4 replies to this topic

[wengared]

so after picking last week, i've got 5 gallons of chambourcin fermenting away, and will press my chardonnels today,and have a choice of restar montrachet, cote des blancs, or lalvin D-47. i'm leaning towards one of the redstars as i want this to finish out as a chardonney, maybe brix 1. i haven't checked the brix on mine yet but at the vineyard they were 23.8. any ideas on the yeast?.

[strangebrewer]

so after picking last week, i've got 5 gallons of chambourcin fermenting away, and will press my chardonnels today,and have a choice of restar montrachet, cote des blancs, or lalvin D-47. i'm leaning towards one of the redstars as i want this to finish out as a chardonney, maybe brix 1. i haven't checked the brix on mine yet but at the vineyard they were 23.8. any ideas on the yeast?.

Nice! As for yeast selection any of those will get you in the brix 0-1 range. They are all hearty fermenters. They will however accentuate different characteristics. D47 is great for making a boring wine interesting. In whites I've found it pulls out citrus aromas and can lend a little spice note where cote des blanc pulls more subtle fruit flavors like peach or apricot.What type of chardonnay are you aiming for? The oaky/buttery variety or more of a naked chardonnay? That would play into how much time/effort I'd put into yeast selection as some of those subtle characteristics could get lost in a big oaky buttery chardonnay. All depends on what you like.

[wengared]

Nice! As for yeast selection any of those will get you in the brix 0-1 range. They are all hearty fermenters. They will however accentuate different characteristics. D47 is great for making a boring wine interesting. In whites I've found it pulls out citrus aromas and can lend a little spice note where cote des blanc pulls more subtle fruit flavors like peach or apricot.What type of chardonnay are you aiming for? The oaky/buttery variety or more of a naked chardonnay? That would play into how much time/effort I'd put into yeast selection as some of those subtle characteristics could get lost in a big oaky buttery chardonnay. All depends on what you like.

as the chardonnel is a cross of chardonney and seyval, i'd like to get more of the fruity flavor that we have found in the seyvals around here., so i would guess i will go with the cotes, i cold soaked them after the crush for 24 hours with the peptic enzyme(yes i'm following your instructions to a tee so far.) got a 1/2 gallon pulled off for a starter and the rest on so2 til tomorrow. they did come in at brix24, 3.6 ph.

[strangebrewer]

as the chardonnel is a cross of chardonney and seyval, i'd like to get more of the fruity flavor that we have found in the seyvals around here., so i would guess i will go with the cotes, i cold soaked them after the crush for 24 hours with the peptic enzyme(yes i'm following your instructions to a tee so far.) got a 1/2 gallon pulled off for a starter and the rest on so2 til tomorrow. they did come in at brix24, 3.6 ph.

Those are some pretty good numbers. Brix is a little high but again you do the math in what it will ferment out to and decide on your desired ABV. Likewise pH is a touch high but I wouldn't do anything as it will change during the fermentation. You can decide if you want a softer rounder wine or a more crisp acidic one and adjust to suit.The instructions I have up are primarily for red wines but whites are close. If you've already cold soaked for 24 hours with pectic then I'd get those babies pressed! Press the grapes and collect the juice in carboys. Then I'd cold settle the juice. Cold settling is just letting the pressed juice sit at refrigerator temps for 24 hours. Siphon off the clear juice above everything that settles out and pitch your yeast starter.Sounds to me like you've got some great fruit there so you should get a great wine for your efforts!

[wengared]

Those are some pretty good numbers. Brix is a little high but again you do the math in what it will ferment out to and decide on your desired ABV. Likewise pH is a touch high but I wouldn't do anything as it will change during the fermentation. You can decide if you want a softer rounder wine or a more crisp acidic one and adjust to suit.The instructions I have up are primarily for red wines but whites are close. If you've already cold soaked for 24 hours with pectic then I'd get those babies pressed! Press the grapes and collect the juice in carboys. Then I'd cold settle the juice. Cold settling is just letting the pressed juice sit at refrigerator temps for 24 hours. Siphon off the clear juice above everything that settles out and pitch your yeast starter.Sounds to me like you've got some great fruit there so you should get a great wine for your efforts!

already have them pressed out, i'll put the bucket in the fridge til tomorrow and rack to a carboy before pitching the yeast starter. thanks for the tip on clearing up.