Perfecting the Bubble

Transcription

1 Perfecting the Bubble Traditional Method Mark Wenzel Illinois Sparkling Co. August Hill Winery Utica, IL

2 Why Traditional Method Great Bubbles! Small Batch Yeasty Character Achieve a Champagne Style Wine Alt. Methods of Creating Bubbles Charmat Process/Cuvée Close Lower cost at higher production volume It is Sparkling (TTB Label law) Achieve a Prosecco style Carbonated Lowest cost at higher production volume NOT Sparkling (TTB Label law)

3 Safety First Dealing with high psi Production Facility Safety Wear safety glasses Long sleeve shirts, pants, and gloves when capping, disgorging, and corking Tasting Room Safety Educate staff on safely opening bubbly Use and sell sparkling wine opener Sanitation and Sterilization Winery needs to be clean and you need to sanitize!

4 The Bubble (Mousse) Anti-Bubble Alcohol Lipids Glasses with soap & rinse aid residue Pro Bubble Pressure (CO 2 ) Proteins (beer) Mannoproteins Polysaccharides Tirage aging +12 months Temperature Glassware

5 Factors for Traditional Method Style Terroir: Geography & climate Variety: Blend proportion Viticulture: Canopy management & crop yield Harvest: Maturity and method Juice Handling Primary Fermentation Bulk Storage & Aging Malolactic Fermentation Blending/Assemblage Base Wine Stabilization Secondary Fermentation Bottle Aging/En tirage Dosage Closure

6 Illinois Not Champagne Zones 4b 6a Our Vineyard Zone 5a Clay loam soils Frontenac Gris La Crescent Frontenac Frontenac Blanc Marquette *ISC

7 Varieties Chambourcin (Ombré) Chardonel (future) Frontenac (Demi Sec) Frontenac Gris (Brut) Frontenac Blanc (future) La Crescent (past Sec) La Crosse (Brut) Maréchal Foch (Saignée) St. Pepin (past)

8 Yield & Harvest Chambourcin (6 tons/acre) Others (2-4 tons/acre) brix No greater than 11.5% alcohol ph: Less than 3.20 TA:? Hand harvest Sulfite grapes in the vineyard Chill grapes overnight

9 Pressing & Juice Handling Whole Berry Press (per ton or 150 gal) Free Run (1 st 5 gal., high lipids) Premier Cuvée ( gal) Premier Taille (15-45 gallons) Rebeche (5 10 gallons)

10 Premier Cuvée Juice Fraction Premium juice and best for aging ISC Traditional Method (except Saignée) Press Pan Sulfite to minimize oxidation Cold settling tank 1/3 full add Pectic Enzyme to break colloids for better settling 1 hour after tank is full add bentonite Settle overnight

11 Premier Taille Juice Fraction Higher potassium (difficult to stabilize) Higher tannins Higher aromatics (shorter aging) Used in Champagne for non vintage Additions Enzymes at press pan Sulfite & bentonite 1 hour after cold settle tank is full Can add PVPP, casein, carbon at same time as bentonite

12 Rosé de Saignée Many concepts on saignée process, but it is the bleeding of the grapes ISC Rosé de Saignée Destem and crush Let juice run through press without pressing Treat saignée juice like the whole berry press cuvée juice

13 Primary Fermentation Yeast: DV10 or Perlage Nutrients Temperature: 14 17C 2 nd addition of bentonite (if needed) Rack off gross lees (& bentonite) Start biweekly lees We don t do MLF

14 Aging & Blending(Assemblage) Oak Lees Aging Blending (Assemblage)

15 Heat Stability Proteins are good for bubbles! Work to stabilize proteins Do not overfine Lees Stirring: Mannoproteins Fining stages Cold settling Primary Fermentation Wine after Assemblage

16 Heat Stability Test Method Equipment Bench Top Filter Turbidity Meter Dry Hot Bath Test Procedure Filter sample to below 1.5 NTU, increase alcohol 1.5% and record reading Put sample in dry bath and heat to 80C and hold for 2 hours Let sample cool, mix sample, and record reading Acceptable results for sparkling EnTirage <12 months: ΔNTU < 2.0 En Tirage >12 months: ΔNTU < 5.0

