Implementing New Net Position

We have always talked about putting our nets at the lowest position on our linepost which is where our irrigation hose is located but we have never implemented it. What a lower net position would do for us during the growing season is that it will definitely avoid this:

The photo shows tendrils growing into the rolled netting. All of the tendrils have to be removed from the netting and the shoots tucked into the trellis wire before veraison when the nets have to be lowered. The removal of the tendrils takes the better part of the growing season. During the growing season, we always tell ourselves that we will never be doing this again!
We go back and forth about how we will lower the netting and how we will attach it to the lineposts. We wanted to use something that was easy to use and reusable. We settled on Velcro this year and are tying the netting to our irrigation hose at each linepost. It looks like this:

One person can lower the netting from it's current position and Velcro the netting to the irrigation hose. It is a good solution, unless we need to use the irrigation!

Vintage 2024: March Pruning

There is no excuse now since we have been having very warm weather this March. Beginning March 3, we have been out in the vineyard pruning. For us, pruning entails cutting the wire that holds down last year's fruiting cane, removing all of the black ties we used to hold the shoots upright, pruning the tops of last year's shoots and most importantly, selecting this year's fruiting canes. As we do this, we are checking to see how the buds look. So far, the buds look dormant, which for now is a very good thing.
It's a good time for me to refresh myself regarding grape vine phenology.

• One of the very best papers, available online is Ed Hellman's Grapevine Structure and Function
• A chart that I often refer to is this: Modified Eichhorn-Lorenz Chart

At the moment, the vineyard is in the dormant bud stage, pretty much stage 1, the winter bud stage:

Here is what the vineyard is looking like now:

We leave at least 2 canes from last year to be this year's fruiting canes. All of the cuttings are piled at the lineposts. This makes gathering the cuttings "easy". Last year, we purchased an expedition sled and used it in the vineyard to remove the cuttings.
This year we hope to implement another idea which should save us a lot of time during the growing season. We almost never have time to bring the netting into the lowest position on the linepost to prevent the summer tendrils from twining into the net. This spring however, we hope to bring all of the nets to the lowest possible position on the linepost to avoid the tendril twining situation. We are testing out a few ideas that we have and when we implement it, I will blog about it. Until then, it's more pruning for us!

States that Drink the Most Wine

My wine feed from a few days ago had a very interesting map of the United States showing the states that drink the most wine!¹
This map is based on data from 2021:

I also learned that there are some 11,000 wineries in the United States. California, the state home to the highest population and the highest number of vineyards, naturally consumed the most wine in 2021: over 155 million gallons. In second place is Florida, having consumed 83.2 million gallons, and Texas takes third with 65.6 million gallons. On the opposite end of the scale, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming drink the least amount of wine overall, just 1.2 million gallons in 2021.
References:
1. Vinepair, Sara Pinsonault, The States That Drink the Most Wine in America (2023), March 11, 2024.

Industrial Space Upgrade

We are currently in the process of turning our industrial space into a more functioning winery. One important component in a functioning winery is a wash down station. Last year, when we pressed our harvest in our industrial space, we borrowed our neighbor's running water. It's not that we didn't have running water, the water was not accessible to us.
To solve that problem, we were in communications with Mark and Dan, who installed our HVAC. Planning began last fall and my husband began sourcing the wash down station as well as a sink. This past week was when Mark and Dan had some time to do the work for us.
There was a lot of prep work to be done. The electrical outlet needed to be moved and for that we called on our electrician who came on the day that Mark and Dan were there so they could coordinate where the new location for the outlet should be.

Then, the old plumbing was removed temporarily while Mark and Dan put up the fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) to protect the sheetrock from getting wet. The plywood that can been seen on the left photo is where the washdown station will be located. It was the first time that Mark and Dan put up FRP so I understand that there was some reference to Picasso when Dan was trowelling the glue on the wall.

All of the business end of the plumbing is located in one of the bathrooms. There is a filter plumbed into the line as well as many shut off valves.

This is how the washdown station and the sink looks like:

The washdown station will allow us to move wine around and clean the kegs and tanks. Mark and Dan did a fabulous job! Thank you so much!

60 Additions that Can be Made to Wine

In blogging about TTB Listening Sessions on Label Regulations, I learned that there are 60 things that could be added to wine. I knew of a few of them but not 60! Fortunately, we don't add anything except for potassium metabisulfite, which is the sulfite addition on the label. However, it is good to know what other wines might contain. So, here is the list:¹

