Thanks for the question Andrew!
We explore why we add acid to wine, looking at the chemistry, and, impact on taste, as well as how it will affect the wines ability to age.
It’s a busy day in the Tiny Winery today! It’s 449 days since our beautiful Shiraz arrived in the winery.
Blending time … mostly!
The 2015 Wine Decoded ‘Bathtub’ Cabernet Sauvignon!
Just a little bit excited 😉
Alcoholic fermentation has finished and the Bathtub Winemaking Project Shiraz has been pressed and is now resting in either tank or barrel.
Malolactic fermentation has started converting malic acid to the softer lactic acid. We need to start raising the wine, the process of élévage begins.
We’ve been working hard on the Shiraz in the Bathtubs to get the texture just right!
Now one of the critical steps … pressing! Get it wrong & all that work will be for naught.
Spice, Perfume, Tannin .. some like it strong, some like it weak, some with a splash of milk, lemon, or a spoon of sugar!
We like our stalks in wine!
Tasting a fermenting wine goes against everything you’d do when drinking a finished wine!
Check out how we do it.
Guiding ferments during the peak of ferment requires wisdom & agility.
There is an infinite number of actions you can take & an equal number of things that can go wrong!
Pumping over is just one of the ways.
Our whole bunch Shiraz ferment is starting to kick. Now it’s time to think about fermentation temperature & ongoing tannin management
It’s school holidays and that can mean only one thing, time to put the kids to work stomping grapes!
All quiet in the Wine Decoded Tiny Winery. Fermentation hasn’t started yet.
Day 1 – After a long wait our Yarra Valley Shiraz is off the vine & in the winery!
We’ll be posting updates as the action happens. Stay Tuned!
The Great Challenge … Finding the Perfect Time to Pick Your Grapes!
When the Colour Starts to Change we Know Vintage is Just Around the Corner!
We top up the Bathtub Winemaking Projects barrels every two weeks. This 1 minute winemaking quickie explains why!
It’s time to Rack the Wine Decoded Bathtub Shiraz! Decanting it out of tank and barrel removing anything that has settled to the bottom and introduce a little bit of oxygen to help the wine develop.
In the latest episode of the Bathtub Winemaking Project we talk about Natural Sedimentation for unfiltered wine. What’s it all about? How does it work?
In the latest episode of the Bathtub Winemaking Project we talk Oak vs Tank. How does the vessel you mature your wine in change it? What are we looking for and trying to achieve?
Stalks can impart an incredible spice into red wine adding intrigue! They also add tannin, some times you want them in your wine, other times you need to remove them! Watch as we remove stalks from our Yarra Valley Shiraz and explain what we were trying to achieve by using them!
Daily Rituals in the Wine Decoded Bathtub Winery! Always Tasting! Always Thinking! Watch 2hrs of Action Condensed into a little over 4mins with an Explanation from our Chief Wine Hacker, Paul!
Checking the progress of the Whole Bunch Shiraz Ferment!
Time to taste all the different components, whole bunches, whole berries, crushed fruit & juice!
Then we’ll have a think about what we’ll do next!
We’re playing with Whole Bunch Shiraz this year
First time we’ve seen this fruit
Hope it gives us some beautiful perfume, fun texture & yumminess!
Tasting ferments during the winemaking process is part of the daily ritual during vintage.
It helps winemakers guide the wines in the right direction by doing a whole series of little things.
Check out how we assess where the yumminess is at during the early stages of fermentation!
The Wine Decoded Bathtub Winemaking Project Shiraz is in the house! Nothing Like a 38°C day to Shift 140 Buckets of Fruit into Bathtub Fermenters!
It’s crushing time!
Check out all the action as we crush our yummy fruit, transport it to Wine Decoded HQ and bucket it into our 3 bathtubs for fermentation!
After a false start, the WINE DECODED Bathtub Winemaking Project 2016 is GO!
Big Shout Out to Dylan McMahon for helping us find some yummy fruit to play with!
Yesterday we sampled Shiraz from a beautiful vineyard in Seville East on the edge of Gruyere in the Yarra Valley.
The French use the term élévage with reference to both wine and children! It translates to “A good upbringing” or “Being well raised”.
The first and only press for Vintage 2015 is done and dusted! The WINE DECODED Bathtub Winemaking Cabernet was squished a few weeks ago, after 24 days on skins. The perfume and earthiness I was looking for have arrived. The texture has lengthened, developed beautifully and is looking good.
Cap is looking might close to going over this am! I wish my assistant winemaker wouldn’t splash whilst bathing in the wine! We’ve run a barrel of free run off for barrel fermentation with about 15% of the alcoholic fermentation to go. Post Fermentation Maceration Explained – Gotta Keep Pushing! Check out what happened from Day 11-14
Fermentation is winding down & it’s time to get our oak barrels ready to fill.
There’s nothing quite like the smell of a new French oak barrel.