Article on making Pinot Noir

I didn't read it all very carefully, but what I did read looks like great information. Thanks for taking the time to write this. Personally, I find a large variation in the flavor and quality of Pinot Noir here in the US. I have tried many of them and only found very few that I would prefer to drink.

Great stuff, Ben. Been through several Pinots with varied results. One thing- In the following paragraph:

Bentonite fining Most red wines have sufficient tannin to be cold stable. However, given that Pinot is often low in tannin it is not uncommon for Pinot to throw a protein deposit/haze. Bentonite may be used to solve this problem. Bench testing is encouraged and recommended, however a light bentonite fining (0.25 g/l) is usually sufficient as a ballpark figure.

Don't you mean "heat stable"?

Thanks and regards,

John

...

I do, thanks for pointing out that typo (article corrected).

Ben

Ben:

Great write-up. The one thing I didn't understand was some of the fermentation times... especially at high temperature. My pinot seems to ferment dry in about 5-7 days with fermentation in the 20C-26C range and maybe a spike to 30C. I don't understand the long, hot fermentations you referred to... such Jadot's. Also, did you research approaches for maximizing color extraction?

Thanks, ...Michael

The way I read that was that they were extended macerations past dryness with an external heat source if need be to keep the temperature up. Of course I may be wrong but I can't imagine any way to keep the yeast from fermenting all the sugar for 25 days at high temp. I really enjoyed reading about the various methods in Burgundy since it's my favorite winemaking region in the world.

Regards,

John

It's as John stated. I've corrected the text to read "long maceration in open wooden or stainless steel tanks, or auto-vinification vats for

Cold soaking, saignée, and pressing at Brix 0 are all techniques which maximise colour extraction. The "Techniques for Given Problems" lists these as solutions for lack of colour and the fact that they maximise colour is mentioned under each respective technique.

Thanks Michael and John for your comments. I'm glad you got something out of the article.

Ben

Dear Ben

I made my first Pinot Noir wine this year and this article would have been a huge help.

My only comment is what I learnt this year is that regular tasting of the wine from the start to finish really helps in defining the time to do things, pressing, blending, racking etc. One really needs to learn to taste a wine.

Ben, thanks for sharing this with us. It will be ready for next years Pinot Noir and congratulations on a great article!

Cheers Marc

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