Vineyard Notes

We have made a few trips through the vineyard and made some plans on how we are going to prune this year. We had a lot of vine winter damage last year and will be replacing many of the trunks and "renewing" them by bringing up 2 or 3 new canes to the top wire.

As usual we will be pruning the vineyard when our local high school youths are on their Spring Break - April 5 to 10 this year.

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Many of our local breweries and winemaking supply shops are retailing or using our honey in their products. We have just had contact with:

Cap'n Cork - 16812 21 Mile - Macomb, Mi 48044, 586-286-5202
(supplies for the home winemaker and brewer)

The Wine Barrel Plus - 30303 Plymouth Rd. Livonia MI 48150, (734) 522-WINE (9463)  (supplies for the home winemaker and brewer)

Motor City Brewing Works - A local Brewery and Meadery that uses our honey in their products. They recently picked up honey to use in a Ciser- a mead made with apple cider.

 

Sandy Paetz just sent me an update about what he is doing at the MSU Viticulture & Enology Program.

This program was brought to our attention a few years ago when a MSU student, Bernard Call, who is taking this course, purchased some grapes at our farm and was carefully measuring the brix of the grapes with a refractometer. The following year he returned to our farm after being in the program for one year and he was very enthusiastic, interesting and knowledgeable about the course.

Sandy Paetz, one of our past Sales Stand Associates, had also enrolled in the MSU program. When the two of them found out that they both were taking the courses, the conversations became very stimulating and they agreed to forward some of their program notes to us for our newsletter.

We have some inside stories of what Bernard and Sandy are doing at MSU.

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Must analysis

MSU HRT 434 L: Enology Laboratory September 25, 2003 - W.C. Paetz

Abstract:
Accurate must analysis is critical to making a desirable wine. The need to adjust prior to fermentation is desirable. To discern the status of various elements in our juice several tests were conducted. These included “Clinitest” and hydrometer readings from a sample of Marechal Foch.

The analysis of a recent harvest of Vignoles gave the following readings: pH = 3.05, Brix = 19.6 and TA = 16.43. The decision was made that deacidification was necessary on this must.

Prior to this step it was necessary to conduct the first racking to separate the potential wine from undesirable solid matter that had settled during the initial stage in the primary fermentation vessel.

It was necessary to prepare yeast for starting the fermentation of a Pinot Noir.
Although these various actions do not seem to follow a systematic flow conducted in a series on all wines they are all important and must be understood to know when they are necessary.

Introduction:
The “Clinitest” is used to monitor blood sugar in diabetics, for our purpose it was conducted to discern the residual sugar in must.

The Hydrometer Method is also used to measure Brix or specific gravity and we used it to discern the rate of fermentation of our Marechal Foch.

Racking Vignoles was completed to separate the potential wine from solid matter that had settled during the initial stage in the primary fermenter.

Deacidification of Vignoles juice was completed to reduce the high acid of this juice. The grapes were harvested from our farm in Lansing, Michigan. Many cold climate cultivars experience high acid and low pH as well as low Brix readings in cold climate viticulture.

The last process that was studied was how to prepare a yeast culture for casting into a wine to begin fermentation.

Materials / Methods:
The “Clinitest”required the following equipment and materials.

½ ml of must. (Marechal Foch)
small glass vial
reagent tablets for glucose analysis
Color comparison chart for residual sugar reading.

The reagent tablets were placed in a clean dry vial and the must sample was poured into the vial. There was an exothermic reaction and the sample turned to a green color indicating from the test that there was a .5 g/l of sugar in the sample or .05 Brix.

According to Daniel Pambianchi, “ This test is less accurate for red wines because phenolic compounds, including tannins and color pigments, interfere with the test.” (1.)

The hydrometer reading required the following materials and equipment:
Hydrometer
Testing jar
Sample of Marechal Foch

We made sure the hydrometer was clean and that our must selection was primarily liquid with no stems, seeds or bits of fruit. The testing jar was filled to approximately one inch from the top. The temperature of our hydrometer was calibrated for a correct reading at 20 degrees C. The temperature of our must was at 17 degrees and an adjustment to the reading was necessary. The hydrometer was placed into the jar. It was then grasped by the top and given a gentle spin to remove any air or co2 from the sides of the hydrometer. The reading was taken from the number which was at the bottom of the meniscus. This turned out to be .80 which when calibrated for temperature subtracting .18 our final reading was .62 Brix.

Deacidification of Vignoles.
The following materials were required to prepare for this process.
Calcium Carbonate
Scale to measure with
Plastic tray to measure in.

The formula for reduction of acid is 1 G/L of calcium carbonate = 1 G/L of Acid Reduction. We had a reading in our must of 16.43 TA and desired to reduce it by 3 G/L. To do so we multiplied our total must by the volume of 35 Gallons by 3.785 which converts it to 132.5 liters we require three grams per liter to reduce the acid by the same amount so we multiply this times a factor of three for a result of 397.5 grams for the 35 gallons of wine.

This was our theory but the decision was made to separate the must into two different carbouys. One of four gallons and the balance of 30 gallons in the primary. The four gallon sample was to be completely acid free and then would be poured back into the must. How ever the same formula was followed for each of the volumes of wine. That is the four gallon carbouys were treated with 45 grams of Calcium Carbonate and the remaining 30 gallons of wine was treated with 340 grams of calcium carbonate.