Additive	Reason for Addition
Acacia (gum arabic):	To clarify and stabilize wine
Acetaldehyde:	For color stabilization of juice prior to concentration
Activated carbon:	To assist precipitation during fermentation, clarify and purify wine; to remove color from wine and/or juice from which wine is produced
Albumen (egg white):	Fining agent for wine
Alumino-silicates (hydrated) Bentonite and Kaolin:	To clarify and stabilize wine or juice
Ascorbic acid iso-ascorbic acid (erythorbic acid):	To prevent oxidation of color and flavor components of juice or wine
Bakers yeast mannoprotein:	To stabilize wine from the precipitation of potassium bitartrate crystals
Calcium carbonate (CACO3):	To reduce the excess natural acids in high acid wine or in juice prior to or during fermentation; as a fining agent for cold stabilization
Calcium sulfate (gypsum):	To lower pH in sherry wine
Carbon dioxide (including food grade dry ice):	To stabilize and preserve wine
Casein, (Potassium salt):	To clarify wine
Chitosan from Aspergillus niger:	To remove spoilage organisms such as Brettanomyces from wine
Citric acid:	To correct natural acid deficiencies in certain juice or wine; To stabilize wine other than citrus wine
Copper sulfate:	To remove hydrogen sulfide and/or mercaptans from wine
Defoaming agents (polyoxyethylene 40 monostearate, silicon dioxide, dimethylpolysiloxane, sorbitan monostearate, glyceryl mono-oleate and glyceryl dioleate):	To control foaming, fermentation adjust
Dimethyl dicarbonate (DMDC):	To sterilize and stabilize wine
Enzymatic activity: Various enzymes and uses:	Carbohydrase (alpha-amylase): To convert starches to fermentable carbohydrates Carbohydrase (beta-amylase): To convert starches to fermentable carbohydrates Carbohydrase (Glucoamylase, Amylogluco-sidase): To convert starches to fermentable carbohydrates Carbohydrase (pectinase, cellulase, hemicellulase): To facilitate separation of juice from the fruit Catalase: To clarify and stabilize wine Cellulase: To clarify and stabilize wine and facilitate separation of the juice from the fruit Cellulase (beta-glucanase): To clarify and filter wine and juice Glucose oxidase: To clarify and stabilize wine Lysozyme: To stabilize wines from malolactic acid bacterial degradation Pectinase: To clarify and stabilize wine and to facilitate separation of juice from the fruit Protease (general): To reduce or to remove heat labile proteins Protease (Bromelin): To reduce or remove heat labile proteins Protease (Ficin): To reduce or remove heat labile proteins Protease (Papain): To reduce or remove heat labile proteins Protease (Pepsin): To reduce or remove heat labile proteins Protease (Trypsin): To reduce or remove heat labile proteins Urease: To reduce levels of naturally occurring urea in wine to help prevent the formation of ethyl carbamate
Ethyl maltol:	To stabilize wine
Fermentation aids:	To facilitate fermentation of juice and wine: Ammonium phosphate/diammonium phosphate (mono and di-basic Biotin (vitamin B7) Calcium panthothenate (vitamin B5) Folic acid (folate) Inositol (myo-inositol) Magnesium sulfate Niacin (vitamin B3) Pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6) Soy flour (defatted) Thiamine hydrochloride Yeast, autolyzed Yeast, cell wall/membranes of autolyzed yeast
Ferrous sulfate:	To clarify and stabilize wine
Fractionated potato protein isolates:	Fining agent for wine
Fumaric acid:	To correct natural acid deficiencies in grape wine; To stabilize wine
Gelatin (food grade):	To clarify juice or wine
Granular cork:	To smooth wine
Isinglass:	To clarify wine
Lactic acid:	To correct natural acid deficiencies in grape wine
Malic acid:	To correct natural acid deficiencies in juice or wine
Malolactic bacteria:	To stabilize grape wine
Maltol:	To stabilize wine
Milk products (pasteurized whole, skim or half-and-half):	Fining agent for grape wine; To remove off flavors in wine
Nitrogen gas:	To maintain pressure during filtering and bottling or canning of wine and to prevent oxidation of wine
Oxygen and compressed air:	Various uses in juice and wine
Polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP):	To clarify and stabilize wine and to remove color from red wine or juice
Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) polyvinylimidazole (PVI) polymer (terpolymer of 1-vinylimidazole, 1-vinylpyrrolidone, and 1,2-divinylimidazolidinone; CAS 8765-40-5(Chemical Abstracts Service Registration Number)	To remove heavy metal ions and sulfides from wine
Potassium bitartrate:	To stabilize grape wine
Potassium carbonate and/or potassium bicarbonate:	To reduce excess natural acidity in wine and in juice prior to or during fermentation
Potassium citrate:	pH control agent and sequestrant in the treatment of citrus wines
Potassium meta-bisulfite:	To sterilize and preserve wine
Silica gel (colloidal silicon dioxide):	To clarify wine or juice
Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose:	To stabilize wine by preventing tartrate precipitation
Sorbic acid and potassium salt of sorbic acid:	To sterilize and preserve wine; to inhibit mold growth and secondary fermentation
Sulfur dioxide:	To sterilize and to preserve wine or juice
Tannin:	To adjust tannin content in apple juice or in apple wine; To clarify or adjust tannin content of juice or wine (other than apple)
Tartaric aicd (L-(+)-tartaric acid):	To correct natural acid deficiencies in grape juice or wine and to reduce the pH of grape juice or wine where ameliorating material is used in the production of grape wine

In looking closer at the above list, there are other additions that we might make depending on the grape variety that we are dealing with. Here is our list of potential additives in our wines:

Additive	Reason for Addition
Malolactic bacteria:	To stabilize grape wine; to conduct secondary malolactic fermentation
Nitrogen gas:	To maintain pressure during filtering and bottling or canning of wine and to prevent oxidation of wine
Sulfur dioxide:	To sterilize and to preserve wine or juice

References:
1. Code of Federal Regulations, § 24.246 Materials authorized for the treatment of wine and juice.

