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Our young wines are growing up…

While the hustle and bustle of vintage is finally settling down, there is still plenty of important working going on in the winery. Rob is busy preparing his ‘babies’ for the next stage of their development (and no, he doesn’t have a favourite!).

Let’s take a look a closer look…

Sauvignon Blanc (in tank)

This wine has now been confirmed in the lab as “sugar dry”. That means that fermentation is complete. Therefore, it is now ready to “rack” (which will happen over the coming week) and a small amount of protective sulphur dioxide will be added.

Whoa… wait up! That’s a lot of technical terms to throw at you in one paragraph. Let’s just take a minute to look at these in more detail.

Sugar Dry: This just means that all of the fermentable sugars (being glucose and fructose) are below 1 g/L (or 0.1%). There comes a point in the fermentation that measuring the Baumé is no longer sensitive enough to determine the point when the fermentation has stopped, and the wine is considered dry. That is when the laboratory needs to use much more specific tests such as enzymatic assays or High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC for short, because let’s face it, that’s a mouthful!).

Racking: racking a white wine simply means to move it from the tank it was fermented in (with all the lees and sediment at the bottom of it) to a fresh, clean vessel. Particularly with a wine like Sauvignon Blanc, you don’t want to leave it on this sediment for too long after the completion of fermentation as this starts to affect the taste of the finished wine.

Sulphur Dioxide (or SO2): Let’s come back to this.

Chardonnay (in barrel)

This wine is also dry, so Rob is happy to add the malolactic bacteria now. He’ll then give it a good stir and top up the barrels to ensure there is very little space at the very top. The more space, the more oxygen in the barrel which has the potential to cause oxidation.

If you missed the question on last week’s blog post about why Rob prefers to wait until the end of fermentation to add the MLF bacteria, then here is the answer…

“There’s a feeling that adding MLF bugs while the yeast fermentation is still finishing (and residual sugar still in the wine), may lead to acetic acid (VA) production. Since there’s no great rush to get MLF started, we’d prefer not to take that chance!”

Fumé Blanc (in barrel)

This is also dry and will now be treated in the same way as the Chardonnay

Pinot Rosé (in tank)

Again, this one has also finished fermentation and is considered dry. It’s also ready for some MLF bacteria to be added. Seeing this wine doesn’t spend any time in barrel, and the malolactic fermentation process will happen in a tank, Rob will need to transfer this to a tank that is just big enough for the volume of wine and then top it up to make sure the amount of space in the tank is at a minimum… just like the barrels for the Chardonnay and Fume.

Pinot Dry Red (in barrel)

The Pinot has been dry for a while now. At least one of the barrels has already finished malolactic fermentation. Rob will give it a couple more days before he gets the lab to take a representative sample of all of the individual barrels to check if all of the barrels have finished. If they have finished, then he’ll rack them and add a small amount of sulphur dioxide and top them up.

Racking a wine in barrel is essentially the same process as for wines in tank. The wine is siphoned off into a tank, the barrels are then cleaned out with a high pressure hose to remove all the sediment and residue and the wine is then returned to the barrels.

At this stage, the wines are really quite fragile. That’s why it is super important to keep oxygen away from the wines by ensuring the containers are absolutely full. This means periodically checking all the barrels and topping them up as necessary.

So, what’s the story with sulphur dioxide?

Without opening an enormous can of worms, let’s briefly have a chat about the role of SO2 in wine production.

Sulphur dioxide has been used in winemaking for many years. There is talk of the Egyptians and Romans using it, but there hasn’t been any conclusive proof of that.

Sulphur dioxide is a unique compound which inhibits microbial activity and aids in preventing oxidation and therefore is commonly used for maintaining the wine in prime condition.

It can be added to the bins in which the grapes are harvested and transported to the winery, to the juice prior to fermentation and, most commonly, to the wine after fermentation and during storage.

Sulphur dioxide is added in very small amounts and is considered harmless to most consumers. A small proportion of people can be sensitive to sulphur dioxide. In these cases though, it is important to remember that sulphur dioxide is actually naturally produced by yeast during the fermentation process. Therefore, some sulphur dioxide will be present in all wines even if it has not been added.

Do you have any questions or comments about adding sulphur to wine? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

A real life look…

Tasting event with Rob Moody at Somerled Cellar Bar

Last weekend Rob shared tank and barrel samples of our 2018 wines at an exclusive tasting event at the cellar bar. A fun and educational session ensued!

These young unfinished wines were presented along-side their counterparts currently being poured at the cellar bar. This gave us the opportunity to compare what they smell and taste like at this very early stage to when they are ready to be released (and more importantly, drunk!).

“But, why would I want to taste an unfinished wine?” I hear you ask?

