A little late to the party (vintage 2018 is almost over already), but I got there eventually. Here’s the fourth and final video on the 2017 vintage for Vino Intrepido, finishing the wine and getting it into bottle.
The vermentino and nero d’avola components were racked and blended in September 2017, and bottled not long after that. The nebbiolo was racked and blended in October, returned to barrel, then racked and bottled in January 2018.
Find out more about all of the 2017 wines here!
To say that the 2017 vintage was different to the 2016 vintage would be one of the biggest understatement ever. Just speaking personal circumstances, this year not only did I finish up with my employer of over three years and start with a new importer/wholesaler, I also welcomed the arrival of my first child! Considering the location I made my wine at this year is a lot further from home than last year, I wasn’t able to be at the winery as much this year. Then I ended up increasing production from one tonne to five tonnes! I also worked with three new varieties; vermentino, nero d’avola and nebbiolo. Finally, the 2017 vintage was late and long; first grapes arrived on the 19th of March and last were the 24th of April!
On this Part One video I process all the fruit. Processing involves the intake of grapes, and making the first decisions for the wine (whether to press, whether to de-stem, whether to do neither). This is all before the fermentation begins and it transitions towards wine.
Vino Intrepido is a (soon to be launched) brand the combines great Italian grape varieties with great Australian wine regions and growers, experimenting with different winemaking techniques to bring you delicious wine! If you are interested in finding out more, please get in touch via email on vinointrepido@gmail.com
Ricca Terra Farms – http://riccaterrafarms.com.au
Chalmers – https://www.chalmers.com.au
Malakoff Vineyard – https://www.facebook.com/Malakoffestatevineyard/
The final stage of the winemaking is the bottling (labelling and selling isn’t winemaking as far as I’m concerned), and I was so grateful to have extra pairs of hands to help and make things smoother. Let me know what you think in the comments below, and get in touch if you’d be keen to buy a bottle or 12 😉
The fifth part of the Intrepid Winemaking Project 2016 was not one that I necessarily planned on. I was however encouraged by a few people to consider blending Bin X and Bin Y, in an effort to get more of one wine rather than make people choose, and also to combine the positive attributes of each component. Let me know if you have any questions about this step in the winemaking story!
Part three of The Sangiovese Project is all about pressing the two bins and transferring them into their vessels. If you haven’t already seen part one and two, I recommend watching them before this video.
Bin X of the Heathcote Sangiovese that was foot-stomped and plunged daily, took about 10 days to finish its fermentation on skins. The skins were quite broken down and plenty of colour had been leached into the wine. The original 500kg of grapes fit into one basket press, and produced just over 300 litres of wine. It settled in a tank for two nights then was transferred into a seven-year-old hogshead (300L) barrel for its elevage.
Bin Y was left as whole berries after de-stemming. It went through a mostly carbonic maceration, and was not handled until pressing. Any juice in the bin was fully fermented, but there was still a lot of juice inside intact berries that was not fermented yet. Pressing included two top ups of the press, as the berries took up much more space. The wine was darker and fruitier. It was transferred into a 300L stainless-steel tank and a 34L demijohn to finish fermentation, and it will stay there.
Please note that the memory card was full towards the end of pressing so I missed a bit.
I hope you enjoy this next part of my first winemaking journey, thanks again to Alex for the advice and the help processing the wine. If you have any questions please feel free to ask them in the comments below.
Bin X Wine Cake
If you haven’t watched Part One of The Sangiovese Project (processing the fruit), I suggest watching that first.
Part Two is all about fermentation. Two days after receiving the fruit, fermentation was under way in Bin X. It was important to plunge the cap of skins (and some berries) every day, partly for the gentle extraction of colour and tannin from the skins into the wine, but also to keep them wet to avoid spoilage.
Bin X converted the sugar into alcohol at a rapid pace. It went from 13 degrees baumé to one or two in the space of three days. By the fourth day you can see that there is a lot less activity in the ferment. With some advice I gave the bin a few more foot-stomps to squeeze more juice out of the remaining berries, which extended the ferment a few more days and extracted a bit more colour and tannin. After 10 days the ferment was finished, but daily plunging continued until pressing on the 22nd of March.
Bin Y had CO2 pumped into the bin and it was covered by cling-wrap. It was checked each day simply by smell, giving off a slightly candied fruit aroma. The weight of the berries gradually crushed the berries at the bottom of the bin, and the juice fermented dry. It was very crunchy and bright to taste.
The next part will focus on the pressing of the two bins, and their subsequent transfer into their vessels. Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments below.
If you haven’t already seen me share it on social media, I started my first winemaking project, tentatively called The Sangiovese Project. The idea was to purchase some sangiovese grapes from the Heathcote region that were of exceptional quality, and try some experimenting with it. This video, the first of several parts of the journey which I will be sharing, chronicles the processing of the fruit.
Two bins totalling one tonne of hand-picked grapes were delivered on a rainy Thursday evening (10th March). The fruit was grown by viticulture legend (and guest on Episode 65 of The Vincast wine podcast), Mario Marson. In this video you will see how the fruit was prepared for fermentation.
A podcast about wine, wine culture and wine people. Every week a different guest from the wine industry joins host The Intrepid Wino (aka James Scarcebrook) for a casual chat about the world of wine.
All content on this podcast remains the sole property of the author unless otherwise acknowledged and appropriately credited. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of content without express and written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Content may be used for reproduction provided that full and clear credit is given to James Scarcebrook and/or The Intrepid Wino with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
The Intrepid Wino 