And we're off!

Well, today was the day - the big yeast inoculation! It was actually supposed to be last night but, alas, we ran into a few unexpected problems and had to delay until 5:00 a.m. this morning.  Yes, that's right! 5:00 a.m.  But, as Mr. Purple says, "Wine making ain't easy".

We began last night taking some initial measurements.  The first was temperature, which measured at approximately 60 degrees.  Good for taking the rest of the necessary measurements (as my instruments don't need correction at 60 degrees).  Bad for starting fermentation... which requires a must temperature of around 70 degrees.  Road block #1 for the night - need to quickly warm 150 pounds of smooshed grapes up 10 degrees.  Sadly, my microwave isn't big enough.  Moving on... Brix.  I covered Brix in an earlier post but as a quick refresher, Brix is the measurement used to express the sugar content of the juice.  There are lots of ways to measure Brix but the easiest and most cost effective way for home winemakers is by using a hydrometer.

You simply get a large plastic graduated cylinder, fill it 3/4 of the way with the liquid you are measuring and insert the hydrometer.  It will float and you read the Brix reading from where the top of the liquid falls on the stick.  Our Syrah reading was 19.5 and the Sangiovese was about 17.  Ideal is 22 - 23.  I took my readings, recorded them, washed of my hydrometer and then promptly dropped it on my tile floor.  Note: glass and tile aren't friends....road block #2. Rest in peace hydrometer.

Next, we measured the acidity level of the wine.  Acidity is an important element in wine balance as well as the preservation of wine.  Too much acidity results in a tart taste that reduces drinking pleasure.  Too little acidity and the wine will taste flat.  There are ways to adjust acid levels in the wine, hence the reason to test for it up front. You can buy kits that test for total acidity for a reasonable price.  After a quick lesson in titration and a flash back to Organic Chemistry from college, we calculated our values at 0.8% TA for both wines.  Ideal is 0.7%.  Only a little off so we opted to proceed with fermentation and watch the values over the next couple of weeks.

Finally, it was time.  I removed the liquid gold (aka yeast) from the refrigerator and read the directions just for good measure. 

And.... road block #3.  The yeast is supposed to warm up for 3-6 hours before adding it to the wine.  Back in the fridge it went until 11:00 p.m.  And that's how you get to a 5:00 a.m. yeast inoculation.

All is well though, the extra time allowed us to crank up the heat in the house and move the fermenters into the tiny powder room that gets wicked hot with the door closed.  By 5:00 a.m., the must had reached 68 degrees.  Close enough.  In addition to the yeast, we also added yeast nutrients.  Wine grapes from Washington state are generally deficient in nitrogen, a key element in the fermentation process.  Yeast nutrients ensure that the yeast has enough nutrients present to carry out a successful fermentation.

And we're off... fermentation should begin in the next 12 - 18 hours and continue for the next several days.  Purple Girl's house is about to start smelling like a winery.  Yum!

Sunday Night Update

Before I delve too far into the wine making process, I must give a shout out to the book Techniques in Home Winemaking by Daniel Pambianchi.  Winemaking on a nano scale is much different than the way the big guys do it and Daniel's book is not only a great guide but also very educational for the beginning wine maker.  If you are at all interested in making wine yourself, I highly recommend this book.  It is also important to point out that the process I'll be following is the general process for making red wine.  I haven't been brave enough to try white varietals yet... maybe a 2012 Purple Girl vintage?  At any rate, some of the steps I'll be following are only applicable to red varietals.  The first of these processes? Maceration.

Maceration is the process where the phenolic materials of the grape (that is the tannins, coloring agents and flavor compounds) are leached from the skins, seeds and stems into the must. Another wine term... must. Must is the juice of the grape before it has been fermented.  So, in simple terms - maceration is letting the  smooshed up grapes sit for a period of time. ("Smooshed up" is a Purple Girl technical term).  This process is what gives red wine its color since red wine grape juice is actually fairly grayish in color.  There are many, many different strategies on how to conduct maceration.  One strategy we are trying out this year is called cold soak maceration.  Technically, this is supposed to be carried out for several days to a week.  We are going to give it a couple of days since we aren't on our own pressing schedule.  And technically the must should be refrigerated to 46 degrees or lower.  We're just taking advantage of the bitter cold temperatures of my garage... which at the moment feels like it is a cousin to the Arctic.