Well, if you’re reading this blog, I’m guessing there is a fair chance you enjoy learning more about wine and the wine-making process. On the surface, wine-making may look as simple as getting some grape juice, adding some yeast and letting it do its thing. And that would probably work… if you’re not interested in making a good wine!

The key to making an exceptional wine is in the skill of the winemaker. Experts like Rob are able to look at these young wines and not only predict, but manage how they will develop. Even as far back as when the grapes are on the vine, Rob tastes the grapes and will assess the primary fruit characters of the juice. Now that fermentation has begun (and in some cases, finished), Rob is now looking at the developed fruit characters and figuring out how to enhance the ones he wants to show in the finished product.

It’s a delicate process… one which would be beyond many of us (or we’d all be excellent winemakers like Rob!), but it is fun to see if you can pick up some of those flavors that Rob so expertly identifies.

Primary fruit flavours and aromas come from the type of grape and/or the environment in which it grows. They are responsible for the distinctive aroma and flavour sensations of wines made from those grapes. Each variety of grape has its own set of varietal characters and its own pattern in which these change during ripening. This is referred to as the primary fruit spectrum. For example, Sauvignon Blanc can be described as herbaceous or grassy in the early stages of ripening, whereas later in the ripening stage the aromas and flavours more often resemble tropical fruit. This spectrum is specific to Sauvignon Blanc.

Developed fruit characters (or secondary flavours and aromas) are derived via the fermentation process. This process interacts with the primary fruit characters to produce more developed flavours and aromas such as: yeast, bread, creamy, caramel, nougat, truffle (to name just a few).

There are also tertiary characters which come from the aging process (in barrel and bottle). They can include: vanilla, coconut, dried fruit, coffee and chocolate (yum!).

So, what did they taste like?

Sauvignon Blanc (ex-stainless steel tank): The aroma was at the tropical fruits end of the spectrum (think rockmelon and passionfruit). That’s because although the Adelaide Hills is classified as cool climate, Kim’s vineyard has an east facing aspect. The fruit takes on these attractive tropical flavours – rather than gooseberry, herbaceous notes. The young wine was still fizzy (see photo) as the ferment wasn’t complete at that stage, but not far off. This will be replaced with a crispness in the finished wine. As you can see, it was cloudy. Careful racking, fining and filtering will take care of that.

Fumé Blanc (ex-French oak barrels): While similar to the Sauvignon Blanc, it was already showing some textural difference due to the influence of the oak, There was also just a touch of oak aroma showing up already, even though it was barely a week in barrel then.

Chardonnay (ex-French oak barrels): Aromas of citrus (like grapefruit). It already exhibits its hallmark mouthfeel (think of that lovely creamy feeling you get with a good glass of chardy!) Its richness may be partly due to the bit of sugar which is still fermenting out. It’s certainly heading down the right track though.

Rose Pinot Noir Rosé (ex-stainless steel tank): Looked like pink grapefruit juice, but had those lovely strawberry flavours we all love in this wine. It looked sweet compared with the 2017, but it will be quite dry by the time it gets to bottle.

Pinot Noir

Pinot (ex-French Oak barrels): The colour of this wine in progress was intense (see picture). Nice deep dark crimson and a full body. Rob is very excited about this one! He particularly likes the clean perfumed and spiced aromas and already quite rich flavours. It’s big compared with the 2016 and 2017, but is already soft.

NOTE: the French oak barrels above have already been used for 2016, then 2017 wines. It will still impart some gentle spicy aromas and flavours without being too overpowering.

Missed out on the tasting last weekend?

Make sure you join our mailing list (if you’re not already on it) and check your emails for upcoming events… there will be plenty more throughout the year.

And I know I keep banging on about it, but there ARE some surprises in store for our interstate followers. Watch this space!

A quick update from the winery this week…

A very quiet week in the winery as we wait for the ferments to finish. They are all going well. The Sauvignon Blanc is pretty well there, so that will be racked in the coming week. The Chardonnay and Fumé very close. No malolactic bacteria has been added to these yet… not until the primary fermentation is completely finished.

Rob is really impressed with each of the wines confirming his thoughts that this is another EXCELLENT vintage!

… but wait, there’s more!

Last week, we talked about primary fermentation and the role of yeast in turning that deliciously sweet grape juice into wine. But that’s not the end of the story.

Rob is also a big fan of a secondary fermentation called Malolactic fermentation (or MLF). While this bacterial fermentation occurs naturally for most red wines, it is also a handy tool in the production of some white wines.

Let’s find out why…

What is MLF?

