Bottling Adamo 2007

The barrel racks got here on Friday, so we were able to bottle on Saturday.

We bottled the Adamo 2007 (sangiovese and cabernet franc blend) and then we moved the Jorro-Ma 2008 (syrah) and half the Evidente 2008 (pinot noir) into their French Oak barrels.
What we're left with is four secondary fermentation drums containing the sangiovese and pinot noir that goes into the Trovato 2008.
You may like to enjoy some video of bottling, corking and capping that is on our facebook space. On this blog we offer the following pictures of the winery and some activity.
On Wednesday we shall be finishing off the bottling of Adamo 2007 and finally transferring Trovato 2008 from secondary fermentation into ageing.
Also, thanks to those who were at Whole Foods, Lane Avenue, on Saturday afternoon. Michael was released from winery hard labour to do the tasting there. We know it was a success as he had to send Katrina back up to the winery to get more wine to sell.

Here you can see us preparing a French Oak barrel. We re-use our barrels as they're way more expensive than American Oak and old European wineries re-use them too. We clean, gas them, when not in use, then re-hydrate them to swell them up again before cleaning before re-use. Barrels leak like sieves if they've dried out so re-hydrating is necessary unless you want to lose a lot of wine.

Below you see our growing wall of wine. In the foreground are the prepped French Oak barrels that will receive the secondary fermentation from out of the blue fermentation drums.

This is our bottle filling machine. Wine is pumped into the reservoir at top, then wine is dispensed into bottles via the 4 spouts you see at the front. The bottles rest on the shelf below the spouts whilst filling. From here, the bottles are passed to the corker (no pictures of corker here, but a video of this is on facebook).

After the cork is inserted into the bottle, the bottle then has a tin foil cap placed on top of it and the bottle is inserted, neck first, into the capping machine. See video on facebook.

The wall of wine grows again.

However, we still have some wine left in secondary fermenters that will be used to top-up the barrels over the course of the next 12 to 18 months (these are the demijons at back, sealed with olive oil). The blue fermenters will be emptied by next Saturday.

Getting Busy again

So a lot is happening again.

Saturday 9am - 12noon - if you know us, pop on by see what's up - shout when you arrive, we'll help you across the snow.

We checked out or old barrels and rejuvinated them. This consists of cleaning them out and filling them with water to rehydrate them. We have put wine in before hydrating and just watched it leak out again, whilst frantically caulking the head with sliced cork - can't do that with a plastic cork. Luckilly it has always been the head that leaks and even luckier, the head you can see, not the one against the wall.

So all went well with 2 barrels. 1 barrel decided it would pursue an alternative career as a sieve impressionist and got into character by happily leeking like one for about 12 hours.

It leaked from the head and the staves. But happily for us, it eventually gave up and decided to join us in maturing the 2007 wine and closed up as tight as a, well, a barrel.

It all helps with cutting down the expense of ordering more used french oak barrels and helps the planet.
We ordered morebarrels for 2007 too. They may be here next week, and we may start transferring soon after. I think the secondary fermentation is more or less complete. We'll see.

These barrels will be rehydrated too.

Tomorrow we try out our new filling machine. For thos eof you familiar with the Tom Baker Dr. Who, the filler looks like the machine used by the Santarans (Sultarans?) to go around kidnapping survivors of a crashed ship on an earth many years in the future. I dare not copy a photo from the BBC since they jumped all over those who copied the TellyTubbyies. remember them?

Well what about the Clangers, BagPuss, Chrystal Tipps and Alistair, Ivor the engine and Ludwig (what was that all about?). And long before there was Captain Jack, there was Captain Pugwash and Noggin the Nogg. Feel free to add to the list of nostalgic programming.

By the way, the Pinot Noir for 2007 is out of this world and will get even better over the next 6 months or so. Reserve now as we already have people who have tasted from those barrels making offers!

Also, Jorro-Ma (the Syrah) is getting very low.

A Temple of Our Wine

So, you know we're pretty creative bunch what with soap dishes made from our barrel staves, soap with our grape skins and so on and so forth, not least the design elements of our labels, choice of bottles...well, looks like we have surpassed ourselves this time!

It didn't start out as being a Temple of Wine, but that's what it ended up as.

We took a used French Oak barrel of ours, cut out the front, used the staves to make internal shelving, burned images and text into the wood, made it safe, but all from the perspective of a floor display.

Then it gets borrowed and it ends up in the air and looks like a Temple of Our Wine. See photo. That's our wine bottles around, in and on it.

Some behind the Scenes...

This is our corking machine. Place cork in brass hopper and pull lever down.

This is our filling machine. Place bottle under nozzle (teat?) and fill.

