Three Vintages, Four Grapes, Five Wines

As this most unusual year comes to a close, I decided to revisit some of my wines in the spirit of not-so Auld Lang Syne: three vintages, four grapes, five wines. If nothing else, tasting and learning from the past helps prepare you for the next vintage. So here's what I've learned.

Revisiting past vintages

2016 Abscession (Syrah, Chandler Reach Vineyards, Yakima AVA)

This is my first vintage and my last bottle. My winemaking teacher, Steve Foisie, called this the proof-of-concept vintage. He coached us through the chemistry of red wine making; from crushing grapes to alcoholic and malolactic fermentations, and then wrapping it all up with stabilization and bottling. Nothing fancy.

First Crush

Technical Specs

• 100 lbs of Syrah harvested in mid September 2016
• Upon completing alcoholic and malolactic fermentations, matured in glass carboy with no oak
• 1.5 cases bottled in mid February 2017
• Residual sugar: 0.35%, pH = 3.78, TA = 0.73

Tasting Notes

• Color: Medium ruby
• Aroma: Surprisingly fresh with strawberry and cherry
• Palate: Dry, nice balance of fruit and herb, with a hint of eucalyptus, while retaining good structure
• Body: Medium plus
• Acidity: Medium
• Tannins: Medium plus
• Finish: Long with a hint of eucalyptus

My Lesson: Sanitize, sanitize, sanitize!

The first vintage was the most nerve wrecking. My main goal was to prevent the wine from turning into vinegar. This meant rigorous cleaning and decontaminating of everything in close proximity to the wine. Good sanitation practice allows the yeast to properly complete fermentation, and the wine to mature and stabilize. Four years later, I am pleased and somewhat surprised that the Abscession has retained a nice structure despite a higher-than-desired pH and zero oak contact. The wine remains fresh although it has lost some of its fruit forwardness.

2017 Midnight Crush (Cabernet Sauvignon, Artz Vineyards, Red Mountain AVA)

This is my second vintage, and my first time using oak. I am not a fan of oaky wine, but I wanted to take the edge off the tannic Cab Sauvignon grapes with micro-oxygenation from the barrel. To limit wood contact and oak flavor extraction, 20 of the 25 gallons of wine were racked in and out of the 8-gallon barrel. I was also excited about the more concentrated flavors as the porous barrel allowed for a mild evaporation.

Round-robin racking in and out of barrel

Technical Specs

• 400 lbs of Cab Sauvignon harvested in mid October 2017
• 80% in new French oak for two months, 20% unoaked
• 10.5 cases bottled in early April 2018
• Residual sugar: 0.34%, pH = 3.62, TA = 0.79

Tasting Notes

• Color: Medium ruby
• Aroma: Cherry Jolly Rancher
• Palate: Dry, cherry with a bit of tobacco, nice structure
• Body: Medium plus
• Acidity: Medium
• Tannins: Medium plus, smooth
• Finish: Lingering with cocoa notes

My Lesson: Respect the oak!

Oak in wine is like salt in food. If you can taste it, you probably have too much of it. Because I was using a small new French oak barrel, I was careful with wood contact to avoid creating an oak bomb. Once the desired taste profile was achieved, the oaked wine was racked out of the barrel, and a new batch of unoaked wine was racked in. The outcome was a lovely structured wine, balancing fruit with nuanced notes of tobacco and cocoa. The judges at the Washington State Fair agreed and gave it a second place in the Cab Sauvignon category last year!

2018 Political Series (Merlot, Les Collines Vineyard, Walla Walla AVA, and Cabernet Franc, Chandler Reach Vineyards, Yakima AVA)

For this third vintage, I attempted two new varieties - Merlot and Cab Franc. As far as winemaking math goes, one plus one equals three. Yes, we ended up with three distinct wines after blending and tasting. I procured another small new French oak barrel for this vintage. Like before, we ran 20 gallons of wine in and out of the 8-gallon barrel in a round robin fashion to manage wood contact.

Technical Specs

• 200 lbs Merlot harvested in mid September 2018
• 100 lbs Cab Franc harvested: Early October 2018
• Bottled all three wines in early June 2019
• Overall blend residual sugar: 0.23%, pH = 3.89, TA = 0.62

Blending and tasting

Kamala Walla Walla (100% Merlot free run)

The free run Merlot tasted so good that it was the first to go into the barrel. It was kept there for two months to complete malolactic fermentation and started aging. The wine was then aged and stabilized for another six months in glass carboys. Three cases were produced.

Tasting Notes

• Color: Medium ruby
• Aroma:  Cherry and red fruit
• Palate: Cherry Jolly Rancher with herbal undertones
• Body: Medium plus to full body
• Acidity: Medium plus to high, lively
• Tannins: Medium plus and smooth
• Finish: Lingering and rounded

AOC (60% Cabernet Franc/40% Merlot)

Next into the barrel was a blend of 60% Cab Franc and 40% Merlot. There might have been a bit of malolactic fermentation left, but it was mostly maturing in oak for two months. The wine was then aged and stabilized for another three months in glass carboys. Three cases were produced.