Malolactic fermentation is a secondary bacterial fermentation which often occurs naturally after the completion of primary fermentation. It can also be induced by inoculation with a selected bacterial strain. Oenococcus oeni, a member of the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) family, and is the main bacterium responsible for conducting MLF. This strain is chosen due to its ability to survive the harsh conditions of wine (high alcohol, low pH and low nutrients) and its production of desirable wine sensory attributes.
MLF is crucial to microbiologically stabilise most red wines. MLF removes the malic acid in wine that can be a carbon source for yeast and bacterial growth, leading to spoilage, spritz and unwanted flavours.

(Source: AWRI)

MLF can also be conducted in some wines to influence wine style, which is what Rob like to do with our Fumé Blanc, Chardonnay and Rosé.

In addition to the important conversion of the harsh malic acid to softer lactic acid, MLF is associated with a broad range of other metabolic processes that impact on a wine’s sensory profile. Wine aroma and flavour are affected by volatile compounds, while non-volatile compounds influence the palate or mouth-feel of wine. Sensory terms such as ‘buttery’, ‘vanilla-like’, ‘nutty’, ‘spicy’, ‘fruity’, ‘vegetative’, ‘toasty’, ‘fuller’ and ‘rounded’ are used to describe MLF influences on wine.

You’ll definitely hear a few of these terms used when describing the Fumé, Chardy and Rosé!

(Source: AWRI)

Update from the winery

Chardonnay and the Fumé Blanc are both now in barrel, while they finish the last of the primary fermentation. The Fume is very nearly complete (with the Baumé now below zero), while the Chardonnay is still at around 2.2 Baumé at last check (on Wednesday).

Pinot Noir Rosé is at 1.6 Baumé. This fermentation has been nice and steady, which is exactly what a wine-maker hopes for. Rob expects that will continue right the way through to the completion.

Why does the ferment need to progress steadily?

If the fermentation happens too quickly, then the temperature of the ferment increases. High temeperatures can encourage oxidation, microbiological spoilage and instability. It can also deplete the desirable aroma and flavour compounds, as well as alcohol. Above 38 degrees celcius, the yeast becomes “sluggish” and the fermentation may become “stuck” with residual sugar.

With a slow fermentation, there is a risk that the fermentation process will stop altogether, with the colder temperatures killing the yeast. The only option then is to reinoculate the ferment with more yeast to start the process again. This also interferes with the aroma and flavour of the wine. Also, the risk of oxidation is very high.

(Source: Making Good Wine, B. Rankine)

Sauvignon Blanc in tank is slowing up a bit. At last check, the Baumé was at 1.1. It is still moving slowly though, so Rob’s not concerned that it will stop. He may need to give it a bit of a stir though, to get the yeast up off the bottom of the tank and doing what they’re supposed to do!

Pinot Noir dry red in barrel has finished fermentation. It is lovely and dry!

So, what happens next…?

All these wines (except for the Sauvignon Blanc in tank) will be inoculated with the malolactic bacteria to start the secondary fermentation. This won’t happen though until all the sugar in each of the wines has been fermented. This is because there is always a risk of acetic acid production when bacteria are added in the presence of sugar. Once the bacteria are added, it takes a while for them to get going. So watch this space!

“But I want to see (and taste) all of this in real life!”

Well, you can!

There are still a couple of seats left at our next tasting event on Sunday (April 8, 11am – 1.30pm)!

Meet Somerled’s Newest Wines: Rob Moody and the entertaining Hugh Armstrong pair up again, bringing you so much knowledge and behind the scenes secrets when it comes to winemaking. They’ll pour these in-process Somerled wines to hold up against our current vintages and – as always – will pour a special wine for you at the end with commentary from Rob! All presented with a sumptuous platter luncheon including Manchego, terrine, pate, crusty French loaves, locally churned butter and all manner of sides. $65pp includes luncheon, book here.

A complex task for a simple organism

… and no! I am NOT talking about Rob!

It’s time for the yeast to do some of the hard work. While we’re all busy satisfying our sweet tooth over this Easter long weekend, the yeast cells are doing the same!

The role of yeast in fermentation…

Primary fermentation is the conversion of the sugar in the grape juice to alcohol and carbon dioxide by specifically selected yeast. The strain of yeast selected by the winemaker based on both on its ability to conduct the fermentation efficiently and also on the sensory features they add to the wine. For example, some yeasts produce compounds which add to the fruity and estery characters of the wine, while others are more neutral, allowing greater expression of varietal characters.

At the peak of fermentation there will be around 100 million yeast cells in one ml of the fermenting liquid!

(Source: Australian Wine – from the vine to the glass, P. Iland & P. Gago)

Temperature is also an important aspect of the fermentation process. The optimum temperature depends on wine variety, style, speed of fermentation, type of yeast, etc. etc. Let’s look at this in more detail in a future blog post.

The strain Rob chooses is nice and clean, reliably ferments all the sugar and almost always creates those attractive estery aromas.

