by Byron Burch
Every year, during the late summer, home winemakers can
be observed exuding a certain nervous energy as they wait
to see what nature has in store for them during that year's
crush. Having made wine for more than 30 years now, I've
done my share of anticipating, and one thing I've learned
is that, if someone is paying attention, there aren't
that many things that can go wrong, but each year's wine
is going to have its own nuances.
Quite a few years ago, the conditions were just right
for something to happen that I'd wondered about for some
time.
I was making Cabernet Sauvignon from a good vineyard,
and my custom was to let most red wines ferment all the
way dry on the skins. Normally, that took about a week
to ten days. I'd heard, however, that some French wines
were kept on the skins for as long as three weeks, though,
at the time, I'd not seen any information on how that
might be encouraged.
I fermented my wine in an unheated outbuilding. That
year had been a relatively late season, but the fruit
was in excellent condition at harvest. My must got warm
enough, early in the process, to extract good color. Then
came a really cold spell that slowed the fermentation
to almost nothing.
Morning and evening, I went out to punch down the cap,
and each time it had risen back up. Gas was still being
released. The fermentation process was still going on.
It ended up taking nearly three full weeks. Finally, the
cap no longer rose to the top, and it was time to press.
That was a long time ago, but I still think of that wine
with great fondness. It may have been the best I've ever
made. There was fruit, balance, complexity, and most noticably,
a smoothness and subtlety I'd not been finding in my reds
up to that time. Like many California winemakers in those
days, I'd been going for big, rough, tannic monsters.
That's what we thought most red wines should be. A lot
has changed. While we recognize that such wines have their
place, there are other possibilities, and adjusting the
skin time either upward or downward will have much to
do with the kind of wine we extract from a given lot of
grapes.
In Knowing and Making Wine, Emile Peynaud observes
that, "Pomace contact exercises an influence on body,
on the greater or less astringent taste, on the evolution
and life of the wine, and the ease with which malolactic
fermentation takes place." A winemaker must remain
flexible, deciding what to do according to "the quality
of the grapes and the type of wine being made. . . ."
Nowadays, we hear a lot more people talk about "extended
maceration" (long skin contact) than we did just
a few years ago. This approach has now become widely recognized
as a sophisticated "third way" of approaching
red wine fermentation. The first two ways are already
familiar to many home winemakers.
In the first method, the must goes through just enough
skin contact to establish good color (usually three or
four days of active fermentation) and pressing then takes
place with some sugar (3-5 Brix or so) remaining in the
juice. This method is often used for table wines expected
to be consumed young. Some first time home winemakers
press early in order to have wine to enjoy as soon as
possible. This is also a good technique for certain grape
varieties (such as Gamay type grapes, or perhaps Merlot)
especially suited for that purpose.
Another reason for pressing early might be the presence
of moldy grapes. In this case, sulfite to 120-130 parts
per million, letting the must stand for at six hours before
adding yeast. Press after three days of active fermentation.
The second method is more commonly used. The must is
simply allowed to ferment all the way dry, and pressed
as soon as the "cap" fails to rise after punching
down, leaving wine visible on the surface after several
hours. Referring to the removal of free-run juice as "draining,"
Peynaud calls this method "draining hot." The
skins, of course, are pressed.
The third method, "extended maceration," can
take one of three forms. The first, the one used with
the Cabernet Sauvignon mentioned earlier, might be viewed
as simply a variant on method two, fermenting dry on the
skins. The only difference is in utilizing cold weather,
as I did, or perhaps air-conditioning, to extend the fermentation
much longer than it would otherwise go.
The second form of extended maceration involves using
a combination of temperature control, along with the direct
application of a carbon dioxide atmosphere to the surface
of the wine
and skins. After the end of active fermentation, chill
down the fermentor and store it for several days, blanketed
with CO2. Home winemakers should add CO2 at least twice
a day, or hold the must in a pressure vessel, and control
conditions as carefully as possible until there has been
a total of three weeks of skin contact after the grapes
were crushed. The wine is then "drained cold,"
and pressed. This method may be used for many of the popular
varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Shiraz,
etc.
Pinot Noir, however, is best treated with a cold soak
that takes place prior to fermentation. In this case,
the grapes should be picked, crushed, and maintained under
as cool conditions as possible. Again, cold storage, along
with the application of carbon dioxide, are used, this
time to inhibit the onset of fermentation for five days
or so.
In the fall of last year, Nancy Vineyard used a cold
soak before fermentation to make what is developing into
a superb Pinot Noir. Lacking adequate refrigeration capacity,
she tried to kill two birds with one stone. Dry ice was
used to implement the cold soak, providing both the cold
and the carbon dioxide.
It worked magnificently, though she wandered around the
shop for several days during the process muttering, "Those
were really good grapes, and I hope I haven't totally
blown it." Nancy warns that the use of dry ice is
not a technique for the faint of heart. It turns the skins
a rather ugly, brownish color, so ugly, in fact, that
thinking you've blown it quite badly is a very realistic
fear. However, her wine now has excellent color (not always
easy with Pinot Noir) and shows remarkable promise. Using
carbon dioxide and refrigeration, rather than dry ice,
may help avoid some tense moments.
| Note
The cold soak treatment involved placing about
5 lbs. of Dry Ice Pellets into each of two large
square 28 gallon plastic primaries with the crushed
must. So2 was added to 35-40 ppm. The temperature
was maintained with the pellets below 55 °F.
until it naturally rose to 70 °F, after about
3 days. Yeast food and yeast was added and the
fermentation proceeded normally, lasting about
10 days. Dry Ice pellets can be purchased by the
pound from several local Compressed Gas companies
that sell CO2 in cylinders. Take a picnic cooler
to hold the pellets. |
A few years ago, a friend from the wine industry (Sorry,
I've forgotten who) explained to us that extended maceration,
whatever the method, allows the completion of a "tannin
cycle." The presence of skins, seeds, and stems during
fermentation contribute tannin to the wine. Tannin is
the dry, puckery astringency that sticks your tongue to
the roof of your mouth when you taste some red wines,
especially young ones.
Up to a point, tannin becomes more and more assertive,
and can give red wines a harshness that can't be easily
overcome, though fining with gelatin will cause some tannin
to be absorbed and dropped out.
If, however, the maceration is extended, in one of the
ways I've suggested, something unexpected begins to happen.
Instead of causing more harshness, as might be expected,
the
tannin reaction is allowed to go full circle. It begins
to smooth out, contributing a balanced complexity to the
wine.
Anyway, no matter how improbable the theory sounds, we've
tried extended maceration a couple of different ways,
with good results if a smooth wine is to your liking.
So, if you've got the facilities, and the guts, and grapes
that are in really good condition, you might find one
of these techniques an interesting experiment this fall.
Consider setting aside a hundred pounds or so of your
grapes as a small test batch for comparative purposes.
After all, you get to open the topic of conversation
with, "I've had about a week of skin contact...."
Copyright © 2002 Byron Burch. All
rights reserved.
