Week 20 (Nov. 4 - 8th)

Since our winery is for research purposes, we need to remove as many variables as possible in order to objectively assess the benchmark quality of the wine that a various vine produces. One of these variables which we control is the residual sugar of the wine. We ferment all of our batches to completion, meaning we wait until they are completely dry. In order to determine this, we utilize the "Clinitest" method. We drop a tablet into 0.5mL of wine and then observe the color change to determine how much sugar remains. A dark green solution is indicative of less than 0.3% sugar, which we consider dry, while a bright orange is greater than 5.0%. At this point we re-rack the wine into a smaller container in order to get it off the lees and eliminate the head space. We also add more SO2 in order to bind free oxygen, which can aid in spoilage. 

After we re-rack and add sulfites to the wines we move them into a 28 degree storage room,where they will remain for the next four months. This also polymerization process to take place, effectively complexifying the wine. The low temperature also allows potassium bitartrate to precipitate out out of the wine (cold stabilization), while eliminating the chance of the wine spoiling. 

I still get the opportunity to spend my afternoons outside! We are pruning the j-vines in block 20 and 23 this week. As you can see we got a dusting of snow, but this isn't slowing us down. However, we now need to wait until the ground thaws so that we can pin the vines to the ground.