Bottle Racking

posted by Dan in Wine Industry, Guest Bloggers

In a post earlier this year titled “Winter Winemaking”, I discussed a little bit of the thought process and ensuing vinification activity of a young wine post-harvest.  Now that the majority of our 2008 wines have been blended and are marrying in barrel, it’s (chronological) time to turn our attention to the previous vintage – 2007.   As with our Cabernet and Merlot based wines, the wines will age in barrel from 18 to 22 months before bottling.  We are scheduled to bottle our 2007 Merlot blend and Estate Cabernet in early May.  So, the most obvious and important activity pre-bottling is to remove the wine from barrel and settle it in a stainless steel tank to facilitate the bottling process.  This activity is called racking.

The pre-bottling racking is the final clarifying event for the wine, but also stands for some winemakers as the final blend.  At Larkmead we blend in the first six to nine months of the wine’s life; a philosophy we believe helps the wine harmonize and integrate with itself and the barrel profile, leaving nothing out of balance.   During the initial rackings we will use a centrifugal pump to allow oxygen to come in contact with the wine (an opportunity to soften the rough edges, i.e. tannins) and to force out any remaining CO2.  As the wine ages, it becomes near mandatory not to expose the wine to oxygen, therefore we will move the wine with the help of inert gases.  As pictured,

we are pressurizing the barrel with Argon in order to gently move the wine to tank (a tank that has been gassed with Argon to displace its oxygen).  Argon is heavier than Nitrogen (which is still widely used for this process) and does not bind to other elements (especially those in liquid).  The process of moving the wine takes about five minutes per barrel (a 60-gallon barrel is the equivalent of 25 cases of wine).  During the last two weeks, we racked with Argon over 250 barrels (or 6,200 cases) worth of wine that we are readying for bottling in May.

Once the wine is in tank, and the headspace is gassed with Argon (to displace any residual oxygen) it is time to take a sample of the wine to test its final chemistry.  The chemistry analysis will determine whether there is any remaining bacteria in the wine that can cause flaws or faults in the wine.  At this point we will be able to make decisions as to whether or not the wine needs to be fined or filtered before bottling.  Fining is the process of clarifying a wine, removing any micro solids, bacteria, yeast and polyphenols (i.e. harsh tannins).  A traditional fining solution would be egg whites.  Today there are also other gelatins that produce positive activity that will bind with the unwanted cells.   Said addition is mixed into the barrel before racking or tank post-racking and then allowed to settle to the bottom of the vessel pulling out the unwanted particles that have remained in suspension in the wine.  Filtering takes fining to the next level. Filtering can play an important role in the production of the final product.  When you filter a wine, you guarantee that the whole body of the wine will be subject to electrokinetic activity that once again helps remove any microbacteria. Fining and filtering can help ‘polish’ a wine by removing its rough edges and improving its texture and clarity.

A History of a Wine’s Chemistry Analysis

Chemistry analysis is an important contributor throughout the life of the wine making process. During the cold soak, we will look at the wine’s nutrient profile, sugar content and acid which will guide us through the pending fermentation and cue us in as to whether we will need to be adding any nutrients to facilitate a healthy conversion of grape juice to young wine.  Once the wine finishes fermentation the standard chemical analysis of the wine will include: pH (the general indicator of acidity in a wine; water is neutral at 7 pH, while white wines will be in the low 3’s and red wines in the mid to upper 3’s; thus acidic); RS (“residual sugar” or the glucose and fructose that remain in a wine after these sugars have converted to ethanol concentration or alcohol; each wine and each winemaker will have their own threshold as to what is acceptable RS in a wine.  We consider our wines to be ‘dry’ (i.e. lacking sugar) at less than 1 g/L.  Late harvest or dessert wines can be judged as such if they have more than 4g/L residual sugar); Alcohol (self explanatory) and VA (or “volatile acidity” which is predominantly acetic acid that is produced by spoilage yeast and bacteria in a wine and can cause the development of unwanted sensory effects.  Wines with high acetic numbers can also cause the formation of ethyl acetate that is a common microbial flaw.  At high levels, ethyl acetate produces the dreaded nail polish remover character in a wine; at lower levels it can produce a potential sweet, richness).

