Choosing the end of the fermentation cycle is very important to taste and structure of your final wine.  It is true that you can just let a fermentation end naturally and fully on its own (this is the point where “all” (really “most” but we don’t want to get too detailed) of the fermentable sugars have been consumed by the yeast and converted into alcohol).  When a fermentation ends on its own as described above, the wine is very dry to the palate as the natural sugars are gone and have been converted to alcohol.  If on the other hand you choose to intercede and stop the fermentation early before all of the fermentable sugars are used up (you stop fermentation with extreme cold or the addition of sulphur dioxide (sulphur dioxide is natural in all wines but more on that later)), you will be left with a wine that has some level of sweetness on the palate.  So the basic choice is a bone dry wine or a wine with some level of sweetness (from “rounded” to actually sweet to the taste).

Please notice the word “rounded”.  Often people think that bone dry wine is the only way to go and that somehow any level of residual sugar (sweetness) is bad.  Please let us state that this is categorically untrue.  Some of the best wines made in the world have some level of sweetness.  Now whether or not you taste the “sweetness” is another matter all together.

How can you specify the level of sweetness that you would like?  It is a simple equation.  The natural sugar in the grapes at harvest determines the overall “energy” within the juice.  All or some of that energy can be converted into alcohol. It’s a basic balancing act between sugar and alcohol.  The more alcohol that is produced the less residual sugar will be left in the wine.  Now back to your decision and how to express when to stop the fermentation.

Do you want your wine to have a 10 to 11% alcohol and no sweetness or “roundness” at all?  Are you looking for a bone dry Riesling?  It will be a very dry, crisp wine and have weight due to the higher alcohol but with less “extract” due to the low or nonexistent residual sugar.  You may choose on the other end to have a wine that is low in alcohol (8 to 9% – like our St. Urban Riesling) and a fuller rounder extracted character with a noticeable balanced sweetness.  You may also choose something in between with an alcohol of 9 to 10%.  What shall it be?  How do you want the final structure and sweetness of your Riesling to be?

From the beginning of the vote and finally by a two thirds majority, you have chosen a fermentation temperature of 11 Celcius preserving the primary fruit aromas and keeping the wine bright, fresh and terroir expressive.  The wine is working well and is now approaching the end of its fermentation cycle.  As winemaker you also get to choose when specifically the cycle will end.  Now on to Cellar Work Order #3.

You have your yeast (the what) and now it is time to decide on how you will allow it to thrive and create your wine (the how).  Before we move ahead with the decision we should take a moment to understand the basic process of making wine from juice.  Here is the formula:

grape juice + yeast = alcohol + heat + carbon dioxide

It’s that simple but there literally hundreds of variables that lead to either “best of show” in an international competition or to a wine that you wouldn’t use to clean paint brushes…..and everything in between.  Temperature control is one of those very important variables (which means the removal of the heat and to what degree – pardon the pun – as per the formula).

We are going to suggest that you choose from one of three fermentation temperatures (11, 13 or 15 Celcius).  Yes, that is a narrow band of temperatures but the results for each choice are VERY different.  We have sophisticated equipment (internal tank chilling) to maintain those precise temperatures as the yeast produce heat while they ferment sugar into alcohol.

We should also note that the white fermentation process is about three weeks long from beginning to end.  Your juice has just begun its journey and it is currently at 11 Celcius.  Now, where will you take it?

The cooler temperature (11 Celcius) will preserve the primary fruit aromas of the juice and keep the wine bright and fresh and terroir expressive.  As the fermentation temperature goes up the fresh fruity flavours become volatile and leave the wine (go into the atmosphere).  At the higher temperatures (15 Celcius) the yeast produce more “jammy” fruit characters.  So your choice is; do you want your wine to be fresh with the primary flavours preserved (11 Celcius), more jammy with more of the preserved fruit characters (15 Celcius), or something in between (13 Celcius).  The choice is yours so please vote now!  Your yeast culture is waiting.

The votes are in and an overwhelming majority of you chose the Yeast Culture EC1118. It would seem as though you are looking for a sense of place and pure expression in your wine.  Congratulations.  Please check out the pictures and video to see your yeast choice being added to the clear myWine vineyard Riesling juice.  We wish you could smell the great aromas as your wine begins to ferment, but instead we can and will show you it “bubbling and brewing” (come on, it’s close to Halloween).  The juice’s journey to wine has begun!!

