My first real wine job was working in the cellar door at Domaine Chandon in the Yarra Valley, which I did for 18 months from the beginning of 2006. One of my colleagues there lived at Coldstream Hills as her partner was one of the winemakers. She very generously put together a mixed dozen of back vintages of their Reserve wines, many of which are still in my cellar. I decided to open the three wines from the 2004 vintage (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir & Cabernet Sauvignon), and these are my impressions. Let me know what you think in the comments below.
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.
Josh got in touch with me via intrepidwino.com and offered me the chance to look at some wines from a brand that has recently been introduced into the domestic market, previously only being available overseas. The four Millon Estate wines I tasted are made from Eden Valley fruit, and are all from the 2014 vintage. Here are my impressions, let me know what you think in the comments below!
Last September my amazing Grandmother passed away at the incredible age of 89 (vintage 1927). As my family went through the emotional process of organising and cleaning her house of 40 years, I discovered a number of bottles of wine in the cupboard under the stairs. With permission from my family I opened some of these bottles on this video, and the results were quite surprising.
The lovely Tash Stoodley from d’Arenberg was lovely enough to send me some more bottles of wine to taste. These are the three icon reds from the McLaren Vale d’Arenberg vineyards; The Ironstone Pressings Grenache Shiraz Mouvedre, The Dead Arm Shiraz, and The Coppermine Road Cabernet Sauvignon. All three have a recommended retail price of $65.00, and were from the 2012 vintage.
I joined some sommelier friends recently for a blind tasting session. Each of them have been trained using the Certified Sommelier Method, using a grid to break down a wine into its components for the purpose of analysis, then make an assesment about what the wine is. It was quite fascinating to watch them dissect wines blind, but still showed the subjectivity of wine.
The Vincast - a Wine Podcast with The Intrepid Wino
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.
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