Sauvignon and Fumé Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc ferment Our Sauvignon Blanc is about 70% through fermentation and is fabulously aromatic.

The Fumé Blanc portion has been split off with some nice “fluffy” (a technical term!) lees and put to barrel. The lees addition will set it apart from the other Sauvignon Blanc by giving it extra weight and body.

How does Rob know that a fermentation is “70% of the way through”?

You may remember when we talked about Baumé in this post, I mentioned there were two applications for this measurement. Given that Baumé is the measure of the amount of sugar in the juice, then we can use it here to determine how much of that sugar still remains. The idea is that when fermentation in “complete” then there is 0 sugar (or close to) left in the resulting liquid (or wine).

Chardonnay

Chardonnay ferment It is still very early days for the Chardonnay. You may remember that the Chardonnay started out cloudy like this – and yet last week if appeared crystal clear and golden! The grape solids had settled to the bottom, rendering it lovely and bright. Now it’s cloudy again – not because of grape solids this time, but because it is now chock full of yeast cells.

Fermentation has been progressing slowly, but it has lovely clean full aromas.

Rob is very happy with it so far (as is Heather!).

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir Rosé is about halfway through fermentation and is ticking along nicely. The colour is lovely and pale (just the way Rob likes it). Although at this early stage, the aromas are quite subdued, they will start to lift closer to the end of fermentation.

Pinot Noir ferment Pinot Noir for our dry red was “pressed” on Monday and the free-run wine and pressings have been blended together. It was then transferred into barrel where the last bit of sugar is now fermenting away quietly. Rob thinks it looks terrific!

Free-run is the liquid part of the ferment. The remaining skins and berries are then pressed to release any additional juice. Sometimes these two components are kept separate (depending on the type of wine you’re aiming to produce) as the pressing liquid has more tannin and astringency.

Rob always puts the pressings back with the free run, as he likes the weight and “mouthfeel” it provides and the tannins help protect the wine’s colour. Sometimes winemakers keep the free run and the pressings separate, especially if they’re trying to make a simple wine that’s going to be released for early consumption.

Want to see it in real life?

Purchase tickets now to our April event:

April 8, 11:30-1pm, seated event.

It’s All So Quiet …

Everybody’s been holding onto the edge of their seats all vintage.

Everybody that is, besides Rob! It’s his 50th vintage – nothing to see here!

2am starts, 2am finishes, midnight call-outs, checking Baumes around the clock, no sparkling, extra-stunning rose, sauvignon blanc in, chardonnay in, pinot noir in, destemming, crushing, pressing and now …

Shh ..! A week of quiet.

What have our ‘wines’ (juices) been up to in their tanks?

Well, you may remember that this was what our sauvignon blanc looked like one week ago:

And this is what it looks like now!

Whoah how did that happen?

Why, it did it all by itself!

We chilled the sauvignon blanc juice right down (you can see how cold it is in the photograph) to ensure that it doesn’t start fermenting on its own and mess up the balance of flavours. Since then, gravity has allowed the solid material to sink to the bottom of the tank which is fantastic.

Solids in the juice give to the wine a coarseness and bitterness that needless to say Rob does not want, so for delicate wines like the sauvignon blanc, it’s critical to get them out of the way as soon as possible. We can then easily rack the wine (carefully pump it off the solids and into the fermenter). Next we warm up the clear juice ready to add the yeast for primary fermentation.

Indeed we’re adding the yeast to this clean, clear juice right now! In 10-12 days it will be our new, fresh, Somerled 2018 Sauvignon Blanc, complete with the beautiful aromas and green tints that Rob saw the very minute the fruit was pressed!

Want to see it in real life?

Purchase tickets now to our April event:

April 8, 11:30-1pm, seated event.

What are our other newbies up to?

Chardonnay 2018 is on its way! Our chardonnays always differ so much in colour from the sauvignon blancs. Take a look! This shot was taken by Rob (holding the glass) a matter of hours ago. Instead of bright green tints, we have mellow golden hues. You can also see how the solids have sunk to the bottom in the chardonnay as well – great work, chardonnay juice!

As soon as Rob started describing its “lovely rich, buttery juice” he had everyone ready to pour a glass then and there! Why wait for it to become wine? (In related news, Heather has reported that she is thus far satisfied with Rob’s work on her favourite variety).

If you were to taste this juice right now, it’d be quite a bit sweeter than the sauvignon blanc because the chardonnay is picked at a higher sugar level (Baume) to create a slightly richer wine. Yeast is being added to this clean juice as we speak and it should come in around 12.7% alc/vol – as opposed to around 11.5% for the sauvignon blanc.

