Heading Out to Get the Grapes |
Muscat and Merlot Grapes |
Helping Hands |
Before I work on the grapes, I get the press and grape crusher ready. Once set up and in place, the inside basket of the press is lined with clean plastic window screening. This is done to prevent grape matter from seeping or shooting out under high pressure during pressing.
Loading the Crusher |
I usually make my white Muscat grapes first. I crush the grapes and put them into the press stems and all. Some grape suppliers at slightly extra cost will crush adnd remove the stems of the grapes for you, and believe me that saves a lot of hard labor. Once full, the pressing begins, and the juice that is produced is placed in translucent plastic barrels on which I have marked volume heights. When no more or very little juice flows from the press, it is opened, the mass of skins is loosened, and re-pressed. Loosening the mass of skins in the press is repeated two or three more times. In addition to getting more juice out of the grapes, there is at least one more good reason for re-pressing the mass of grape skins.
The white wines and the rose' wines that I make are fermented off of their skins (the skins are not present during fermentation) and as a result will be low in the tannin they would otherwise extract from the skins. Tannin is necessary for a healthy fermentation, and by re-pressing the skins two or three times, more of these vital tannins are extracted into the juice. Of course, tannin is available at wine supply shops and can be added without the need for re-pressing. In this case, just follow the instructions that come with the tannin.
Loading the Press |
Once the juice is in the plastic barrels and I know the total volume of must that I am dealing with, it is necessary to analyze the must for its sugar content and total acidity. Based on the results of these anualyses, I will or will not make adjustments just before I inoculate the must with a wine yeast to start fermentation.Pressing Rose' |
The preparations and analyses that I do prior to the start of fermentation are few and simple. They are, in the following order:
- begin a yeast starter,
- do a sugar analysis and make the necessary corrections,
- determine the specific gravity of the corrected must and its temperature,
- do a total acid analysis and make the necessary corrections,
- measure the pH of the corrected must,
- and inoculate the must with the yeast starter.
Primary Fermenter |
No comments:
Post a Comment