***+ Chez Ray Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel, 2002, "Kit Wine"

Review: This is one of my earliest experiments - "wine in a bag" from 2002. A 6 gallon kit wine made to just over 5 gallons. Let's see what this is like...

In the glass, deep magenta still, though bricking at the edge. Aroma has that characteristic "grapey kit" feel, along with some heavy oak dust. Hint of iron in there too.

On the palate, a friendly, round, sweet, playful middle. A "curling up with Teddy Bear" wine. Actually, a solid balance between fruit and acids with still a touch of mild tannins.

Aromas are just a tad off from what I might hope. But I'll award this three stars out of five on the Spirit of Wine scale, with a plus for that playful edge.

**** Chez Ray Stage Gulch Syrah - Review and Rating

Make from Brehm frozen grapes. In the glass, this is rich deep, velvet burgundy in color. It pumps out rich, ripe, lightly-oaked dark fruit.

Up front, you detect leather and roast beef. The palate is fat with a lengthy middle. Finish is clean and hints of vanilla fruit. Four stars out of five.

Fourth Pressing for the 2008 Chez Ray Vintage

There were a few more buckets of red grapes still left to press from the 2008 vintage. We had done two earlier pressings last fall of the fresh grapes (one batch pressed dry, and a second under extended maceration); and a pressing two weeks ago of the first batch of frozen grapes. Brian joined me for these festivities (ie, work!).


A late arriving bucket of malbec was put to AMH and VQ15 yeast, and is dry after two full weeks of fermentation. Meanwhile, two buckets of Alexander West Side Syrah are approaching dryness after four weeks of fermentation (one with AMH, the other with VQ15 yeast).

And, finally, the crazy Limerick Lane Zinfandel from Sonoma, which started life at an incrediblly sweet 38 degrees brix, was being pressed today too. I may put half of this under brandy as port, leaving the other half with natural residual sugar. We'll see. Here's Brian checking out the zin:


Yum!

Fermaid-K

I use Fermaid-K as initial and mid-fermentation nutrient mix for pretty much all fermentations. To use it, I add it directly to my five-gallon fermentation pails in two steps (following my initial rehydration of the yeast with Go-Ferm:

1) the day after I inoculate with yeast, I add a heaping one-half teaspoon (approx 2.5 grams) of Fermaid-K directly to the pail of juice or must, stirring well.

2) about 1/3 of the way through fermentation (time depends on yeast, grapes and temperature - usually a couple days to one-week), I add a second heaping one-half teaspoon (approx 2.5 grams) of Fermaid-K again to the pail, stirring well.

With the combined treatment of Go-Ferm for rehydration of the yeast, and Fermaid-K in split additions during the fermentation, I have not encountered HS2 problems in any of my fermentations, despite experiments with a wide range of musts, juices and yeasts, with widely varying YANC (Yeast Assimilable Nitrogen Content) levels.

Go-Ferm

I use Go-Ferm for rehydration of all yeast these days. For each five-gallon pail of juice or must, I mix one heaping teaspoon (6.25 grams) of Go-Ferm with 85 ml (about 3 oz) of water, and stir it until all the Go-Ferm is dissolved. To that I add one packet (5 grams) of yeast, stir and let sit for 15 minutes. Then I add that to the room-temperature pail of juice or must.

Fermaid-K will be added once fermentation gets under way, usually the next day.

Time for Racking off the Gross Lees and Starting Malolactic Fermentation

A week after the 2008 vintage wine was pressed, all of the gross lees have settled to the bottom of our Chez Ray pails, and the wine can be racked (essentially, decanted) from the five-gallon pails into glass carboys. (We call them "carboys", but they're really the old three- and five-gallon glass water cooler jugs from the old days.)


To "rack" the wine off its gross lees, you simply pour the juice through a funnel into a carboy, stopping just before the gross lees (the yucky stuff on the bottom) makes its way to the funnel. Voila, clear racked wine.

At this point, it is appropriate to begin malolactic fermentation, which is a bacterial fermentation that helps to convert malic acid to lactic acid, softening the wine and leaving it more stable for storage.
For the 2008 vintage, I used Enoferm Alpha malolactic starter, mixed with Acti-ML as a nutrient solution. After mixing, I spooned it evenly across the freshly-loaded carboys.

I will let the carboys sit for a few weeks in warmer room temperatures to give the malolactic fermentation a chance to begin, then move them to the basement for longer-term storage.

****+ Chez Ray Suscol Ranch Merlot, 2006, Napa Valley, CA

Review: The 2006 Suscol Ranch Merlot, from Napa Valley Brehm Vineyards frozen grapes . The vintage was fermented cool, with Assmanshausen yeast.

Like the rest of the cool-fermented 2006 vintage, the wine is light red in the glass. Doesn't LOOK like merlot! Aroma is husky, balanced, touches of pepper, maybe chocolate. On the palate, extraordinary balance, even in its youth. Sweet, layered middle is the first note. That brings even touches of chocolate along with a luscious, underlying fruit. The finish is a very, very slow fade. Then, when you think it should be gone, here it comes, back again, milk chocolate as a finish.

Outstanding example of this vintage, and indeed from the entire Chez Ray line. Four stars out of five, with a plus for its continued promise. Imagine more promise on a four star rating!!

Brrrr... Pressing in the Cold

Wine waits for no man (or woman)... but only when it comes to pressing. Almost everything else may be done at leisure.

For the 2008 vintage of Brehm frozen grapes, I wanted to press at dryness (eg, as brix sugar level approaches zero). Two weekends after yeast inoculation, dryness occurred (for all except the Alexander Valley Syrah and super-high-sugar Limerick Lane Zinfandel).


So here is the setup on our frozen deck, in the midst of pressing. Temperatures soared to 28 degrees Fahrenheit, making the process somewhat bearable.

Wine was pressed and restored to original buckets for settling. I'll allow the gross lees to settle for a week, then pour off (rack) into carboys and inoculate for malolactic fermentation. My plan is to allow the bottles three or four weeks in room temperature before retreat to the cooler basement for aging.

At this point, a late arriving bucket of malbec has just been put to AMH and VQ15 yeast, the Limerick Lane zinfandel and Alexander Valley syrah continue fermentation.