Tasting Notes

• Color: Garnet
• Aroma: Strawberry and floral-scented
• Palate: Strawberry, floral with cocoa undertones
• Body: Medium plus to full
• Acidity: Medium plus to high
• Tannins: Medium plus
• Finish: Long with a cherry finish

Labeling wine bottles

RBG (70% Merlot/30% Cabernet Franc)

Last but not least, a blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cab Franc was racked into the barrel for 3 months of aging and stabilization. Two cases were produced.

Tasting Notes

• Color: Garnet
• Aroma: Cherry and floral-scented
• Palate: Dry, cherry with cocoa undertones
• Body: Medium plus to full, well rounded
• Acidity: Medium plus to high
• Tannins: Medium and smooth
• Finish: Lingering with a tart finish

My Lesson: Plan but flex!

You heard parents say that raising two children is more than twice the work of raising one. The same is true for making two grape varieties. While not the sexiest part of winemaking, planning the logistics around two fermentation timelines is essential. In return, you get so much more as well. I started out thinking I was going to make a Merlot/Cab Franc blend. I ended up with three wines - a single varietal and two blends! So while I had my plan, I learned to keep an open mind and flex where the palate took me. And I was rewarded for that.

So let not auld acquaintance be forgot. But take a glass of kindness and drink to the next vintage!

Not Just Any Wine Labels

One of the funnest parts in hobby winemaking is designing wine labels. I am not creative by myself, but as a group, we usually come up with pretty good ideas. Because our wine is not for sale, we have complete freedom in how we label and commemorate each vintage. I want to share some of our creations here.

Our first vintage was the 2016 Yakima Valley Syrah. We had completed winemaking theory and were excited to get our hands on the grapes. It was a simple wine made in a carboy to demonstrate the primary and secondary fermentation process. As harvest rolled around, my husband got pretty ill with a bad abscess in his throat and was unable to make the crush. Hence, we named the wine Abscession, a play on Calvin Klein's famous fragrance label. 

2016 Abscession Syrah by Alisa Kessel

The next year, we got our hands on some Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the famous Red Mountain AVA. A shortage of vineyard workers, a late-day harvest, and an untimely power outage culminated to us crushing 4,000 lbs of grapes late at night. There is nothing like fumbling in darkness with sticky grape juice all over you. That night, Midnight Crush was conceived. The werewolf seemed a natural fit.

2017 Midnight Crush by Olivia Lee

In 2018, we decided to up our game and make a blend; Walla Walla Merlot and Yakima Cabernet Franc. Then things got more complicated when one of our hobby winemakers relocated for a new job. Besides managing the fermentation timeline with two varieties harvested three weeks apart, we had to coordinate the use of equipment in two locations. 

This is the vintage where I wore my project manager hat frequently, and good project management did pay off. By the time we were ready to bottle, we were convinced that we had made four different wines. That meant four labels. We decided to have fun with a political theme.

We were so delighted with our free-run Merlot that year that we decided to have a single varietal bottling. The Merlot was aromatic with cherry and cocoa, elegant yet powerful. We named it Kamala Walla Walla after Senator Kamala Harris. Senator Harris caught our attention during the first Democratic presidential debate. We were thrilled when she was announced the Democratic vice presidential nominee the very same day the label went into press.

2018 Kamala Walla Walla by Reuben Lee

We then separated out a 70% Merlot and 30% Cab Franc blend. On the nose and palate, we got cherry and strawberry. But the blend carried a higher level of tannins and acidity as well as a very long finish. We decided to name it Notorious RBG after every feminist's favorite Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. RBG also stands for Red Bordeaux Grapes and specifically Right Bank Grapes; of which, Merlot and Cab Franc are dominant. 

2018 Notorious RBG by Reuben Lee

The second blend consisted of 60% Cab Franc and 40% Merlot. It was fruit-forward and herbaceous, with a lot of tannins, having spent the longest time in oak. We named it AOC Columbia Valley, after Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Despite her youth, AOC is laser focused on her progressive platform, calling out the rich and fighting for the poor. AOC is also a play on the French wine classification, Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée.

2018 AOC Columbia Valley by Reuben Lee

Our final blend was 80% Merlot and 20% Cab Franc, made in our second location. I personally have not tasted this blend and have no tasting notes to share. Following a string of strong well-spoken female public figures, it seems fitting to add a male politician. 

We named this wine Pete after former South Bend Mayor and Democratic presidential candidate, Pete Buttigieg. Pete's impressive resume includes a Harvard degree, a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford, a high-end management consulting gig, and a military career. For better or for worse, no one else made the news for being in a wine cave!

2018 Pete by Reuben Lee

While the labels for each vintage are varied in themes and designs, the ability to have fun and to commemorate each year of winemaking unifies them all. We are after all not trying to create a brand. Yet in so doing, we are able to express what our wines mean to us. 

For our 2019 vintage, we stepped back to a single variety, Walla Walla Syrah. As we bottled the rest of the wine yesterday, it is time again to start thinking about labels. So do stay tuned because ours are not just any wine labels.