Pinot Heaven

And how about this pinot noir – do you recognise it? And the masterful hand that’s filling the glass? This is Rob just last night, after lifting the cap on the pinot noir 2018 fermenter. Here is what a 3-day old pinot noir looks like:

It’s not exactly comparable in texture to our fermenting white wines is it? A tad ‘chunkier’ perhaps?

We start fermenting the reds on their skins so that the juice can extract the required colour, flavour and tannin from them. The carbon dioxide produced by the fermentation has lifted the skins to the surface – it’s maybe 150mm thick. The juice underneath will probably be removed Monday, as we’ll have extracted all the colour and flavour we want, and it will have had its fill of nice tannin by then. It is at this stage that many may keep the juice with the skins longer, but we prefer to keep our pinot noir distinctly delicate.

We’re all pretty smug about the wines this vintage (what is it about pride coming before a fall? Should we settle down?).

But we always get excited about creating a whole new family of wines each year for you to eventually place on your dinner table, share with those closest to you (only those who deserve Somerled) and to warm your soul.

Thanks for being nice to me while Maree’s away … cheers for now! Lucy

The vintage 2018 story continues…

So, last week I suggested that Rob’s most hectic day of vintage was behind him. I’m not going to say that I jinxed him, but perhaps that prediction was a little premature!

Sauvignon Blanc in the vineyard at Summertown in the Adelaide Hills — A beautiful Adelaide Hills morning in the Sauvignon Blanc just before picking

Another big day for Rob…

Our sauvignon blanc grapes were hand-picked last Friday and Rob was very happy with the fruit. Although it was a very warm day, after a few hours in the cold room, they had cooled down and were loaded into the press at about 5.45am Saturday morning – of course, Rob was at the winery to oversee this. Who needs sleep?!

Why do the grapes need to be cool before they go into the press? The fermentation needs to be slow. So, if the grapes start out warm then the ferment goes too quickly, and it won’t develop the flavours Rob is looking for.

Sauvignon Blanc juice from the press

Freshly pressed sauvignon blanc juice The Baumé was lowish (11.2) and that is exactly how Rob wants it. The juice is perfect with lovely aromas and flavours, and such an attractive green tint. All up 3000 litres of juice came out of the grapes. This will be used for both the 2018 Somerled Sauvignon Blanc and the Fumé Blanc (in quantities yet to be determined by the winemaker!).

Since then the juice has been chilling while all of the solids from the grapes are settling to the bottom. This leaves 90% of the juice nice and clear. It will then be “racked” off the lees, yeast will be added, and it will be wine in a couple of weeks. Easy right??!!

The last of the Adelaide Hills fruit makes it to the winery…

Chardonnay grapes

This week sees the last of our fruit from the Adelaide Hills being harvested. This is happening as I type at Kim Anderson’s vineyard in Charleston. It started this morning (Friday) at around 2:00am. Chardonnay is first (see picture), followed by Pinot Noir for dry red.

The chardonnay was at 12.2 Baumé a couple of days ago. It should be ideal by the time it gets to the winery (Rob likes it to be around 12.5). The pinot was tested at 13.8 Baumé. This is as high as Rob would like to see it go… the colour and flavour look terrific.

Both these varieties are machine harvested. While machines are definitely faster, they aren’t as gentle as human hands, so some of the berries may be inadvertently crushed during the picking process. This is something you want to avoid with sparkling and sauvignon blanc. However, with Rob’s chardonnay and pinot, a bit of skin contact with the juice is no disadvantage. It was a nice chilly night here in the Hills last night, so perfect conditions for picking.

Also, because it has been machine harvested, the Chardonnay will need to be destemmed and pumped straight into the press.

The Pinot Noir will be put through the crusher/destemmer and pumped to a little open fermenter, where yeast will be added. It will ferment away in contact with the skins for around a week. Don’t forget that all the colour is in the skins, so this gives maximum opportunity to extract all the colour and also tannins into the fermenting juice.

Pressing versus crushing – what’s the difference? When making white wine, the fruit is usually pressed before primary fermentation. This is a gentle process which minimises the amount of skin contact with the juice. For red wines though, the grapes are first crushed to maximise the amount of skin contact (for colour and flavour) and pressed after fermentation to squeeze out the remainder of the juice and remove the skins and seeds, etc. Of course, there are many ways to make red and white wines, so you will see variations on these processes depending on the style.

All of Rob’s hard work has, quite frankly, worn me out… so, I’m off for a week of R&R with the family. But never fear! Your guest blogger, Lucy will be taking the reigns next week. Go easy on her!

Gelati Party!

