Carboy

As we won't be racking either wine for some time and are therefore in a more dormant time, I decided to find out the origin of the name, Carboy.

Wikipedia says it best:
"In brewing, a carboy is also known as a demijohn. It is a glass or plastic vessel that is often used in fermenting beverages such as wine, mead, and beer. Usually it is fitted with a rubber stopper and a fermentation lock to prevent bacteria and spoiled yeast from entering during the fermentation process. During the homebrewing process, a primary carboy is used for fermentation. Once primary fermentation is complete, the beer is either transferred to a secondary carboy for conditioning or it can be transferred directly to bottles for conditioning. (This process of transferring is usually called racking.)"


Our wine is going from Rubbermaid carrier (Willamette vineyard to Camas, WA residence) to eight-gallon secondary fermentation vessel to first racking into Carboy. We'll rack again back into the eight-gallon tanks and then again into Carboy. Back and forth until we're done promoting clarity. At least that's how I understand it tonight...

Rack 'em!

Big night tonight! We pressed the Pinot and transferred it to eight-gallon "tanks" and racked the Chardonnay into a Carboy.

The Pinot was pretty easy given Patrick's new expertise: he'd pressed the Chardonnay a week before while I was teaching wine marketing...

The first step was collecting the must and juice from the Rubbermaid "fermenters" and adding it to the press. We got a lot of juice; in fact, we didn't use much of the pressed juice given how the amount of free run. (I had read earlier today that winemakers don't tend to use all of the pressed juice (or any) given how tannic it can be. Thank goodness for a few extra minutes on the treadmill -- I had gotten through my general business reading with 10 minutes to spare for wine information!)

After we finished pressing the Pinot, we racked the Chard into a Carboy. At first, I was a little frustrated because we don't have a kitchen funnel and the thought of slowly pouring eight gallons of white juice into a small hole seemed inefficient at best. Then, I thought of the beautiful pewter Port funnel used as a Symington gift and I couldn't resist -- too perfect. We sanitized it along with the pitcher and therefore had the perfect tools with which to rack our Chardonnay!

Our juice easily filled its six-gallon capacity. I hated to dump a pitcher of extra Chard, but it had to be done, as our new vessel was full! All parties are now resting peacefully in a warmish crawl space off of our garage.

Reading this, you might think: "I wonder why they didn't plan this in advance?" You're not alone, as my lack of planning and fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants approach to winemaking is most frustrating to my "enologist" husband, Patrick! In short, if I'd done all the reading about what might go wrong, the time required, etc., I probably would've put the project off another year.

The worst thing that could happen is that we "wasted" a fabulous fall day in a vineyard picking grapes and subsequent time enjoying each others' company in a new way, after a good bottle of wine, of course. So I figure it's an experiment well spent :)

To Age or Not to Age... in Oak, That is

Fermentation is still in full swing and I'm thinking ahead as I don't want to be caught off guard again as I was with the Chardonnay press. The next phase will be racking the Chardonnay into a Carboy and the Pinot into eight gallon containers. Then, the Chardonnay will be re-racked and the Pinot will go into a Carboy. For the next round of racking, we have a decision to make regarding aging. Does this wine want to go into oak barrels? Do I want to pay for it to go there? On one hand, why wouldn't you give it some nice barrel age. On the other, there are SO many things that can go wrong - dumb newbie mistakes and spoilage, that buying barrels is perhaps not a good financial decision for a first round.

New six gallon barrels are $150 apiece. And I'm not really interested in having new oak flavors in either of them. The problem is that if I go the significantly less expensive used route (which are harder to come by in OR and WA than in CA), the barrels might be tainted with TCA, which would lead to the wines being "corked", rendering them undrinkable. The project wouldn't be a waste of time -- there was fun and learning along the way, just a disappointment.

Time to make some phone calls to other wine guides for some professional opinions!

Thank Goodness for Windows!

Our house is starting to smell like a real winery! Or as Patrick says, "...sort of like a frat house". Given my expert honed nose and palate, I am rather sure that it is the former -- soupconne de yeast, grape juice, and jam mixed with just a touch of CO2! Thankfully, we've had the most beautiful, crisp, cool and sunny fall days, so keeping my office window open is a pleasure.

Yesterday, I returned the press, letting the shop owner know that we'd be back come time to squeeze the juice out of the Pinot post fermentation. And last night, we transferred the pressed Chardonnay into two containers. (Patrick had pressed into one on Tuesday and filled it -- apparently with fermentation you don't want to do that as it could bubble over. And I'm quite sure of it given the activity of these yeasts!) The red you see in the picture is unfortunately not part of our "blood, sweat and tears" -- it's stain from where I've been resting the potato masher/punch down tool after working the Pinot.

I've been punching down said Pinot each morning and evening. It's amazing how active those yeasts become when you do so! It's like greeting a room full of cute, sleeping puppies who awake in a frenzy for love!

Can you tell I'm going to be a geeky wine parent? Let's just hope people aren't behind my back saying, "...a taste only a mother could love".
If all goes according to schedule and we manage not to make anymore stupid mistakes, we'll be pressing Pinot and racking Chardonnay come Halloween or so...

Our First Mistake - Oops!

