to taste without swallowing!  (Don't judge until you've tried to do it)  I honestly don't understand how it's done, because until the wine hits the very back of my mouth, all I get is the sensation of wine, but not the taste.  However, being reasonable people on a Monday night, we tasted only the tiniest of samples from each blending!  Trust me...:)

The verdict:  After analyzing our notes taken during each tasting, our conclusion is that our Soldato Sangiovese stands alone.  When we added the cabernet sauvignon we lost the earthiness associated with the sangiovese and felt it compromised the wine. The addition of merlot was a disaster all around.

The bottom line:  We set out to make a Tuscan style red and we're sticking with it.  We like our wine!!