Continuing to pursue bottling this spring - today tested and racked the '06 Marsanne / Viognier blend in preparation for bottling. The wine tests at .1% or less residual sugar (clinitest) and has been completely still for a long time now. pH between 3.1 and 3.2 (flaky pH meter - need new electrodes!). SO2 tested at
Sounds great, where did you get your vines? I didn't think that was commonly grown outside of the Rhone. Was the Viognier higher in acid? You did well with that pH for Marsanne.
Joe
The Viognier came in around 3.1 - something, the Marsanne, at a lower sugar, 3.2 to 3.3. the blend SHOULD be 3.2 or slightly higher - but my meter is currently telling me just under 3.2. Not sure I believe it - I am becoming more convinced I need new electrodes (takes a long time to get a stable calibration). I bought the vines 6 years ago from a commercial vineyard which had a surplus from a planting of Marsanne they had just completed. I've currently got 40 vines, on grafted rootstock. But looks like I'll be purchasing grapes for the '07 season - got hit hard by a severe frost in late April, and the new shoots were all but destroyed. I'll be lucky to not lose vines, much less take fruit, this year. We've been thrilled with the Marsanne. It is a crisper wine than anything we were previously led to believe. Has wonderful aromatics, and is a vigorous vine with good production. And here in the dry Sierra Foothills, we've not had any problems with bunch rot, despite the big dense clusters.
Joe Sallustio wrote:
You have no idea how jealous I am. I have been looking for a source for Viognier for several years. I had some make in Mo. and it was great. You just stumble into unused vines.
Ray
Sorry to hear about the frost, they sounds like grat grapes.
Before you give up on that electrode try washing it with contact lens cleaner; you could have a protein buildup. I condition mine by leaving it it in buffers of 10 and 4 for about an hour. I don't know that it helps but it make me feel better..
Joe
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