In the meantime, if you’re looking for something to do on Sunday 25th March you should plan a trip to Hahndorf and our Gelati Party! It’s “Crush Take 2” (with, fingers crossed, much cooler weather this time) where Somerled, Scott & La Prova Wines and Hersey Vineyard will be joining forces on the lawn (behind the Scott cellar door at 102 Main Street, Hahndorf) for a celebration of cool jazz music, delicious dude food, amazing wine and, of course, Gelati!

I mean, why wouldn’t you be there?

What a week!

Rob has been a VERY busy boy this week with Vintage 2018 AND bottling of a number of our wines starting all at the same time. Let’s just say, he has definitely earned a glass (or two) or something this week!

Let’s start with what has been happening on the bottling line…

Last week we transferred 2015 Shiraz, 2017 Pinot Noir (dry red), 2017 Fume Blanc and 2017 Chardonnay to Boutique Bottlers in Stockwell in the Barossa. Boutique Bottlers is a great, small (as the name suggests) bottling operation run by Kym Burgemeister and his family. We use them because they do everything really well and given that bottling is about the last point at which something can go dreadfully wrong with a wine, it’s reassuring to know that Kym and the team are looking after it all.

However, that doesn’t mean that Rob puts his feet up and lets them take care of the bottling process. Nothing could be further from the truth! His day started at 8am yesterday when he went to check that the wine arrived safely and to ensure that there hasn’t been a mix up with any of the wines. He also checks that the carbon dioxide and dissolved oxygen levels are within specification. Despite all the care and attention, it’s a rather nerve-wracking time for Rob… it’s for this reason that he always leaves the wine for a week or two before tasting it after bottling. And there’s no doubt that the wine does change due to all the handling prior to and during bottling… but then it settles down and usually looks better after a while than it did before it was bottled.

Have a look at this little video of our Fume Blanc on the bottling line…

Fume Blanc Bottling Line Video

Oxygen can have a significant impact on wine style. Low oxygen levels typically lead to wines displaying elevated fresh fruit attributes, an absence of developed characters, and a tendency to form undesirable reduced characters. On the other hand, too much oxygen can lead to subdued fresh fruit characters, the development of stewed and cooked fruit along with other developed attributes, the absence of reduced characters and the early onset of undesirable oxidised attributes.

Oxygen’s impact is so dramatic that the same wine exposed to slightly different oxygen levels at and after bottling can result in completely distinct wines.

Controlling oxygen levels at bottling is also important because oxygen can cause the onset of wine faults and also determines wine shelf life.

(Australian Wine Research Institute, AWRI)

So, all of the wines were bottled yesterday except for the Shiraz. Why? Because we were sent the wrong bottles! See why it’s important for Rob to triple check everything? The correct bottles should be arriving tomorrow, so the Shiraz will go “down the line” (a bit of technical talk for you there, you may borrow it if you wish!) then. But, there is a silver lining to every cloud… as Rob didn’t need to stay on to oversee the bottling of the Shiraz, this gave him just enough time to zip home to Hahndorf to get ready to join his lovely wife, Heather at the one and only Adelaide Festival show they had booked for this year (of course it HAD to coincide with the busiest week in the winery!). Phew!

“Awwww”… I hear you all say, “what a lovely end to a hectic day”. Well, as it turns out, it wasn’t the end of the day for Rob. After the show, he got a call from the winery to let him know that the pinot noir for Sparkling had been pressed. So, off to the winery, he goes…

The beginning of vintage 2018…

If you’ve tried Rob’s wines, then you don’t need me to tell you that he’s pretty picky about the styles of wine he makes. This means that he needs to be very picky about the fruit he uses. While Rob has great relationships with growers of all the fruits which goes into the productions of Somerled wines, he has never locked himself into any contracts with these growers. And our first story of vintage 2018 is a perfect example of why he doesn’t.

By the time the pinot was picked and pressed, the Baumé (take a look at last week’s post for a review of what this is and why it’s important) was slightly higher than Rob would like it to be. These things happen. So, instead of compromising and producing a style of Sparkling wine that just isn’t Somerled, Rob has agreed to take only half of the 4 tonnes of fruit that was picked and to use this instead, for our Rosé. And what a beautiful Rosé it’s going to be!

Disappointingly, we’re going to miss out on a 2018 vintage of the sparkling, BUT, never fear… we have healthy stocks of other vintages which will see us through.

It’s now 2am and Rob can finally put, what we hope will be the busiest day of vintage 2018, behind him. But, in this unpredictable business, who knows? You’ll just have to keep reading to find out…!

It’s all starting to get very real!

So, last week I may or may not have alluded to some slightly worrying weather conditions… well, let’s just pretend that never happened because all is well in the vineyard! We did have a day or two of humid weather, which had the potential to produce ideal conditions for the development of powdery mildew, but both the Summertown and Charleston vineyards have come through that unscathed. Fortunately, there were some useful breezes which kept the canopies fairly dry (or at least not wet for prolonged periods at warm temperatures, which powdery loves). In fact, with the trend of cold nights resuming, the weather has been great for ripening.

