Hi ...this fall I made wine from zin grapes presumably from the
central valley....fermented on skins for 7 days then racked to
glass......but the colour is rather pale.......should I have cold
macerated for an extended period before pitching the yeast??....the
tannins are very good.......I left 10% of the stems in ......but the
colour is dissapointing....anyone with an opinion on
this??..................................thanks,And y J.,N.B.,Canada
(sorry no book to plug)

Andy,

Thanks *so* much for not being a crappy wannabe author! :-)

When I did my central valley this year, I did about the same as you --
40 hour soak after crush to let the must temperature rise to where
the yeast could take hold, and then it fermented dry in another 5
days. I decided to do an extended maceration for the reason you noted
-- plus the fact that the skins still seemed to have quite a bit of
colour and flavour in them. I let the wine stay on the skins for an
additional 8 days before pressing, spritzing the surface with a
sulfite solution and covering with a plastic sheet that sealed pretty
well around the edges.

The results have been very pleasing so far. The color is not as dark
a purple as many wines I've done, but I noted while pressing that the
red color seemed to be a deeper and denser red than anything I've yet
done. That still seems to be the case. The wine cleared very rapidly
(already looked clear within 3 weeks) and the flavour is as good or
better than anything I've done.

I will definitely try this again next time I make wine (it may not be
next fall because if the universe is willing I'll have 2 bambinos
around to "help" instead of just 1 this year!) The extended
maceration technique seems to be a love/hate thing with winemakers.
But it also seems to me that those who have actually tried it
generally have had no problems and swear by it for certain wines. By
my experience it seems like those who say that it's very risky and
trouble-prone generally have not actually tried it. But you'll have
to decide for yourself :-)

Cheers,
Richard

(Andy j.) wrote in message . com>...
> Hi ...this fall I made wine from zin grapes presumably from the
> central valley....fermented on skins for 7 days then racked to
> glass......but the colour is rather pale.......should I have cold
> macerated for an extended period before pitching the yeast??....the
> tannins are very good.......I left 10% of the stems in ......but the
> colour is dissapointing....anyone with an opinion on
> this??..................................thanks,And y J.,N.B.,Canada
> (sorry no book to plug)

Hi Andy,

Next year you could do what they call a saigner, take 10% of the juice
off, so you'd have a higher juice to skins ratio. I don't know if that
makes any sense. I think it will result in a better product though, and
as a bonus, you can use the juice you draw off to make some "white"
zinfandel.

--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields

(Andy j.) wrote in message . com>...
> Hi ...this fall I made wine from zin grapes presumably from the
> central valley....fermented on skins for 7 days then racked to
> glass......but the colour is rather pale.......should I have cold
> macerated for an extended period before pitching the yeast??....the
> tannins are very good.......I left 10% of the stems in ......but the
> colour is dissapointing....anyone with an opinion on
> this??..................................thanks,And y J.,N.B.,Canada
> (sorry no book to plug)

Andy, I had the same problem with my Central Valley Cab this year.
The suspended solids gave my wine a strawberry color. After month or
so after pressing (when the solids settled), the color darkened
significantly, though still not a big red color.

I wonder how much the temperature is a factor. I consistently get light
colored zinfandels from Amador and Contra Costa, despite ten days on
the skins (though the phenolics are acceptable). I ferment in a shady
back yard in the Bay Area, and the must never goes above about 75
degrees F.

Since they taste and smell wonderful, I'm not too worried about
correcting this, though I do have some petit sirah, dark as night,
for blending this time around.



David D. wrote:
> (Andy j.) wrote in message . com>...
>
>>Hi ...this fall I made wine from zin grapes presumably from the
>>central valley....fermented on skins for 7 days then racked to
>>glass......but the colour is rather pale.......should I have cold
>>macerated for an extended period before pitching the yeast??....the
>>tannins are very good.......I left 10% of the stems in ......but the
>>colour is dissapointing....anyone with an opinion on
>>this??..................................thanks,A ndy J.,N.B.,Canada
>>(sorry no book to plug)
>
>
> Andy, I had the same problem with my Central Valley Cab this year.
> The suspended solids gave my wine a strawberry color. After month or
> so after pressing (when the solids settled), the color darkened
> significantly, though still not a big red color.

(Andy j.) wrote in message . com>...
> Hi ...this fall I made wine from zin grapes presumably from the
> central valley....fermented on skins for 7 days then racked to
> glass......but the colour is rather pale.......should I have cold
> macerated for an extended period before pitching the yeast??....the
> tannins are very good.......I left 10% of the stems in ......but the
> colour is dissapointing....anyone with an opinion on
> this??..................................thanks,And y J.,N.B.,Canada
> (sorry no book to plug)

Hey Andy

You have fermented a typically high ph (+3.6), low acid Zin from the
central valley. This is the largest mass produced vineyards on the
continent.... bar none. Many of the largest vineyards maximize the
tonnage per acre resulting in lower quality. They then sell industrial
scale fruit to middle men who charge you premium prices plus shipping
all the way to the east coast. My point is, the higher the harvested
ph reading of Zinfandel the lower the colour, as you refer to, as
pale. Next time, use a ph meter and add tartaric acid ( natural grape
acid ) to lower the ph somewhere between 3.4-3.5. Use pectic enzyme to
further unlock the grape skin potential and try cold maceration. But
remember 90+% of a wine's quality/character is grown in the
vineyard.My opinion............Cheers Zinman