cabernet must adjustments

First, retest the sugar, pH and acid, before any adjustments. Mistakes can be made.

The Brix is a bit high (about 15.5% p.a.). If you use an alcohol-tolerant yeast, you can reduce the alcohol level by stirring the must somewhat vigorously during fermentation. Depends how low you want to get it.

The pH is ideal (IMO) for a cabernet, and I would be hesitant to adjust it at all. If you reduce it very much, it will be more difficult to initiate malolactic fermentation.

The acid is about .15 higher than I would like to have for a cabernet, but it should come down during fermentation, cold stabilization, and malolactic fermentation. How much is anyone's guess, but it's not unreasonable to expect a .15 reduction.

If you do decide to reduce the Brix via dilution, I think plain (or distilled) water would be better than acidulated, since that will reduce the TA a bit. Acidulated would increase it.

Although the Brix is a little high, the other numbers are *perfect*! Should make a big Cabernet. Don't mess with it; just ferment it as is.

Tom S

Thanks for all the advice. I'll just let it go with minimum intervention other than cultured yeast.

I have a question about pressing.

I generally press when the brix is zero, or the gravity is 1.0 or less. There is usually still a cap. Should I wait until the cap falls? I've heard about falling cap but have never seen this. Impatient or a worry wart I guess.

If I wait until the cap falls, do I have to use an inert gas? What about pressing after the cap falls. Pressing seems so violent.

When I press, I generally scoop the whole mess, juice and pulp into the press and press away. Should I try to try to wait until the cap falls and try to draw off the juice from the pulp before pressing?

I want my wines, cabernet and pinot, to have that big mouth feel (which at least my Pinot doesn't have) and I think my past pressing practices may play a part. Also, I don't use barrels, and that may be part of it too.

In other words: What are the keys to making a very fine Cabernet. I think I have good grapes and I don't have a barrel.

Thanks for all your help.

Dan Emerson

A "standard practice" is to press when the Brix falls to 0, or soon thereafter. Others press around 1.010. Others wait until the cap "falls" (or more accurately, sinks), and there are no more floating solids. Others wait

As long as the cap is floating, the fermentation is producing enough CO2 to protect the wine in the primary, and there is no need to use an inert gas. Once the cap sinks, the ferment is probably complete, or very close to being complete, and you should press imediately (or take steps to protect the wine from air). I don't understand the reference to violence. First, one should always press gently, and secondly, you have to press sometime, and it's no more violent before the cap drops than afterwards.

You are using the correct procedure. There is no need to "try to draw off the juice from the pulp before pressing", nor would it be possible without straining. Even though the pulp is no longer floating, it is still suspended throughout the must. If you waited for it to sink to the bottom, and clear, then you would be asking for problems.

However, you should use a press bag or fiberglass screening in the press, and pour the juice through it, letting the solids accumulate in the press basket. Only when there is no more free-run juice, should you begin pressing, and then as gently as possible. It takes longer, but hard-pressing will force undesireable tannins and bitter flavours from the skins. Some people separate the free-run juice from the pressed juice (and then combine it later), but I don't see the point in this.

There are many factors in achieving "mouth feel". Barrel aging imparts tannin (which can be simulated with oak chips) and a mellowness which cannot be duplicated. But barrels are expensive and more trouble than glass or stainless steel carboys, so one must decide how important that mellowness is to them.

Here are some recent threads on the subject:

oxidation).

The "special methods" aren't all that complicated. It's just a matter of keeping air away from the wine and stirring the must to keep it from going reductive (H2S). I spritz the top of the must and then smooth a trash bag down against the surface of the must. Laying a few pieces of wood down on the plastic to keep it in contact with the wine helps. That keeps air away pretty well.

That's not necessarily true. Pressing at zero Brix will tend to yield a wine with harsher tannins than pressing a couple of weeks beyond dryness. The extended maceration encourages polymerization of harsh tannins into big, soft tannins. Also, the color tends to be reabsorbed by the pulp during extended maceration.

Pressing isn't a problem. The aeration is good for a young wine - especially a red. Prior to and after pressing it is necessary to take protective measures with the wine (topping up, inert gas, sulfiting), but not while you're actually pressing it.

Not true! The low rate of CO2 production may lure you into a false sense of security, but if the CO2 gassing is not _considerable_, the surface of the must is a good breeding ground for all the spoilage organisms. They only need a _little_ bit of air to survive and then thrive.

I tend to agree, but I always press a good deal harder than _gently_. There's a lot of good stuff in the heavy press fraction. It might be advisable to keep the heavy press fraction separate for awhile - possibly for a different fining regimen than the free run and light press wine - but I usually end up incorporating it into the main lot.

hard-pressing

See my comments above re differential fining.

The best way to get oak character into glass or stainless fermented wines is to ferment with wood chips in the primary, and carry them along as long as necessary to achieve the desired effect. Sure, barrels are better but you can do _very_ well with just chips and an occasional racking.

Tom S

I do, but even at dryness the cap tends to float up again - probably because of ML activity/gassing.

The short exposures are not significant. Besides, a little aeration is good for the new wine. It helps release the small amounts of H2S that are present in healthy fermentations.

Pretty much, but schedule of when the next opportunity for pressing is also a factor. IOW, if Saturday is three days past 0° Brix, I'll probably press at ten days.

Once the must is no longer gassing vigorously it's time to be more careful about air exposure. That's when I start spritzing with SO2 after the last punchdown before going to bed.

It's strictly a matter of style. I remember that Joe Heitz did not separate the press fraction of his "Martha's Vineyard" Cabernet from the free run. That's good enough for me!

Tom S

As a home winemaker doing relatively small batches (5 gallons), I am curious about this. I would like to impart oak in some of my wines, but barrels I think are not a good option for these small batches. Thus, I will experiement with chips. I have seen several people here suggest that it is best to put the oak chips in the primary prior to fermentation. But, isn't this actually not what is done with most wines? Are not most commercial wines fermented in vats or steel tanks and then placed into barrels for aging and oaking after primary fermentation? Would not a similar (as much as possible) oaking take place if chips were added after primary?

I would definitely appreciate any comments about the differences between adding chips before or after fermentation - pros, cons?

Thanks.

"integrating"

Exactly right! That's why barrel fermented Chardonnay (e.g.) tastes different from tank fermented Chardonnay that is subsequently barrel aged. The oak flavor is more tightly integrated into the structure of the wine - partly at least because the yeast tends to fine the harsh wood tannins.

Tom S

Excellent information. Thanks for the comments. Would it be safe to say that oaking after fermentation should be done more conservatively since it doesn't integrate as well?

fermentation,