17 Cold Stability Very critical step! Tartrate crystals are a major cause of gushing Rosés and reds are more difficult to cold stabilize Methods Chilling and seeding with bitartrates CMC Test Methods Check Stab (conductivity test) after increasing sample alcohol 1.5% Sparkling: Δ < 30µS or 2% Still Wines: Δ < 3%

18 Yeast Starter (Pied de Cuve) Yeast Selection DV10 Perlage Encapsulated Yeast: ProElif Follow manufacturer protocol for yeast buildup! Follow manufacturer yeast nutrient protocol Do yeast count and viability! Why? Because it helps me sleep at night. Equipment: Microscope and counting chamber Yeast Count

19 Cuvée additions: Sugar, nutrients, and riddling aid 24 g/l sugar will yield 6 atm of pressure Add recommended yeast nutrients from manufacturer yeast protocol Riddling aid Highly recommend Follow protocol Store away from light Add right before tirage bottling

20 Bottling Checklist Prior to Yeast Starter Make sure you have all supplies: bottles, bidules, caps, yeast, nutrients, sugar Sterile filter wine 2 days before tirage bottling Hydrate riddling aid Make sugar addition to cuvée 1 Day before tirage bottling Set up equipment Get cages ready Check yeast count and viability

21 Bottling Checklist (cont.) Morning of Tirage Bottling Check yeast count and viability again Sterilize all equipment Add nutrients to base wine Measure SG of cuvée Measure SG of yeast starter Add yeast starter to base wine Measure SG of cuvée with yeast added Add Riddling Aid (Make sure tank is mixing throughout tirage bottling!) Tirage bottle

22 Secondary Fermentation (Prise de Mousse) and Bottle Aging (En tirage) Ferment around 15C Monitor pressure with aphrometer Keep wine in cages until fermentation is complete Store bottles on side Yeast Autolysis

23 Riddling (Remuage)

24 Dosage (Liqueur de expedition) Final place to perfect the wine. Perform dosage trials Sulfite Maximum allowable dosage is 10% of final volume Make sure dosage does not make final wine unstable Filter dosage before adding to wine

25 Disgorging, Corking, Wire Hood, and Labeling Have all supplies One size does NOT fit all Equipment: Neck freezer, disgorge/dosage, corker/cage, washer, pleater/crimper, labeler, printer Don t have to freeze neck of bottle, you can disgorge à la volée TTB Notes Labeling: Can not use term Champagne on label. Can use Sparkling Wine as long as the bubbles are created through natural fermentation (not carbonation) Excise Tax: Sparkling wine is $3.50/gallon and now you can receive $1.00 credit

26 Presentation Matters Semi-automatic pleater/crimper

27 Gushing Issues Two extreme cases Bubble formation is low and stable, bubbles will be pushed out due to bubble formation but at a very slow rate. Opposite: bubble stability low, but bubble formation is intense causing liquid to directly eject out. BAD! Consumer: Particles (ie. cork) in bottle, mishandling shocks, high temperature Disgorging: Tartrates, riddling problems, MLF in bottle, contaminants on bottle wall, warm bottle temperature Dosage: Particles in liquor, liquor temperature, sanitation levels of equipment Top-off: Particles, temperature management

28 Resolutions to Gushing Have dosage and top-off wine colder than disgorged bottles Chill bottles before disgorging Reduce sugar level of base wine (possibly 20g/L) Cold Stability Resolve before tirage bottling Add CMC in dosage

29 Let s Taste! Premier Cuvée:(ISC White Chambourcin base wine) Premier Taille: (AHW Chambourcin Rosé base wine) En Tirage (100% Frontenac Gris barrel aged oak) Vintage 2013, Tirage bottled: April 2014, Hand Disgorged 3/13/18 Brut 60% Frontenac Gris 38% La Crosse 2% Chardonnay Vintage: 2015 Tirage Bottle: July 2016 Disgorge: 01/10/18 Alcohol: 12.5%

30 Thank You! Mark Wenzel iscbubbly.com augusthillwinery.com Come Visit Us!