Grapey-miscellany and stuff, etc.

Two days of doing stuff.  But nothing particularly riveting.  A bit like all of 2020, to be honest.  Sigh.
Yesterday morning, to give Vinomaker a hand, I spent some time rehydrating yeasts for the Pinot grigio and Orange muscat alcoholic fermentations.  (Photo is of Cross Evolution.)  Like a mad professor, Vinomaker is always experimenting with different yeasts, especially for the white wine grapes.  It is rather interesting, and something one wouldn't necessarily have the freedom to do on a commercial scale.  The varied yeast strains really do produce distinct wines.  There were five batches in all and consequently the kitchen smelled like yeast for hours.
I also performed the first Syrah sugar sample of the season - 22.8 °Brix, not bad.  The seeds are almost completely brown and the berries have good flavour.  I ate quite a bit of the stuff as I walked through the vineyard sampling.  Sun warmed grapes are the best snack.
This morning I watched a couple of webinars, one was eminently better than the other.  Today's guest on Behind the Wines was Wink Lorch. Wink (what a simply brilliant name) who is English, is an expert and author of books on the wines and vineyards of Jura and Savoie.  I can't remember the last time I had a wine from either French Alpine region, but it was probably in the Wines of the World class I took in 2012.  The lively discussion on the history, pedigree and DNA of such grape varieties as Savagnin and Mondeuse was great grapey-geek stuff.
I...need...to...get...a...job!

The seed deed.

I was back at it today, doing a good deed in assisting Vinomaker with the pressing-off of a fermentor of our 2018 Syrah.  Vinomaker is always experimenting with different yeasts and this particular batch of Syrah was fermented with the aid of ICV D21™.  Vintage 2018 gave Vinomaker a lot of juice to work with, so he has had an opportunity to use and evaluate a couple of new yeasts.
D21 is one of Vinomaker's favourite yeasts to employ.  Isolated from vineyards in Pic Saint-Loup Languedoc, by the Institut Coopéaratif du Vin, D21 is known for maintaining a fresh acidity and floral and fruity volatile compounds, whilst also delivering a robust mid-palate tannin structure.  At the same time, D21 is adept at banishing those horrible, unpalatable stewed/jammy characteristics often found in warm climate wines. 
The 2018 Syrah is already tasting very nice, oodles of black cherry and spice, even before it has had the distinct pleasure of being introduced to the seasoned, Monsieur Chêne Français.

A yeast feast.

Vinoland's first red fermentation of 2016 is under way.  The Vichyssyrah fruit showed up on Friday, was inoculated on Saturday and this evening the must is already merrily foaming along.  However, I don't expect too much foam with this fermentation due to the characteristics of the particular yeast that Vinomaker selected for this Syrah.
Coming in at 24°Brix the Vichy grapes were crushed and destemmed before being introduced to their partner-in-fermentation, Lalvin ICV-D254 (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Lallemand's ICV-D254, a Rhône specialist, is a low foaming yeast selected to ferment in low nitrogen musts and contributes aromas of ripe fruit, cedar, spice and licorice. Sounds lovely, I can't wait to taste it - in two years time.

Fermentation Frenzy: Part 1.

There are a lot of fermentations ongoing right now in Vinoland, including a 30 gallon batch of Chardonnay that was gifted to Vinomaker by a commercial winemaker friend.
It's not a secret in these parts that Vinomaker just loves Chardonnay.  I don't understand his fascination with this particular grape variety, but then wouldn't the world be an extremely boring place if we all had the same taste in wine? Vinomaker's yeast of choice to ferment the Chardonnay, is a Saccharomyces cerevisiae hybrid yeast from a unique breeding programme of the Institute for Wine Biotechnology at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa - Cross Evolution. Known to increase the mouthfeel component of white and rosé wines, Cross Evolution also enhances varietal characteristics and in Chardonnay tends to accentuate fresh fruit and floral aromas. Sounds good so far.  I have seen this yeast in action at TWWIAGE and it really gives quite a dramatic performance, working itself up into a veritable, bubbling frenzy.  But just look at the bubbles in the photograph, they are very small and uniform - most different from the other yeasts that Vinomaker has awakened from their freeze-dried slumber - appearing rather docile and really do not resemble the frothing, fermentation-fiend it is about to become.

Wine evolution.

This Chardonnay must had it's vital statistics taken; it was tested for Brix, pH and nitrogen (YAN) levels and, after being inoculated with a commercial yeast, it is now enthusiastically frothing through fermentation. The barrels on the other side of the aisle with a different yeast selection are, by comparison, staidly going about their business.

The Cross Evolution (CE) yeast being used, in this particular fermentation, is a hybrid yeast from a breeding programme at the Institute for Wine Biotechnology at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. Here in the US, at the winery where I am gainfully employed, CE is selected for it's ability to increase mouthfeel/texture and enhance varietal characteristics in Chardonnay. But, perhaps more importantly, CE is chosen because it is tolerant of high potential alcohol (up to 15%, important for Napa wine) and can withstand fermentation temperatures as low as 58°F (important for a non-ML Chardonnay).

Vinomaker, unlike me, is quite a Chardonnay fan and was drooling, just as much as this bubbling barrel, at the thought of the finished 2011 wine.

Never blend a loser.

Vinomaker has declared this Friday a bottling day in Vinoland. With that in mind, we sat down this afternoon and barrel sampled our '07 vintage, attempting to identify blending possibilities.
Blending can be a very under estimated part of the whole wine process. Most wines are a blend as, generally, a small addition of a different varietal may enhance the finished wine experience. In the United States, any wine need only be 75% of a varietal to call it by that single varietal on the label.
On the flip side, it is common knowledge, and common sense, that you should "never blend a loser." Blending in an inferior wine would bring down the quality of an entire batch, resulting in a finished wine diametrically opposed to your original goal. Of course, I'm not a winemaker...Vinomaker just told me to say that!
We will be bottling two different batches of a Sonoma Valley Syrah, clone 877. The grapes are from a grower who wishes to have wine made from his vineyard, but does not have the wherewithal to make that happen himself.
Vinomaker fermented the Syrah with two different yeasts; ICV-D21 and ICV-D254 (both Saccharomyces cerevisae.) ICV-D21 is a yeast strain isolated from the Languedoc, and ICV-D254 a strain isolated from Rhone Valley Syrah fermentations. The two finished wines were very noticeably different from each other. The D21 exhibited in your face pepper and perfume with an extraordinarily long finish. The D254 showed as big, intense, ripe fruit with a full, mid-palate cherry bomb and slightly higher acidity.
These two very dissimilar batches of Syrah will be bottled without blending, their winning differences too good, and too interesting, to dilute their allure by blending them with anything else, or each other for that matter.
Never blend a loser...words to live, and drink, by.

One of these things is not like the other...

Whilst Vinomaker is downstairs feverishly marrying yeast to must, (well, maybe he's not that excited), I am reflecting on the attributes of different strains of yeast.  I slipped a 'red herring' into the above photo (thanks Thud).  To say, "yeast is yeast" and it all makes alcohol, is akin to saying that a dog is a dog and one can hunt as well as another.  Whilst you can make wine with bread yeast, you'll end up hunting with a Chihuahua. Different yeasts have different characteristics.  There are thousands of strains that have been identified and they all behave differently.  Some are only capable of fermenting up to 7 or 8 % alcohol.  Others will ferment to higher levels, but will also produce foul tasting compounds in the process, etc., etc.  One thing is for sure, once the must is charged with yeast, there's no turning back.
Release the hounds.