Fermentation of the Pinot is very near completion. We're going to press slightly sweet and allow the fementation to finish in settling tanks. We pump off the free run Pinot Noir into the tanks.
Next comes the arduous task of shoveling the pomace into two water-pressure bladder presses. When the presses are filled, the lids are clamped down and the water is turned on, filling the bladders and compacting the pomace.
The wine runs out into collection buckets, and is pumped into the settling tanks. At first, the wine is purple with sediment, but as the press run nears completion the color changes to a redder hue. The press wine is slightly sweet and very delicious. The water presses don't get as high of a pressure as other presses, insuring a gentle squeezing of the pomace and avoiding the bitterness that can result from rougher handling.
The wine will sit in the tanks for a few days, then we'll rack to maturation tanks. The maturation tanks are made of oxygen-permeable HDPE and take on oxygen at a rate very similar to that of a two-year-old oak barrel. I have been very pleased with the results from these tanks in previous vintages. With a high-quality French Oak barrel costing near $1000 these days, and with consumers trading down in price points, a lot of vintners I know are looking more and more at ways of keeping costs of production under control, while keeping wine quality high. These tanks, while not traditional, are nonetheless a good addition to our array of winemaking tools.
The Syrah is cranking up. We inoculate with malolactic bacteria (var. "Alpha") today.
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