This is our labelling machine. Place on labelling table in exactly same spot as last time, labeller in exactly same spot on table, get template bottle with secret marks on it to align, then place bottle on it, hand crank and the labels are on...maybe first time if you've been a good lad. If not, you will suffer the endless torment and agony of micro-adjusting misaligned labels.

Bottles, upright in cases on our roller conveyor, resting to allow the cork to decompress in the bottle neck, before going on to labelling and then being placed upside down in cases to keep cork wet.

Last of the 2005

Today was, in retrospect, a watershed. It passed almost without significance and yet, it marked an end to making wine outside the "bubble" of the bonded winery status of Via Vecchia Winery. Why? Well, today saw the breaking of the last remaining barrel of our Bordeaux blend (Truove) from 2005 which was not produced under bond. From here on in, any bottling of personal use wine will come from the bonded 2006 barrels.

We leave you with images of that last barrel, a stack of wine cases duly receiving their bottles, and Michael standing proud beside his quarter share.

Well done all.

Foil Spinner Update & Another Back Label Candidate

The Foil Spinner

So, it turns out that UPS Customer Support didn't mean "cash" when it said "cash" as it really meant "money order". This meant the 2nd attempted delivery of the foil spinner aborted on Thursday afternoon.

On Friday, UPS Customer Support said the foil spinner was in its distribution depot at Trabue Road, so we went down to get it, accompanied by a money order.

After about half an hour at UPS on Trabue, we were told it was buried somewhere and wouldn't be scanned 'til Monday, when it would be re-delivered.

Monday. Monday we'll finally get it. We hope they accept money orders issued by United Dairy farmers, otherwise it's third strike and the spinner's being returned to the sender, Frances. Stay tuned.

Another Rear Label Photo Candidate.

This photo of us at Via Vecchia is another potential candidate that may end up on the rear label (see other candidate Here).

Again (left to right), Marty, Paolo, Anton and Michael.

PhotoShoot

This post was meant to be called something really great. Michael came up with it, but I forgot it. So, it's not great.

Anyway, Monday we had a photo shoot. We got together as a group for the photo for the back label of our bottles. It was all ironed white shirts in the heat and unfeasibly delicate glassware.

Michael was on time, and I think I can add, "for once".

From the photos below you'll see our props;

1 - mocked up bottles of Sangiovese/Pinot Noir and Bordeaux (former in Burgundy style bottle with the sloping shoulders, the latter in the other one);

2 - barrels - the barrels here are what contained our private stash of Sangiovese/Pinot Noir and Bordeaux;

3 - dangerous and nerve wrackingly delicate stemware, courtesy of a brave, or foolish (I cannot decide which), Anton. I mean, the life expectancy of glasses in the winery is shorter than that of WW1 pilots and he brings these along. By the way, what's the similarity between the stemware and the flextanks? They're both big! Look at the size of these glasses - they have bowls the size of your head.

Our photos were taken by Peteris Osis. Peteris is Moose Bend Images (peterisosis@gmail.com & http://www.moosebend.com/), specialising in landscape photography and kind enough to help us out.

This is Peteris.

Anyway, this is a potential candidate photo from the shoot which may feature on the rear label. Thanks to Michelle and Brian (of Mamapalooza post) for location.

And this is via Vecchia

(left to right as you view this)

Marty, Paolo, Anton, Michael

(this was slightly enlarged as it pixellated badly on loading - I think that's because Peteris' file is so big blogger couldn't handle the number of pixels at the original loaded size - I hope we don't get pixellation when this is reduced for the rear label)

Barrel Break

This will be brief. It's late.

So, Saturday. Where was Rob P? And how about the stress of a late arriving Joe without whose container Scott would be short a few gallons of our finest Bordeaux blend?
Despite all this and more, such as the multiple appearances of Mr Hankey (sp?, Michael?), the "Pink" branded sun hat, and ceremonies of dubious worth, the penultimate barrel of Bordeaux from 2005 was distributed.
Later that day we went to MamaPalooza, as we were invited and which will get its own post and video in due course. The best bit was the announcement from the stage that "Via Vecchia is in the House!" That was fun. But, as I say, more to come in a future post.
Quick Update on Winery business - we've committed on a labeller, label design is going great guns and we're enquiring about 2007 SanGiovese.
Are we having fun yet? Stupid question, course we are.
PS - anyone know who wont the Eurovision Song Contest?
And below, left to right on all three rows
Back row - Scott, James, John; Centre row - Paolo, Joe, Anton, Marty (yellow cap); Front Row - Linus (dog), Mike, Michael (with hat).