Throughout the life of the wine’s maturation the sulfur levels are monitored and adjusted to preserve the wine.  Appropriate levels of sulfur in a wine during aging will act as an antioxidant and will prevent microbial growth.  The absence of sulfur in a wine and the presence of oxygen is the biggest threat to the wine’s health.  During the wine’s life in barrel, we strive for sulfur levels in the mid-30’s and we will bottle our wines at levels around 25 to 28 mg/L (or parts per million, PPM).

With the basic chemistry established and at acceptable levels throughout maturation, it is now time, pre-bottling, to determine whether or not the wine has any remaining spoilage yeasts and bacteria that produce off character(s) in wine.  The most common ‘flaws’ that develop during primary and secondary fermentation are as follows: Oenoccoccus, a malolactic bacteria that will produce high levels of acetic acid; Brettanomyces is an easily distributed volatile acid, ester and phenol that is responsible for the off-aromas and barnyard flavors we commonly know as Brett; Lactobacilius, another malolactic bacteria that forms during sluggish fermentations produces that buttery character in a wine; Pediococcus is yet another lactic bacteria that can cause textural defects that suppress the fruit character in a wine and prevent the healthy aging of a wine.  The appropriate chemistry analysis of these bacteria will let you know if you have any of these miscreant cells remaining in your wine.  Although some of these cells may be present, there is a good chance that they are ‘dead cells’ that were neutralized during the healthy process of sulfur maintenance.  If we feel that the wine is in jeopardy due to high levels of any of these cells, we will make the decision to filter the wine.

A short cut to checking if a wine has problems is to check its turbidity, i.e. the wine’s clarity or haziness.  Turbidity will help determine whether a wine has any suspended solids.  Those solids may include the yeast cells or the microbacteria listed above; however, as mentioned, those solids may or may not be active in deteriorating the wines.  It is up to the winemaker to make the judgment based on the full chemistry analysis as to whether or not they wish to clarify the wine further through filtration, to finish and polish the final product or to free it from the potential danger of those bacteria attacking the character of the wine.

As I type this, I am happy to report that we have the full chemistry analysis of our Merlot blend, Firebelle. The wine has a pH of 3.9, RS of less than 1g/L, VA of less than 1g/L, Alcohol at 14.5% and no spoilage bacteria whatsoever.  The turbidity of the wine is 25 NTU and we’d like to see that lower than 15; so, we are going to rack the wine from tank to tank because during the process of moving the wine from barrel to tank, it is likely that you will shake up some solids which we are comfortable knowing will settle out once again in the weeks ahead pre-bottling.  So, looks like a near perfect (chemical) wine.  But most importantly, how does it taste?  Well, that is for you to decide when the wine releases January 2010.  I’ll report back in a couple of weeks with a photo essay of the bottling process.  Until then, thanks for reading.

Dan Petroski is Assistant Winemaker at Larkmead Vineyards in Napa Valley. Dan has an MBA from New York University and worked as an Ad Exec in New York for several years, before switching it up and trading his suit for a move out west

Winemaking Techniques: Disclosure and Regulation

posted by Dan in Wine Industry, Guest Bloggers

Friends of Snooth, not much of a blog here, but hoping to get some forum-like feedback.

Last week on the “eBob” bulletin board a question was posed regarding the marketing of wine.  More exact, the disclosure of winemaking techniques (with regards to its marketing).  The concern of the post was whether or not it is ethical to present a wine with all its romantic ideals coming from a particular place if the wine was manipulated to taste in such or such a way.

The style of a particular wine was not in question, but how the winemaker achieved his or her goal, and if it is appropriate, for educational purposes, to be discussing these practices if they are part of the process.