As we discussed, we are inside the winery now.  Your grapes have been harvested, de-stemmed, crushed and pressed.  The resultant juice is now in a large climate controlled stainless steel tank and it is settling.  You must have clear, settled juice prior to fermentation.  Once the clear juice is racked off of the sediment (grape solids) fermentation can begin.  But which yeast shall we use?

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

To begin we should note that the de-stemming, crushing, pressing and settling are all standard practices.  There are no choices here.  The fermenting yeast is another matter all together.  There is a great deal of choice.  All modern wine making facilities use known cultured yeast to ensure that the fermentation process is good.  In nature yeast are all around in the air and on the ground.  Therefore, fermentation of any dissolved sugars (juice) can happen on its own.  But what is the culture doing the fermenting?  Is it a good yeast culture (good wine) or a bad yeast culture (undrinkable stuff).  Modern wineries prefer not to take a gamble and inoculate with a known good yeast culture.  And there are other benefits.  Different good yeast cultures will deliver different taste and texture profiles besides just converting the grape sugars to alcohol.  This is where your choice comes in.

We are suggesting that you choose one of the following three yeast cultures.  Depending upon the overall result that you want choose the appropriate yeast.  You can be pure, enhanced or just plain wacky.

Yeast Culture EC1118: This yeast gives a pure expression of place.  This yeast will ferment the sugars into alcohol while respecting the pure terroir.  This yeast delivers the pure expression of what Mother Nature provides at harvest.

Yeast Culture VL1: This yeast enhances the fruity nature of the wine.  VL1 will make the Riesling taste more tropical.  This type of yeast makes “fruit bomb” types of wine.

Yeast Culture Alchemy: This type of culture is known as a co-fermentor.  There are two types of yeast culture within Alchemy.  This type of yeast delivers a complex body and structure to the wine with a strong mid palette.  In the process of building the wine’s structure this yeast does not respect terroir and does not deliver a sense of place.

There are your three choices.  Please choose wisely as the type of fermentation chosen will clearly set the shell of the taste profile for the resultant bottled wine.

Mother Nature ultimately calls the shots when it comes to farming, and this year has been no exception.  Now that it is harvest time she has forced our hand once again as she has been wanting to do all season!  As a result Mother Nature has enjoyed a major influence on myWine, your revolutionary wine making program.

Once again, we wish to thank you for joining us on this “shakedown cruise” of myWine and for putting up with all of the bumps and bangs that come along with such a maiden journey.  Naturally, we are well aware of Mother Nature’s influence on our profession and day to day working lives but little did we know how compounding it would be as we involved you in our decision making in the vineyard.  For next season and our second myWine program (which will initiate with vine pruning this winter) we will be much more prepared to have you along AND making all the decisions.  Still, there is much to do with the inaugural 2010 myWine juice now that it is in the cellar.

Yes, the juice is in the cellar already.  The odd (but still favourable) harvest conditions that we have experienced this year forced us to do a very quick harvest of the myWine vineyard and bring the fruit into the winery.  Now that the bounty is under our roof and away from the influences of climate we can take a more measured approach as it applies to your involvement and your decision making.  We will be back to you very shortly on your first work order as it pertains to the actual wine making from the juice but in the meantime enjoy these images of your grapes from the myWine vineyard being harvested.  They are looking great!

Here is your update from the field.  Although back in July you decided to crop thin in August (“green harvest”) in your vineyard we are here to say that thinning the crop this year is a bad idea.  Yes, it caught us off guard as well.  Welcome to farming!!

What we’ve noticed is the Riesling crop in your vineyard has already balanced itself.  Thinning would be a useless and wasteful pursuit at this stage.  Be happy that you did choose to wait to August as we are now in a good position.  We didn’t know in July with the immature fruit bunches that we had this situation.  Oh yes, and there is one more point; we are not going to leaf remove either.  Please let me explain.

Normally we would leaf remove to improve the air circulation around the grape bunches lowering the humidity around the fruit.  Lower humidity and good air circulation reduces the pressure of fungal disease on the vines and grapes.  This is a good thing.  So why are we not doing it?  It’s been so humid.

