Vintage 2010 underway…

April 12th, 2010 | Posted by Kirk

The first fruit of Vintage 2010 is now in. 3 tonnes of Pinot Noir from the Williams Hill vineyard in Waipara was processed last night. A mix of clones 115, 777 and 5, the fruit came in around 24.5 brix, pH 3.5, TA 7.0 g/L, mature seeds, delicate skins, even & moderate sized berries, and tasting great. This same vineyard was picked 12 days earlier last year and this is a reflection of the slightly cooler and longer season we have had this year. Its good to be under way.

The fruit has been destemmed only into 1.5 tonne open top fermenters. Ive added a little sulphur to each fermenter just to knock the wild yeasts on the head for a bit and extend the pre-ferment maceration period a little. We dont employ a cold soak but a combination of the sulphur and the cool night temperatures now in Canterbury will hold off the fermentation for 3-5 days.

Next task here is to add a little tartaric acid to the must. With a pH of around 3.5 I will want to reduce that to around 3.3 in order to account for the MLF which will raise the pH a couple of points when it takes place. Adding tartaric of course raises the acidity of the wine, currently at 7.0g/L, but this again falls back when te Malic acid is converted later. Its all quite a balancing act and just one of the stylistic calls a winemaker has to make each year.