This afternoon after we got the grapes home, we added 1.5 teaspoons of pectic enzyme to each 75 pounds of grapes. Pectic enzyme breaks down the pectins that occur naturally in the fruit.  That same pectin is often responsible for cloudiness in wine... not a desirable trait in even the cheapest wines.  The other side benefit to adding pectin is that we should get a higher volume of free-run juice at press.  (I'll go into free-run juice more in a later post but more free-run juice is a good thing).

After letting the pectic enzyme do its thing for four hours, we then added Potassium Metabisulfite (or KMS).  There are many reasons to add KMS. The first is to take care of the very unwelcome wild yeast that occurs naturally on most wine grapes.  Left to their own devices, these wild yeasts will take over and can result in some very unpleasant tasting wine.  Trust me... I did not know about adding KMS the first year I made wine and it is not something I'd like to taste again.  KMS effectively kills these wild yeast organisms resulting in a "clean slate" for our carefully chosen wine yeast we'll inoculate with later.  Second, KMS reacts during fermentation to become sulfur dioxide and is in both free and bound form.  Don't cringe... not taking you back to chemistry class entirely.  Free SO2 is important because it basically acts as a preservative. Without it, the wine is more susceptible to oxidation and formation of acetaldehyde.  To remind yourself of the unpleasant properties of acetaldehye, leave a glass of wine on the counter overnight and take a big wiff the next day.  You'll learn to appreciate sulfur dioxide's role in protecting wine during the winemaking process.

That's all for tonight... stay tuned for the big yeast inoculation.  Where the magic begins!

Grape Crush 2011

After a brief break from blogging, I'm back! And just in time for a very special day... Grape Crush.  Thanks to those of you who voted for the varietal you'd like to see made this year.  The winner was Syrah! Mr. Purple is also giving wine making a go this year and his grape of choice was Sangiovese.  Over the next several months, I'll walk you through the process of home winemaking with details that hopefully inspire you to give winemaking a try yourself.

First order of business was to order the grapes themselves.  I'm sure there are plenty of options out there, but I have had great luck ordering grapes from Mountain Homebrew and Wine Supply in Kirkland.  They offer a one stop shop for wine making ingredients and equipment.  They also purchase grapes from a grower in Eastern Washington and resell them in 25 pound increments.  Sure, the prices per pound are higher than if you were to buy them direct.  But, for amateur wine makers like Purple Girl, there aren't many places out there that sell grapes in such small lots.  And, for 10 cents more per pound, you have access to their Crusher/Destemmer and Press, which are spendy pieces of equipment for hobby winemakers like myself.  About 6 weeks ago, we purchased 75 pounds of Sangiovese grapes and 75 pounds of Syrah grapes and have been waiting patiently for the grapes to ripen enough for harvest.  Halloween Night - we got the call.  Grapes were ready and being harvested on Thursday, 11/3.  This is a fairly late harvest (typically early to mid October) and unfortunately, the sugar levels in the grapes were still not completely ideal.  But, winter is approaching quickly and frost is not a friend to wine grapes so it was time for them to come off the vine.

Some basics... glucose and fructose are the main fermentable sugars in grapes.  Yeast feeds on these sugars to produce ethanol (or alcohol) and carbon dioxide.  This process is called fermentation. So, the amount of sugar present at the time of fermentation is critical... not enough and the wine doesn't get to ideal alcohol levels, too much and fermentation might be hard to start as too much sugar can shock the yeast. The most common way to measure sugar in grape must is by using a hydrometer to calculate the Brix.  Ideal Brix for red wines at harvest is 22 - 23.  About one week before harvest, our grapes measured 18.9 for the Sangiovese and 20.5 for the Syrah.  Again... not ideal but easier to add sugar to the process later than to deal with rotten, frozen grapes.