The Devil’s Advocate debate was: does it really matter?

Will disclosure actually diminish one’s perception of wine?  Will there be buyer’s remorse or more importantly, will you not purchase a wine that used fish bladders for clarifying purposes or added water and acid during fermentation to achieve optimal results?  [Note: the addition of water and acid during fermentation not only can produce more of a wine, but also can lower potential alcohol levels and help produce a healthy fermentation if grapes are harvested, over-ripe, slightly dehydrated and out of balance.]

A similar, political example to this is: last year, you may recall the outcry against Brunello di Montalcino producers who were cutting their wines with juice from other regions of Italy to alter the wine’s taste and/or production levels.  Remembrance of this issue can be found here.

Governments have gotten involved, wine has been confiscated and as a result consumers are stuck holding an empty bottle.  But has your taste and enjoyment of these wines changed?  Do we need Governments to get involved to protect against these indiscretions?  If you once enjoyed Brunello and stocked your cellar with some, do you now feel cheated? Are you heart-broken?  Are you smashing bottles of Brunello and dumping them down the drain?  Are you not buying Italian wine anymore because one is a reflection of many?

There are many questions to be asked about this debate of disclosure and many opinions to be heard.  On the subject of regulation, in the recent issue of Decanter an interview with Tom Black, a Tennessee businessman, mammoth collector and investor in Alto (the NYC restaurant) made a pinpoint argument against regulation.  He says, and I quote, “We scream free trade to the world but don’t allow it.  I’d let people buy direct from the winery and have it shipped home.”

On the Parker boards regarding the above disclosure debate, the ugly comment was reared, “[you assume] the geeks that inhabit this forum resemble the normal wine consumers.”  I hope not to degrade anyone reading this by reposting that comment, but let’s hear it – what are your thoughts about disclosure and/or regulation?

Taste, Taste, Eat, Taste

posted by Dan in Wine Industry, Wine, Guest Bloggers

Since my Tasting group of hard-hitting Sonoma County Pinot Noir producers somehow disbanded last year, I have taken it upon myself to fill the void in various ways.  First and foremost, as my friends in the Valleys will tell you, when I have a cocktail party at my house, it is always accompanied by a theme – for example, an 80’s NYC Art Scene Gallery Exhibition Opening when guests were requested to wear black, white or a combination of both and cheap white wine and cheaper sparkling wine was served over white and fluorescent orange hunks of cheese; or a Gatsby themed party where Prohibition era cocktails were mixed and silos full of Champagne were consumed.  Hosting a traditional dinner party or pot-luck is also an engaging option for wine geeks – whether it be regional focused (with accompanying foods) or vintage focused.  A recent dinner party at my house contained a face off of a 2006 Sancerre (Alphonse Mellot Edmund) vs. the 2006 Larkmead Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc.  The red portion of the program contained two 2000 Bordeaux second labels (Mouton’s Chateau D’Armailac and Leoville-Las Cases’ Clos du Marquis) and two 2001 Italian wines, Terralsole’s Brunello di Montalcino and Pira’s Vigna Rionda Barolo.  The reds weren’t a precise theme, but it opened up the palates of us Cabernet focused Napa Valley types.

Over the last couple of months, I was fortunate to organize a blind tasting of 2005 Cabernet’s from Napa Valley (a work event to compare Larkmead’s wines from said vintage to some of the ‘cult’ Cabernets garnering lots of attention and even higher price tags).  I posted a forum note, here on the site, and reviewed the wines.  More recently, I was fortunate to be pulled into another Cabernet (blind) tasting to, once again, gauge a wine (this time a new wine to market made by Thomas Brown of Schrader fame) and how it compares to relatively similar wines and their price points.  While I was in NYC last month working at our distributor tasting, I had the good fortune to get out from behind the table and taste a few of the Int’l imported wines that you’ll see in New York restaurants and retail but may not necessarily make it out to the West Coast (esp. the wine stores of Napa and Sonoma).  These trade tastings happen pretty regularly and are free of charge, all you need to do is have a good relationship with a wine shop owner or restaurant wine director and ask if any trade tastings are coming up – when and where. [Ed. Note: I am sure the Snooth team can help on this one, hint, hint. Get connected, good wine drinking will follow!]