Yesterday, as I started reading "Making Red Wine", a chapter in an online UC Davis book for home winemakers, I realized that I'd need to find and sanitize a household item for punching down the must during fermentation. I'm not even sure what I'm using -- it appears to be a potato masher, but it's working pretty well. We're getting nice color and fermentation is in full, bubbly swing!

I figured I should also take a look at "White Winemaking" and was in part disappointed and in part amused by one of the first statements: "... importance of separating the skins seeds and pulp as early as possible." Oops! I'd not only treaded the Chardonnay by foot, but it was sitting two feet from me, happily beginning to ferment, seeds, skins and pomace fully intact. (I guess I spent too much time in a Port winery!) Good thing we're viewing this as a big science experiment and not seeking one of those coveted 90 point scores.

Thankfully, our wine supply store offers a 24 hour press rental for $35. In less than an hour, Patrick pressed enough to fill one and a half eight gallon containers with juice. (We were told we'd only need one for the Chard, one for the Pinot, so it looks like we'll be back to purchase more.) Maybe there's something to the foot trodden love - ha! We're hoping the increased skin contact allows for some "enhanced varietal aroma and flavor". I'm frankly not sure what fermenting Chardonnay is supposed to look like --it's a deep gold color, but it sure smells yummy.

We're now anticipating another 5 or so days of Chard fermentation, then we'll rack into a "carboy". The Pinot should be done in 10 days, at which point we'll press and transfer it to the eight gallon containers.

The Guide Being Guided

I've been thinking about making wine for well, several years. After working in the industry for ten, it just seemed increasingly odd that I'd never actually produced the stuff. There were always excuses: travel, living in a big city, money, business school time constraints, not knowing how, etc. etc. (Pretty good excuses, actually, but still excuses.)

Then I moved to an idyllic suburb just north of Portland and started a consulting business next to some of the world's most fabulous Pinot Noir grapes and started to feel like a fraud. After all, I was branding myself a marketer, manager, sommelier, judge, writer, teacher, advisor and steward of the industry. Yet I'd never actually tried to make the stuff! Subconsciously, I was ready, as I'd been saving bottles and corks for months "just in case", but I hadn't committed to the winemaking lifestlye.

Fast forward to October 7th, when a student in my wine marketing class listened to my monologue about preventing the "ivory marketing tower" syndrome (where wine marketers sit in pretty offices pontificating with clean, unsticky hands and little knowledge of viticultural and oenological issues) and challenged me to pick grapes for his non-profit winery, Bodhichitta. As someone looking to grow local roots, I was thrilled with the opportunity, both for the gifts of time in the vineyard I'd learned to cherish each year and for the local connection to the Willamette.

I had a fabulous, sticky, cold and invigorating day in the vineyard later that week and left my business card with the farmer. "If you have any unclaimed grapes, please give me a call," I wistfully offered. Four days later, he offered Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. I had no idea how to manage the business transaction! When I called him back, I said that "I'd take whatever he needed me to, and thought hat 1/2 ton would do but would take 1 ton if need be." (Not exactly a pricing strategy I'd recommend. I was in a more CA mindset where you talk in terms of tons, not pounds!)

Mike laughed and let me know that we were dealing in much smaller increments: 100 lbs. versus 1600! His price was incredibly reasonable and I am still glowing from the picking/crushing-destemming experience. I was served a gourmet lunch of rainbow tomato stuffed with Walla Walla sweet onion, dill and mayonnaise. (Mike's power lunch and a lesson to us all -- the guy looks about 50 and is probably nearly 70. The health benefits of growing your own farm fresh food!) Mike generously offered me fruits of his garden -- fresh corn, squash, tomatoes, herbs, cabbage -- you name it. He and the grapes made my day!

Every crazy entrepreneur needs a support and encouragement system. Mine is my husband, Patrick. I called him at work late on Friday afternoon to "tell him the good news" that we "got grapes" and that he "would love it!" A few hours later, after I'd procured storage bins from Home Depot that "could hold a 140 pound woman" (the sales guy surely thought my intentions a little suspect) and visited my local beer and wine shop for supplies and basic information -- we were ready to roll!

On Saturday, the 18th, we drove out to the vineyard and commenced our first vintage of Huey Cellars, picking together, then putting our fruit through the crusher-destemmer. The weather was gorgeous -- a perfect fall day, and I was thankful as I knew the typical gray skies and rain would contribute to a much less exciting experience for newbies.

We returned home with our bins, sticky and happy -- ready to embark on the rest of the adventure. Being a nut job sans press, I decided it would be a great idea to foot tread both lots. So I spent nearly two hours dancing around in grape bins (thank goodness I had the Home Depot guy verify weight standards). We then added the nutrient, acid and stabilizer, and tended to the rest of the evening.

On Sunday, the 19th, we added yeast to begin fermentation. It was a little like planting a flower and waiting for it to blossom -- perhaps quicker, but there's still the anticipation of the "beginning" and fear that something will go wrong.

So when I came downstairs to smell and see my baby grapes fermenting the next morning, I couldn't have been more viniferously joyous! The little bubbles are just too cute! I thought, "Now I am starting to understand what it's like to be a 'wine parent' "!

Today, the 20th and those following will entail a proper punch-down schedule (3 times daily for Pinot). Right now we're focused on keeping the temperatures appropriate and the fermentation going... there have been a few challenges!