Day of Crush - we brought two 12 gallon food grade containers to the crushing location, each one sufficient to hold 75 pounds of crushed grapes.  The containers were cleaned thoroughly prior to crush and then rinsed with a sanitzing solution provided by Mountain Homebrew. (You can also make this solution with potassium metabisulfite).  First step - grapes are added to the Crusher/Destemmer.  While a few stems present during fermentation aren't damaging, stems are high in tannin and too many can increase pH and thereby reducing color intensity and fruitiness in the finished wine.  Here are the grapes before going through the Crusher/Destemmer

And here they are on their way out

The process is pretty simple, especially for such a small quantity.  Total crushing time took us about 10 minutes and that was including clean up.  Grapes were loaded in the car and off to their next step in the journey to become wine.  The next 10 days are critical for these grapes... stay tuned for tonight's activities.

Grape of the Month - Mourvedre

I'm going to try a new segment here on Journey of a Purple Girl... Grape of the Month and am going to kick it off with the Mourvedre grape.  Mourvedre is a little known grape traditionally from Spain and pronounced "moo-VE-dra".  Although I'm sure the French and Spanish make it sound much more lovely.  I was first introduced to this varietal during my last Enology weekend course in Pullman on the Washington State University campus.  (Side note, a tough trip to make for this die-hard Husky).  After a full day of class and lab work, we went as a group down to Merry Cellars, where we were treated to a personal tour from the winemaker and fellow alum, Patrick Merry.  It was hard to find a wine at Merry Cellars that I didn't like but my personal favorite of the day was their 2007 Mourvedre-Syrah.  What struck me most and what I still remember after three years was the deep, intense purple color of the wine.  It was like nothing I've ever seen before and I'm not sure I've seen it since. The velvety mouthfeel coupled with the plum and mocha flavor made this truly a memorable wine.  The composition of the wine is 50.5% Mourvedre grape and 49.5% Syrah.  And so it got me to thinking, what is so special about the Mourvedre grape and why don't more wine makers use it?

Mourvedre grapes on their own tend to create deep colored wine that is high in tannins and alcohol and have a spicey or gamey aroma.  Not generally characteristics most people enjoy in wine.  Blended with another variety though and the color of the wine is intensified and structure is enhanced.  Some of Mourvedre's favorite partners are Syrah and Grenache.  This grape is gaining appeal and there are nearly 1000 acres of Mourvedre grapes growing in both California and Eastern Washington today.  If only I could get my hands on some to blend with my Syrah.... So next time you see a wine with Mourvedre as part of the composition, give it a try.  You'll be able to share the little known secret of the Mourvedre grape with all of your friends.

Cheers!

Time to Order Grapes

Its that time of year... the days are getting shorter, the leaves are starting to change color and there is a noticeable chill in the air.  That also means that grape harvest is right around the corner. 

Purple Girl doesn't just drink wine... I make it too.  I'm a certified Enologist and dabble in the art of making wine.  I'll admit that I haven't been wildly successful (yet).  And those friends of mine who have politely accepted a bottle of a past vintage - best advice is to leave it in the bottle.  But, after taking a year off, its time to give it a go again.  Mr. Purple wants in on the fun this time too.  So, I need your help and am taking requests...  Should I make Cab Franc, Cab Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese, or Syrah? Vote now using the polling buttons on the right hand side of your screen and follow Purple Girl on her wine making adventures this fall.

Big Ol' Bottles of Wine

BBQs at Purple Mom and Purple Dad's house always give a good reason to blog.  The one we had most recently to celebrate the final push of summer provided another great wine topic - wine bottle size.

But first, I must give a shout out to the Sauvignon Blanc of the evening.  As I've said before, not much is better than an ice cold Sauvignon Blanc on a hot summer day. And the same holds true for the Sauvignon Blanc from Cupcake Vineyards. This bottle retails for $9 - $10. The grassy nose leads to a clean, crisp and citrus taste.  A great buy for the money!

I have so much to say about DeLille Cellars as it is one of my favorite Washington wineries.  Trying to stick with the theme of bottle size so I'll keep the D2 tasting notes short and save the topic of DeLille for a future blog.  D2 is a blend of 41% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot.  The 2004 vintage has a nose of oak and berry and cherries and blackberries dominate the lengthy finish.  The velvety Merlot like mouth feel and fruit forward taste put D2 high up in the ranks of Purple Girl's favorites.