Yeast Starter Preparation required the following materials and processes to inoculate a Pinot Noir must:
Yeast Lavalin D47 6 packets of yeast or 30 Grams
“Go-Ferm” wine yeast nutrient 1.14 x 30 = 34.20 Grams
300 ml of warm water
measuring tray
Warming vat

The “Go-Ferm” and the Yeast were measured and mixed together and placed in the warming vat to allow the yeast to be re-hydrated as well as to begin to reproduce. This was to require an hours time before the yeast would be ready to pour into the Pinot Noir and for the fermentation to begin.

Racking is the removal of the must from solids that have settled in the bottom of the container. The following equipment and process were required.
Impeller Pump
Plastic hoses to transfer the must
CO2 tank
Clean receiving barrel.

The hoses were cleaned and used to transfer the must from one container into another clean container. The self priming pump easily pulled the must from the carbouy and pushed it into the receiving barrel. The must was removed from the donor carbouy, down to the point where there were solids in the bottom of the carbouy. The new carbouy was then topped off with a layer of CO2 from a tank filled by placing the hose in the new carbouy and turning the regulator on.

Results: These processes may be necessary but do not follow a systematic flow so that one might understand how wine is made by following them. We did have objectives and these were completed with each activity.

Clinitest = .05 Brix and .5 G/L sugar

Hydrometer Readings : .62 Brix

Deacidification: 3 G/L

Yeast re-hydration: Fermentation

Racking : Visual and measurable change in volume of must.



Discussion:
All of the processes we followed are relevant to wine making. I am certain that future tests and processes will further help to bring into focus the professional wine making skills we all seek. I am very excited about our gradual approach to the various methodologies it is very easy to get confused and frustrated trying to assimilate so much information.

Other methods for determining residual sugar concentration are available. The Rebelein method is probably one of the most popular and widely used in commercial wine analysis. The more accurate the result the better decisions we can make as wine makers. (2.)

Lowering the acid level. High acid is often a problem with hybrid grapes from northern and eastern parts of the United States. Acidex is the best known commercial product used to reduce acid levels. (3.)

Conclusions: The more I learn the more I understand just how little I actually know.

References:
Wine Maker Magazine April 2002 D. Pambianchi, How Sweet It Is?. Measuring residual sugar content.
1. Wine Making S.F. Anderson Harcourt Brace, 1989
2. Winery Technology and Operations Y. Margalit.

MSU Page for more articles

 

Feb/March Grape Recipe - Wine Sauced Chicken

Wine Sauced Chicken

Servings: 6
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Roast Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Notes: Stand Time: 10 minutes

1 (3-pound) whole broiler-fryer chicken (3 to 3 1/2-pounds)
1 cup dry red wine
OR
1 cup grape juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
OR
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

Heat oven to 375°. Fold wings of chicken across back with tips touching. Tie or skewer drumsticks to tail. Place chicken, breast side up, on rack in shallow roasting pan. Insert meat thermometer in chicken so tip is in thickest part of inside thigh muscle and does not touch bone.

Roast uncovered 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until thermometer reads 180° and juice of chicken is no longer pink when center of thigh is cut. Let stand 10 minutes before carving. Remove and discard chicken skin.

While chicken is roasting, mix remaining ingredients in 1 1/2-quart saucepan. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Serve with chicken.

Do you have a great grape recipe - please and we will put it in our newsletter.

From our readers

This is a section for comments/questions/recipes from our readers. Please read the comments & feel free to put your 2 cents worth in.

Visit the Readers Comments page to view all the content of these messages. Here are samples of this months e-mails:  

Moving concord vines,  ••   making beeswax candles for 10 years,  ••   wanted to know it you used cotton, lead free wicks,  ••   watch the beeswax candle dipping process,  ••   your honey is wonderful,  ••   in the process of developing our own site - I happened to find yours and found it excellent.  ••   revised total on our order,  ••   make candles in the plastic molds you see every where,  ••   I'm allergic to bee stings and swell very badly when stung.Will I show any type of reaction, if i smell of beeswax candles?  ••   a bunch of great questions,  ••   science project involving an experiment comparing beeswax candles to paraffin candles.  ••   Your products are very beautiful. Do you have a catalogue you could send me,  ••   What do you charge for picking grapes for home winemakers?  ••   AS A POLISH TRADITION WE BURN BAYBERRY CANDLES EACH CHRISTMAS EVE,  ••   Help Identify grape picture on a cake.

The "From our Readers" Page

Candle W*nner & Laugh of the Month

Congratulations!

February candle winner: iluvbuks@aol.com
March candle winner: catherinehilker@aol.com


Will this months w*nner,
iluvbuks@aol.com & catherinehilker@aol.com
please contact us and so that I can ship your candles.

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Our list of previous candle w*nners.

 

Click below for something silly to end this newsletter with.

See You Next Month!

 

Honeyflow Farm
4939 Mill Rd.    PO Box 275
Dryden, Michigan 48428
(810) 796-2344 (Phone & Fax)

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