After the NY tasting I had the good fortune to sit down to dinner with, in my opinion, one of the top wine enthusiasts and generous fellows I have ever met.  He organized a dinner where ten people gathered at Little Giant on the Lower East Side and we uncorked 21 wines that were brought by said fellow and friends.  (Below is a list of the wines and my half-crocked tasting notes, of which I posted on this site - if the wines were in the Snooth database.)

In an ‘event’ like this, it is obvious that the wine will overshadow the food and the company and conversation will educate you beyond the bottle.  I definitely feel this dinner (among similar others I had in the past year+ with this fellow) rank up their with some of the incredible tastings and dinners organized by Snooth’s own, Gregory Dal Piaz.  Keep thanking him for his generous notes and tastings!

So, if anyone has read Gregory’s posts, and are reading this, I do hope that you have that itch of a drunken desire that prompts you to organize your own wine tasting, cocktail party, dinner party, blind tasting, theme drinking, BYOB drinking, etc., etc.  In these recessionary times, there is no better way to spread the resources around than to encourage your family, friends and work colleagues with a relatively low cost BYOB night of drinking under the pretense of this or that theme.  Which reminds me, something that has been lingering in the ears and mouths of my friends is the 80-point blind tasting.  We have all had our fair share of poor reviews and we all feel blotted by them.  It is our hope to uncork the bottles, raise the glasses and to enjoy the heck out of these wines that may or may not have become second-class citizens based on someone’s third party review.  It will happen soon and I will let you know when it does; but, in the meantime, it would be great to hear about what is inspiring you to gather and gulp some of the good stuff.  It may inspire us all to make the best with what’s around.  And by the way, I invested in a couple of restaurant wine dinners recently and was pleasantly pleased with the week’s worth of food and wine that accompanied a price that would be close to the retail value of one or two of the wines that were consumed on the night in question.  Return on investment very high in some of these dinners – so, check your resources, something too good to be true will be on the horizon, I am sure of it.  Eat well, drink better and let us know what you have been tasting!

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Little Giant Dinner
March 24, 2009

Domaine de Croix 2006
Beaune, 1er Cru, Pertuisots
- Youthfully subdued nose, opens to a soft, supple aromatic midpalate; elegant use oak that translates on the finish.

Domaine Humbert Freres 2006
Gevrey Chambertin, Premier Cru, Poissenot
- Textured nose of cherry-aspirin pill box sweetens undertones of earth and mushroom; a hint of cola on the palate broadens to a bitter cherry finish.

Wind Gap 2006
Grenache Booker Vineyard Paso
- A bit overripe, masking tell-tale Grenache rusticity and texture; however, surprisingly refined on the mid-palate with a soft, supple tannins that dry out quickly.

Wind Gap 2006
Syrah Sonoma Coast
- Intense Kalamata olive nose; stemmy to a fault (?).  However, luckily, more impressed with the aromatic mid-palate but can’t get over the nose!

Larkmead 2002
Solari Reserve Cabernet
- Rich, luscious, sweet, tannin and acid.  Vanilla, cream, dried herbs, black tea and Asian spices.  Tastes like a Jolly Rancher when compared to the Canon.

Ch. Canon 1982
St. Emilion
- Signature BDX nose (some said “Brett,” I say “Terroir”); Cedar, cherry, eucalyptus; bitter cherry finish.  Or as we discussed: the Grande Dame at the ball, wearing Chanel, sweating a bit after the Waltz, returns to the table after powdering her nose.

Realm 2006
To-Kalon Vineyard
- An Oakville nose of dusty, textured fruit; creamy mouthfeel, vanilla, sweet and succulent with a weed (i.e. hempy) finish.  Elegant and refined tannins, a nod to good winemaking in the 06 vintage.

