Fermentation and Pressing

This year I again used BM45 yeast but also fermented some on 71-B as this was also recommended as a yeast to use for Marquette grapes. This year I wanted to see what skin contact time variations were like with Marquettes. I broke down the batches into A=BM45 with 6 days skin contact, B=71B with 3 days contact, and C=BM45 with 3 days skin contact.

My 2009 and 2010 vintages had a a bit of methoxypyazines (green pepper or herbaceousness) so this year I concentrated on eliminating it. I did not overcrop, I leaf pulled, I performed delestage (removal of seeds during fermentation), etc. I hope the extra work paid off but I'll need to wait a while to find out.

Rather than doing a "hard" press on the skins I did a "soft" press and made a "2nd" wine with the skins. This is the first time I try a 2nd wine with Marquette skins. Time will tell if this is a worthwhile effort and if the wine is at least "table-wine" quality.

Each day, after quiting for the day I enjoyed drinking my 2009 and 2010 Marquette wines. I can't wait to try my 2011 wine after it is ready.

A small taste of each batch of this year's wine assured me that my "quality control" gal did a good job and did not let any "stink bugs" or "multi-colored asian beetles" get into the must.

So far so good ... taste, pH and TA are all doing okay. The wine is now in carboys and doing fine and is now undergoing malolactic fermentation (mlf). Later, I will verify completion of mlf with a Chromatography test. Then, a few pH and TA adjustments, some biolees, some oak and then a cold stabilization then a few more adjustments and another 10+ months and we'll see how this year's wine is going to be. I may do a little blending also before bottling.

Here's some pictures I took ....