First Vintage

Last October I posted about my first winemaking experience; well at least from crush through the primary fermentation and press. That was probably the most involved part of winemaking, when twice to thrice-daily punchdowns took place with constant measuring of temperature and Brix. That was when the juice was transformed from 'must' to wine as sugar got fermented into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Secondary Fermentation

After the press, we moved into secondary fermentation of the wine in air-locked vessels. We used a 5-gallon glass carboy and three gallon jugs to use for top-up (I'll get into that later). This period was generally uneventful and less involved, but there were a few things that required attention.

Controlling the temperature. Malolactic (ML) bacteria, which was added to the juice the day before press, were quietly converting tart-tasting malic acids into fuller-bodied lactic acids. ML bacteria are sensitive to numerous factors (e.g. pH, SO2, and alcohol levels), but the one thing that worried me was my ability to keep the wine within the optimal temperature range (>70 degrees). The carboy and gallon jugs were wrapped in blankets, snugged in cardboard boxes, and gently warmed by a heating pad. My biggest fear was stuck fermentation since there were no easy tests to perform at home or measurements to track progress. I resorted mostly to prayers.

Lees left behind from racking

Racking, racking, racking. Even though most of the solid remains of the grapes and yeast (also known as pomace or marc) were removed during the press, there were still some remaining in the wine as it went through secondary fermentation. These are called the lees. Decomposing yeast in wine could cause off flavors. In order to remove the lees, we did multiple racking of the wine during secondary fermentation. Racking is the process of siphoning wine off of dead yeast into new containers.

We siphoned a total of four times; the first time was 24 hours after press, the next two were a week apart, and the final one was a month out.

Racking also has two other advantages:

• It clarifies the wine. You could literally see that the juice got clearer after each racking. In many cases, clear wine is just a matter of aesthetic. If the wine tastes good, cloudiness may not indicate flaws.
• When done correctly, racking can introduce controlled amount of oxygen into the wine. During the early part of secondary fermentation, oxygen has positive effects on unfinished wine by stabilizing the color and tannins. It allows the wine to mature gracefully and become more complex. In the later part of the secondary fermentation, caution is needed to minimize oxygen contact. If acetic bacteria is exposed to wine and oxygen, it will turn the juice into vinegar (acetic acid). 

It is important to note that you will lose wine during racking due to spills and as you avoid siphoning lees. The loss of wine during racking may increase the air space between your wine and the airlocks. You can top up the carboy with wine from the jugs or similar store-bought wine (preferably same varietal and AVA). Alternatively, you can add sterilized marbles into your containers to raise the wine level. I personally put some of my top-up wine into a sanitized plastic container, squeezed out as much air as possible, and capped it. It worked!

Final Testing

After more than three months of secondary fermentation, we performed the final testing of our wine to check on sugar, acidity, and ML fermentation. During the primary fermentation, which lasted less than two weeks, I was constantly monitoring and measuring progress. For the much longer secondary fermentation, I really had no idea what to expect. But I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

• Residual sugar was at 0.3%. This was probably the least of my concern since we pressed the wine at a really low Brix. Residual sugar over 0.6% is a concern for still red wine as it may cause re-fermentation in the bottle.

Measuring residual sugar in the wine

• pH was 3.78. This was slightly higher (or less acidic) since harvest, which was at 3.53. But it was still within the normal range.
• Titratable acidity (TA) was 7.3125. TA measures the amount of total acids and was higher than our reading during harvest, which was 7.125. It was a bit higher than I like, but not bad.
• ML fermentation appeared to have completed. While not the most accurate way to test the concentration of malic acid, the chromatography test is cost-effective. The solvent used for the chromatography is extremely toxic, and the test takes several hours. After putting dots of wine sample onto a piece of chromatography paper, it was left in a big glass jar with the solvent and the lid closed tight. 

With one exception, most of the wines appeared to have completed ML fermentation. Yellow patches indicated presence of acids. The top row of yellow revealed the presence of lactic acid, which is the goal of the ML fermentation. The bottom row of yellow revealed the presence of tartaric acid, which is also what we expected. Any yellow in the middle role revealed the presence of malic acid, which would indicate that ML fermentation has not completed. This would show that the wine has not stabilized and will need more time for ML fermentation to complete.

Chromatography test revealed that one of the wines still had malic acid

Bottling

Once the wines had passed all the tests, they were ready to be bottled. We got the bottles that we have saved up, cleaned, and sanitized. (We recycled bottles. If you buy new bottles, you can skip the above steps.) Sulfites were added to the wine just before bottling. Sulfites are a preservative and will keep the wine fresh. They are also anti-oxidants and will protect the wine from oxidation.

Adding sulfites to wine

Siphoning wine into bottles

Corking wine bottles

Finally, five months after harvest and crush, our first vintage was bottled and proudly named Abscession - a joke, as my husband was recovering from an abscess the day of the harvest. Special kudos go to my partner-in-wine, Alisa. That's her work on the label, making an access look classy. The wine will officially be released in the summer, so check back later.

Abscession 2016 Syrah

My Verdict: I am having so much fun learning about winemaking. It gave me a greater appreciation for wine. I don't think going commercial is my calling, but I'm planning for my next vintage already!