Realm 2006
Dr. Crane Vineyard
- Similar (identical oak ?) mid-palate to the To-Kalon under a darker, more brooding nose and off-putting, astringent tannic finish.  Finishes a little hot with similar hempy character of the To-Kalon – may say something about the barrels used.

Carlisle 2007
Zinfandel, Montafi Ranch, RRV
- The warm, inviting nose.  Teasing.  Powerful, explosive fruit wrapped in a creamy core.  Lull’s you in and then throws you a spliter of astringency on the finish.  Leaves you wanting to redeem yourself (or it).

Paul Jaboulet Aine 2003
La Chapelle, Hermitage*
- Elegant and balanced.  Soft and polished.  Focused purity.  Meat.  Fruit.  Cream.  Acts I, II and III.  Runs you up the tree.  Offers you the options to get down. And finishes with happily ever after.

Chapoutier 2003
L’Ermite, Hermitage*
- Reggie Jackson circa October 1978.  Power, structure, consistency.  A true champ.  Highlighted with a bit of verve – spice, menthol, mint.  A spectacular finish.  Lingering in the memory.

* Hard to beat these two wines.

Domaine Robert Arnoux 2007
Vosne-Romanee, 1er Cru, Les Suchots
- “Pretty”, soft, subtle sweetness on the nose that dominates the wine.  A little shy in the mouth but finishes with some tell-tale, “I want another sip” acid.  Needs time to balance a bit.

Domaine Jaques Fredrick Mugnier 2004
Chambolle Musigny, Bonnes-Mares
- Best representation of a mood based wine.  Intriguing in exotic kind of way.  Dark and brooding; best consumed on a rainy day because the acid and tannin promise the spirit of sunshine in the future.

Domaine Prieure Roch 1995
Vosne-Romanee, Les Suchots
- Shockingly still fruit forward.  Dark, rich and elegant midpalate balanced with fine acidity.  Not necessarily noble, a bit more rebellious.

Clos Saint Jean 2005
Deus ex Machina, CdP
- One of the most intense wines (in balance) that I have ever tasted.  It’s richness is kept in check with layers of purity, complexity and texture. This wine bleeds terroir and passionate winemaking.

Clos Saint Jean 2006
Deus ex Machina, CdP
- A bit off-putting - the roller-coaster ride of a young wine’s evolution in bottle.  Unlike its previous vintage, the wine is a bit more linear (laser like fruit focus with more expressive alcohol); oak influence rearing its ugly head.  Overjoyed to have tasted it, but some infanticide took place with this wine.

Clos Saint Jean 2005
La Combe des Fous, CdP
- Best in show.  Dark and brooding at first glance.  Soft and succulent as you get to know her.  Balanced and perfect when you walk away thinking about her.  The wine’s concentration and intensity is focused throughout the experience. Never wavering, cannot find a flaw in this wine.

Domaine La Barroche 2005
PURE, CdP
Youthful.  Tight.  Showing its extremes - high-toned fruit focus, vegetative and black olive (whole cluster), a little too much alcohol becoming raisin-like; shy on its potential.  Would love to revisit.

Domaine de la Mordoree 2005
La Plume du Pientre, La Crau, CdP
- Similar to the PURE, needs time.  It’s port-like character shows hints of intense, concentrated complexity.  Remove its chastity belt in ten or twenty years and this wine will be a knock-out.

Domaine Gustave Lorentz 1983
Gerwurztraminer
Shockingly fresh.  Clarity is remarkable.  The pineapple and malic character is stunning.  A refreshing way to re-liven the palate after luxurious red wine consumption.  I would drink this nightly to count sheep in the spring-time pasture happily.

Dan Petroski is Assistant Winemaker at Larkmead Vineyards in Napa Valley. Dan has an MBA from New York University and worked as an Ad Exec in New York for several years, before switching it up and trading his suit for a move out west.