>
>
>I like the idea of racking to barrel a little "dirty". That means including
>the light lees - perhaps not what you thought of when I said "dirty". ;^)
>
>> > I have never heard of anything like this being done to make a (truly)
>> > red wine, i.e. excluding rosés and things like white zins. Is this
>> > something that I have somehow missed or is it indeed an uncommon thing
>> > to do?
>
>I'd venture to say that this is fairly _uncommon_ practice with Pinot Noir,
>which tends to struggle to achieve significant color - even in good
>vintages. The skin contact is sometimes prolonged _past_ dryness prior to
>pressing, and often also at the beginning, prior to inoculation (cold
>soaking).
>
>> Although barrel fermentation is more often associated with white
>> wines, it is not unknown for reds and from what I've read is fairly
>> common in Australia - maybe somebody from there can tell us if that's
>> true. And secondary (malolactic) fermentation *usually* happens in
>> the barrel.
>

I know that several winemakers here in California rack their Syrah to barrel
before the primary fermantation is completely through, and that this is in
emulation of practice in Australia. As far as I know it's not widely practiced
here - I don't know how extensive that practice is in Australia. But I've never
heard of this being done with Pinot Noir before.