The weather conditions this year have produced Riesling grapes with thinner than usual skins. If we remove the leaves and expose these thin skinned grapes to direct sunlight there is the high probability for the grapes to get sunburn and for the fruit to get scorched.  This penetrating heat changes the cell structure within the grape and produces grapes and resultant wine with a canned tropical character.  If we can prevent the grape bunch from scalding we can preserve our wine’s stylistic nature of fresh aromatic peaches, pears and citrus.  The only way to keep the sun off of the grapes is to leave the leaves on that surround the bunches.  Now we do run the risk of moulds and mildews due to the high humidity (as we discussed earlier) but we must take this chance and be vigilant with our elemental applications or we will create fruit that is uncharacteristic to our international award winning wines.  Sometimes, Mother Nature makes the choices for you.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

What Will Be Your Cover Crop?

As you drive along the country roads in Niagara beside the vineyard rows that seem to stretch on forever you will notice how well the vineyards are tended.  This is not vanity.  Well tended vineyards with controlled ground cover are a must for healthy vines and grapes.  Ground cover between the rows serves a number of purposes not the least being soil management and soil preservation.  We also want to reduce vine vigour in mid-summer so the vine puts its energy into the grape clusters and not excessive vine and leaf growth.  Cover crops will reduce vine vigour.  Still, you can choose any number of cover crops.  Will it be clover, oilseed radish, ryegrass or a combination of the three?  This is your choice, your Work Order #2.

To understand the choice you are making the first thing you must understand is the benefits of each type of cover crop.  Clover is broad ground cover that remains close to the soil and away from the fruit zone of the vines.  This is a good thing for humidity and pest control.  It also has a minimal Nitrogen requirement so it can spread, protect the soil and not over compete for valuable nutrients that other cover crops may need.  It can also be a “thirsty” cover crop when water is in excess.  This is a benefit as vines do not do well in wet soils.  Oilseed radish on the other hand will take up excess nitrogen in the soil as it grows removing excess nutrients that the vine could access.  This is a good thing in mid-summer as we wish to reduce vigour within the vines so they do not produce undesirable “bull wood” canes that we discussed in Work Order #1.  Oilseed radish also winterkills early and releases its stored nitrogen in the spring as the ground warms.  This is a great benefit as the vines need extra nitrogen in the spring for early bud break and shoot growth.  Lastly as oilseed radish has a tap root and it is a natural aerator as it “drills” the soil opening pathways for water to drain and air to penetrate.  Annual ryegrass is a quick growing, non spreading bunch grass.  It develops quite an extensive root system quickly which is water “thirsty” and an excellent prevention against soil erosion.  We’ve already noted that “dry” vines are happy vines but we should also note that most high quality vineyards are built on significant slopes and can have problems with soil erosion.  Annual ryegrass also likes to take up excess nitrogen as it grows quickly and it will outcompete weeds that could grow up between the rows and interfere with the vine’s fruit zone.

So which cover crop sounds good to you?  Shall you choose clover, oilseed radish or annual ryegrass?  How about a combination of the three?  All four choices are available from the vineyard supply store.  Which one will you choose for your vineyard?  Have a look at the video that shows the planting process.  We are ready to plant what you want.  Please vote now.

Congratulations! We’ve taken our first step together towards creating a unique Riesling made by you, just for you.  The votes are in and you’ve decided as a group and by popular vote to crop thin in August as opposed to now (77% was the majority vote).  This tells us that majority vote is looking to the long term for this vineyard.  Crop thinning in August will give us a very good chance at an excellent harvest PLUS it conserves (or potentially conserves) the developing grape cluster embryos for 2011.  Have a look at the pictures of the grape clusters still hanging in your vineyard.  The clusters look healthy and vibrant.  Yes, they are still very immature and need to develop quite a bit but we’ve got time.  As you have directed us we have left the clusters alone but August (and véraison – the onset of ripening) is just around the corner and we will need to crop thin then.  Again, don’t worry, we are here with you all along the way.

When it’s time for thinning we will let you know and better yet, we will show you our team thinning your grapes in August.  Now on to Work.

Work Order #2…..the cover crop!!  Stay tuned!

Mid Summer Salad

Assemble a bowl full of fresh Ontario greens. Add the “Berry Vinaigrette” (see below) and toss. Shave Fifth Town Wishing Tree cheese on top and scatter fresh Ontario berries on each person’s plate.

Serve with the Vineland Estates St.Urban Riesling.

Enjoy this mid-summer delight!!

Vinaigrette Recipe
————————
200 ml extra virgin canola oil
100 ml canola oil
(or 300 ml of good quality Virgin Olive Oil)
200 ml fresh Ontario berry puree
50 ml white wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
pinch of salt