TTB Listening Sessions on Label Regulations

On January 1, 2024, the Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) posted the following notice informing the public that The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) will conduct virtual listening sessions to receive input from the public on labeling of wine, distilled spirits, and malt beverages to disclose per-serving alcohol and nutritional information, major food allergens, and/or ingredients.¹
These listening sessions were intended to engage the public, including consumers, public health stakeholders, and industry members of all sizes, and facilitate the public's ability to provide input to inform rulemaking.
There were five points of discussion:
     1. Do consumers believe that they are adequately informed by the          information currently provided on alcohol beverage labels?
     2. Is alcohol content per serving, and nutritional information (such as          calories, carbohydrates, protein, and fat) per serving important for          consumers in deciding whether to purchase or consume a particular          alcohol beverage? Would a full list of ingredients, and/or major food          allergens, be important information for consumers in making their          purchasing or consumption decisions? In what ways would this          information be useful, and in what ways could it be misleading? Is some          of this information more important than others?
     3. What types of per-serving nutritional information, such as calories,          carbohydrates, protein, and fat, should be included?
     4. Would requiring this information on labels be expected to increase the          cost of the products and, if so, by how much? To what extent are          businesses already following voluntary guidelines for this information?          Are there alternative ways of providing the information, for example by          allowing information to be provided through a website using a quick          response code (QR code) or website address on the label?
     5. How would any new mandatory labeling requirements particularly affect          small businesses and new businesses entering the marketplace?
The listening sessions were held on the 28th and the 29th of February. Full disclosure, I did not attend the virtual session, but my newsfeed contained a link to someone who did. W. Blake Gray posted TTB Listens to Wine Industry on March 1, 2024. Here is what he reported back in his article.

• Most consumers believe that they are not adquately informed by the information currently provided on an alcoholic beverage label
• Diabetics would like to see the amount of residual sugar reported on the label
• People with allergies expressed an interest in knowing what was in the alcoholic beverage; for example glycerin can be a life threatening allergen for some people
• Some wanted the calorie information to be on the label
• Small beer brewers expressed a concern that if information such as calorie content was required, the amount of changes that needed to be made to imprint a new can would be cost prohibitive
• W. Blake Gray opined that ingredient labeling would be good for the industry but he didn't see that nutritional content would be necessary

The reason this listening session was held was that in Europe, nutrition information will soon be required but can be given in a QR code, not on the label itself. Ignacio Sanchez Recarte, representing 13 EU member states, suggested that the US adopt a similar system. A major advantage is that information that is online, but not printed, can be adjusted at the last minute when the results for a wine vary from what was expected.²
What are your thoughts?
References:
1. Labeling and Advertising of Wine, Distilled Spirits, and Malt Beverages With Alcohol Content, Nutritional Information, Major Food Allergens, and Ingredients.
2. W. Blake Gray, TTB Listens to Wine Industry, March 1, 2024.

Vintage 2024: March 1 - Tasting our 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé

It is already March! Time flies when you're trying to get a business up and going during the hiatus in the vineyard. We are having some plumbing put into our industrial space which will make it possible for us to rack our wines and clean our kegs and tanks.
The weather is getting warmer and the crocuses are up! Last night, we had a Japanese style dinner of pork tonkatsu, rice and broccoli and my husband casually said, shall we drink one of our wines? He was referring to our 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon rosé. I said sure! He did warn me that we only had one more bottle of 750 and one more bottle of 375 left of this vintage.
When my husband opened the bottle, we could immediately smell the aroma wafting out of the bottle, reminding us of the singular experience we had when we opened a bottle of Martinelli Jackass Hill Vineyard Zinfandel. The aroma was one of strawberries and raspberries. The flavor did not disappoint. The wine went well with dinner.
In 2018, we had 5 friends come to harvest our first vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Our 5 friends took only one hour and forty-five minutes to harvest 4 rows of grapes.
We borrowed our friend's destemmer/crusher to process approximately 85 pounds of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes which yielded 7 gallons of juice. The Brix at harvest was 17, so we decided that it really should be turned into a rosé. We extracted the juice from the skins by putting the destemmed grapes into mash bags, our usual MOO and stomped on it. We put the extracted juice into a keg in our temperature controlled cooler and then used a yeast called VIN13 to vinify the Cabernet Sauvignon.
We tasted the wine in June 2019 and it was delicious but we waited until October to bottle the wine and regretted our lack of urgency since it appeared to us that we lost that vibrant, fresh red berry fruit flavors.
Over the years, we've shared it with our friends who came to harvest our red grapes but we never tasted that vibrancy and red berry flavors until....last night!
The wine was clear and garnet in color with flavors of strawberries and raspberries. It showed us that there is chemistry happening in the bottle! In 2019, we bottled eighteen 750 mL and twelve 375 mL bottles of this rosé.