Which means… drum roll please… it’s Somerled’s turn. Vintage 2018 is here!

It looks like we’ll be picking, as luck would have it, our pinot noir for Sparkling AND the sauvignon blanc on the SAME DAY… next Tuesday 6th March.

But how does Rob know when the grapes are right to pick?

There are a number of things that need to fall into place… Rob has to be happy with the flavour profile of the grapes, the weather conditions need to be right, and pickers and equipment in the vineyard and the winery need to be available, just to name a few.

A fair chunk of the decision making process, though, has to do with something called Baumé (pronounced bo-may).

Prior to harvest, representative samples of the berries are collected regularly and crushed to release the juice. The juice is then tested in the lab to determine the sugar content in that sample and is expressed in units of degrees Baumé (^oBé) or degrees Brix (pronounced bricks).

Baumé is more commonly used because it also gives a convenient prediction of the potential alcohol content of the wine produced from those grapes. The general rule is that 1^oBé is equivalent to 1% alcohol. For example, a grape juice with 13 ^oBé will, if fermented completely, produce a wine of about 13% alcohol by volume.

There a two applications of the term Baumé in wine-making. We’ll revisit this term, for the second application, in a future post.

So, what stage are our grapes at now?

The pinot noir grapes (see picture) for our sparkling were last tested on Sunday, at which time the Baumé was 9.2. The previous test was on 19th Feb, and back then it was at 7.8. That’s an increase of 1.4 ^oBé in a week! Rob aims for a Baume of around 10 in the juice for the sparkling, so it’s not very far away at all. They’re being tested again tonight to confirm the decision to pick on Tuesday. Given Rob prefers the Baumé not to get too high, he can’t see that we will delay picking any longer than that.

Sauvignon Blanc graps The sauvignon blanc grapes are looking really lovely (see picture). Back on 22nd Feb, the Baumé was just under 10 and we’re currently waiting on lab results from a sample taken today. For this wine, Rob aims for a Baumé of 11.0 – 11.5, so Tuesday is looking like the day it will all happen!

Stay tuned for the next post when we should have some exciting news from our first crush of the season!

Your Sparkling questions answered

While Rob waits patiently for our Pinot Noir to ripen just enough to pick for our Sparkling, let’s take a closer look at some of your questions about one of our most popular and “Trophy-winning” (have I mentioned that before?!) wines.

What’s all the kerfuffle about using the word “Champagne”?

Although sparkling wines are produced around the world, legally the word Champagne is reserved exclusively for sparkling wines from the Champagne region in France and made in accordance with regulations governed by the Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne (CIVC) and protected under a treaty (so, I guess they’re pretty serious about it!).

For champagne to be champagne, the grapes need to be sourced from specific parcels in the Champagne appellation (which is short for a long fancy French term which means “protected designation of origin”) using specific vineyard practices, pressed using regimes unique to the region and made using secondary fermentation of the wine in bottle to create the bubbles (read on for more information on how this is done).

What is involved in making Sparkling using the traditional method?

The traditional method of making Sparkling wine involves a number of steps…

The grapes are pressed and go through a primary fermentation like any other table wine. It is then bottled.
A second fermentation is induced by adding more yeast and sugar (usually in the form of grape juice). A crown seal (like a beer bottle) is added to the bottle and the fermentation occurs in the bottles, which creates the bubbles.
The wine is then left to sit on yeast lees. In Champagne, the minimum amount of time specified by the appellation is 1.5 years. This is also the minimum amount for Rob, but he usually leaves it to mature for much longer than this.
After aging, a process called remuage (or “riddling” in English) is performed either manually or mechanically, to gradually invert the bottle and settle the lees into the neck.
The neck of the bottle is frozen, whereupon the lees freeze to a sold block, and the crown seal is removed. The pressure in the bottle forces the frozen lees out of the bottle. The wine is then topped up with additional wine (le dosage) and quickly corked (or another crown seal added) to maintain the bubbles. The dosage is not only designed to replace the volume lost during the disgorging process, but gives the winemaker a change to adjust the sweetness of the wine. For Rob, the dosage he uses is much drier that most.

Is there any other way to make Sparkling wine?

A large proportion of Australian Sparkling wine is not made using this time consuming and expensive method. There are others ways to make Sparkling wine, including adding a gas under pressure to the wine to add the bubbles… just like how your soda stream works at home. But we don’t recommend using your soda stream to add bubbles to your wine!

Why does Rob use a crown seal instead of a cork?