Now more about bottles... so, why buy a large-format bottle anyway?  First of all, it certainly makes an impression on those who are lucky enough to share the bottle.  There is something special about seeing a bottle that you can't find in your local grocery store.  But, for Purple Girl and most wine connoisseurs out there, having a large-format bottle is not all about image.  Since the ratio of air to liquid is lower in large-format bottles, these large vessels are superior to their "standard" counterparts in maturing wine as it allows the wine to age more slowly.  This particular bottle (shown above) is a Magnum, which is 1.5 liters of wine and is the equivalent of two standard bottles.

Now for the big kahuna of the evening... the Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico.  This Reserve from 2003 made its home in a Double Magnum bottle, which is 3 liters of liquid and the equivalent to four standard bottles of wine.  (As an aside, 3 liters of sparkling wine is called a Jeroboam).  This Chianti is medium bodied and tastes of cherries, vanilla and has hints of smoke flavor.  And the structure of the wine held up nicely in the large format bottle.

In case you are interested, the largest wine bottle is called the Sovereign and is the equivalent of a whopping 34 standard bottles.  Probably would take a fork lift to get it on the table.  Following behind is the Melchior (24 bottles), Nebuchadnezzar (20 bottles and don't ask me how to pronounce it), Balthazar (16 bottles), Salmanazar (12 bottles), Imperial (8 bottles), Jeroboam (6 bottles of still wine), and then the Double Magnum and Magnum discussed above.  No one is really sure why larger format bottles were given biblical names.  The earliest recorded use of a biblical name for these bottles was in 1725 when the Jeroboam was named after the biblical founder of Israel because he was referred to as a "a man of great worth", as were large sized bottles.  The largest bottle I've ever had the privilege to drink out of was an Imperial.  Quite impressive to say the least.

So there you have it, your lesson in wine bottles.  Go for the Magnum next time - you'll be glad you did!

So Many Reasons to Love Purple

Besides being an avid wine connoisseur, I'm also a die hard University of Washington Husky fan.  For those of you not from the Seattle area, UW colors are Purple and Gold... or "Go Purple, Be Gold" as the saying goes.  There's really no better time of year to be a Husky alumni than the fall when Husky football season swings back into full gear.  Especially when you are friends with THE Purple Tailgater... well known for his ability to organize a great tailgate party.  I never imagined having so much fun in a parking lot until I tailgated with the Purple Tailgater.  Needless to say, this Purple Girl is happy when drinking or wearing purple... the two together is darn near perfect.

Seeing as this is a wine blog, I attempted to stay true to form for the tailgate and chose wine as my beverage of choice.  Seattle is experiencing record breaking warm temperatures this September so I opted for some ice cold Sauvignon Blanc - one of my favorites on a hot summer day!

First up, Kim Crawford Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2010.  This is one of my staples in the summertime.  A bottles retails for around $13 and can be found at most major grocery stores and is often at Costco.

Like many great sauvignon blancs, Kim Crawford is located in New Zealand.  Their early roots trace back to a small cottage in Auckland where they got their start in 1996.  Sauvignon Blanc comes from the French word sauvage (meaning "wild") and blanc (meaning "white").  Most sauvignon blancs are known for their distinct and intense aromas and can range in taste from grassy to fruity.  What I love about Kim Crawford's sauvignon blanc is the ever-present citrus flavors and the fresh and lingering finish.  Taking a sip is almost like taking a little Hawaiian vacation, which is a nice treat while hanging out in a steaming hot parking lot.

Before I review the next wine, I feel compelled to say that we tailgated for SIX hours... hence the reason for the second bottle.  I was with Purple Tailgater and all.  And, I had some help on the second bottle.  No need to send me to rehab.

Okay... next up... Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc 2010.  Also from the Marlborough region of New Zealand (sense a theme here?), this wine pairs well with hot temperatures.  Its strong citrus flavors are similar to Kim Crawford but the Nobilo is drier and crisper in comparison.  Wine Spectator magazine describes it as having a "laser beam of lemon, lime, grapefruit and apricot flavors".  If you aren't sure what a laser beam of flavor tastes like, Nobilo is a must add to your list.  Another great bonus, it retails for around $10 and, if you are lucky, you can find it on sale for even less. 

All in all, it was great to be back at Husky Stadium cheering on my Huskies.  They even eeked out a 30-27 win for the first game of the year.  Hopefully a trend that continues on this season.

Until the next tailgate... Go Dawgs!