Well, firstly, he’s terrified someone will take an eye our with a cork! Secondly, with a crown seal there is very little chance that any gas can escape the bottle, meaning you can hang onto a bottle of Somerled Sparkling for years and it will be just as bubbly as it is today. Given the porous nature of cork, it is inevitable that some of those bubbles will disappear over time.

How do you make a Sparkling white wine out of a red grape variety?

If you bite into a red grape, what colour is the flesh usually? Most red grapes have white flesh. In fact, there are very few varieties of red grapes in the world which have red flesh (Alicante is one of them). Actually, the only thing the contributes to the colour of a red wine is its skin.

So, if you press the grapes ever so carefully and remove immediately separate the juice form the skins then you can make a white wine!

Traditionally, Sparkling wine is made from Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay.

Do you have any other Sparkling related questions for us? We’d love to see your questions and thoughts in the comments section below.

How about this weather??

At least the rain is good for the garden… but what about the grapes?

To be perfectly honest, it’s not ideal. Refer back to last week’s post for our discussion on powdery mildew (did I jinx it?!). And tune in next week to find out what exactly what effect this weather will have. In the meantime, send good thoughts to the wine Gods!

And so it begins…

Vintage 2018 that is! Even though a few wineries in the region have seen the first fruit picked and into the press this week, we still have at least a couple of weeks to wait. Rob sources the grapes for his wines (except the Shiraz) from some of the highest vineyards in the Hills… it’s for this reason that it takes a little longer for vintage to be well and truly underway for Somerled.

Early veraison in pinot noir grapes at Paul Henschke's vineyard That said, there is still plenty happening…

At Paul Henschke’s vineyard in Summertown, where Rob will get the Pinot Noir for our Sparkling and Rosé, we’re only just seeing the first signs of veraison in some of the younger vines (see photo). At this stage it won’t be picked until the second week of March.

Things are a little more advanced in Charleston at Kim Anderson’s vineyard. Veraison is close to 100% in the Sauvignon Blanc (this will be used for the Fumé as well), the Chardonnay is at around 50% and Pinot Noir (for our dry red) is somewhere between the two… in short, lots and lots of fully coloured berries, but low in sugar and high in acid. Still a little way to go, although Kim will do the sugar level test on samples of the fruit on Monday next week.

For a recap on what veraison is, visit our post here.

Even though we’ve had some hideously hot weather of late, the nights have been nice and cool (down to 5 degrees some nights!)… this is a bonus for grape flavour and wine quality as it minimises the overall stress on the vine.

Another positive for this vineyard is that it’s looking really healthy. How do we know? Well, there are a couple of telltale sign of a healthy vineyard…

Pest free – There is no sign of Light Brown Apple Moth or scale insects

Insect pests are luckily quite uncommon in Australian vineyards but the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) caterpillar, a native, can feed on the young berries, leaving scars for bunch rot fungi to enter the fruit.

Scale insects are sap suckers which also produce a honey dew which is the favourite food of sooty moulds, damaging the fruit.

Beneficial insects – There are really high populations of beneficial insects such as the Trichogramma wasps, lacewings, ladybirds etc.

Beneficial insects are the species which prey on the pest species eg LBAM and scale, keeping the pest numbers below the damaging levels.

Disease free – The vineyard is free from powdery mildew.

Grapevine powdery mildew, caused by the fungus Erysiphe necator, is a common fungal disease which can render the vine leaves dysfunctional. It slows photosynthesis and it reduces yield and quality of grapes and the resulting wines.

The canes and leaves of the vine (collectively termed the ‘canopy’) also give us an indication of overall health. Ideally the shoots have stopped elongating by this stage. However the youngest leaves must remain green and active so that the energy is directed towards moving sugars and all the lovely flavour precursor compounds towards the fruit which form the basis for what we’ll be tasting in the finished product. The older leaves have done their work by now and it’s ok to see a few of these yellow; after all they did emerge back in September!

We need your help!

We are very close to launching a new initiative for our friends who don’t live in Adelaide or who are unable to visit us at the Cellar Bar when we run special events.

How would you like to be involved in tastings run by Rob and special guests from the comfort of your own home, surrounded by your friends and family (or on your own if you ‘re like me and don’t like sharing!) and some delicious wines?

Sounds too good to be true right? Wrong!

Our first “Virtual tasting” will be available to you very soon, but in the meantime, we’d like you to have a think about what topics you’d like to see pop up throughout the year. Would you like to see a comparative look at Shiraz across different regions? What about a vertical Chardonnay tasting?

We’d love to hear your suggestions… so please leave us a comment below.

And for any suggestion which becomes a tasting, we’ll dedicate it to you! That’s right… It will be forever known as the “John Smith Somerled Shiraz vs Penfolds Grange comparative tasting”! PS. This particular tasting may cost you a little extra…