Via Vecchia Winery Management Team

Hello everyone! Michael here. With Anton, Marty and Paolo taking much needed holidays, I am "in charge". Therefore, let me introduce you to our Management Team.. Pictured to the left you will find us sampling our 2005 Bordeaux Blend. The item peeking out of the top of the barrel is an ullage preventer. This innovative product is from our friends at Flextank. Pictured beginning from the left side is Marty, Anton, Michael and Paolo. We all have full time positions outside the winery but that does not keep us from giving our hand crafted wine the attention and care we feel it deserves. What was once friends gathering to make wine the old way for our own purpose has turned into a strong desire and demand to craft a quality wine the old way and share with the public. In the coming months, we will be revealing our trade marked logo, wine label and the release date of our wine. We have received thus far very good feedback from the public, fellow winemakers and industry peers. We appreciate you visiting our blog and hope you enjoy our journey to create a wine that is free from added sulfites, sugars, flavor and color. After all, our ancestors did not feel the need to add these chemicals...why should we? Please feel free to comment and ask questions by email at viavecchiawinery@yahoo.com. Cheers!

Wine Transfer Notes

[Two of the "Old Boys". These demijons came from Grondola in the Tuscan Appenines. They're at least 55 years old if we give it a break, 'cos if it travelled with Paolo's family in the first migration to England, in the 1920s, then they're older]

Some basic info on the wines we've been transferring over the past couple of weeks.

Please note that the Natural Sulfite Level ("NSL") is that which occurs in our wine naturally. We measured it last weekend. What we measure here are the Free Sulfites that are able to deal with oxygen in the wine and keep it locked up out of the liquid, preventing it turning the wine or feeding any residual yeasts/sugars. You'll remember that we have not added anything to this wine at all.

"ppm" is "parts per million.

The Organic Standard for Wine is 120ppm free sulfites ("Org")

The Federal Standard for Wines is 350ppm free sulfites ("Fed")

The Californian Standard for Red Wine is 175ppm / White Wine is 225ppm ("CA")

"Bordeaux Blend" comprises Cabernet Sauvignon, cabernet Franc and Merlot.

Varietal or Blend ------------- NSL --------pH------------Final ppm

-------------------------------------------------------------------- (Org = 120ppm)

San Giovese ----------------------- 31ppm -----3.8--------------80ppm
San Giovese/Pinot Noir Blend - 33ppm -------3.8--------------80ppm
Shiraz ------------------------------ 37ppm -----4.0 - 4.2-------60ppm
Bordeaux Blend ------------------ 40ppm -----3.8 - 4.0-------60ppm
Cab Franc ------------------------- 35ppm ------3.8 - 4.0------60ppm

For wine to be drunk between now and September, the NSL sulfite levels are fine. Since we'll be ageing these wines, and then they'll sit in bottles, these levels are too low and there are not enough free sulfites to deal with the controlled oxidation as they sit in barrels and any residual yeasts/sugars that may want to get something started.

Yeast can survive in up to 15% by volume alcohol. Maybe why we see a lot of those higher alcohol wines is that it's hoped they'll deal with residual yeasts so sulfiting can be reduced, but you need very high acid to deal with high alcohol so lord knows what's thrown in to knock the acidic taste back.

For us, this is a difficult time. We do not want to lose the wine. We do not want to use even, in our minds, the excessive Org standard for sulfiting. We are fortunate to have good Acid. So we make a judgement call. This year we decided to add minimum sulfite still way below the lowest Org Standard and below the recommended sulfite levels for the given ppm, pH and volume. If the San Giovese and Pinot had ended up in French Oak barrels then we would have stuck to 60ppm, as it is, we're using new (to us) technology and don't know how the wine will age in it so we erred on caution but still well below Org Standards.

As far as our chemical intervention goes, this is it the beginning and end of it.

[Two of our Bordeaux Blend French oak Barrels. They're handsome aren't they]

Technorati Tags:ageing, bordeaux, cabernet, french oak, pinot, san giovese, shiraz, via vecchia, wine barrel, winery
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Finally! There's light at the end of the tunnel or, should I say, wine at the top of the bung hole?
Yes, flextank got those maturation vessels shipped out to us and Anton and I collected them today.
They look good in the winery - quite a different dynamic goes on looking at them. What do I mean by that? Well, everyone knows about traditional wooden barrels and you all know what they're about, laying on their sides, being barrel-ish. Their size and presence is a known quantity and nothing grabs you. When it comes to these Flextank maturation vessels though, now that's another story.
You see they have Presence. For a start, they're taller than us and wider. So you stare at this big thing and realise it's going to a big thing full of a lot of wine! A big lot of wine, if you like. So, something bigger than you are AND full of wine, stood there just being full of wine. It's full of wine and it's really large. Imagine something you can climb into, being full of wine. Imagine floating in it full of wine. It goes on and on. Far more imposing that the subtle and unassuming wooden barrel on its side that you have dominion over.
Anyway, they arrived so tomorrow we put the San Giovese / Pinot Noir in one and the straight san Giovese in t'other.
Photos tomorrow then. TTFN.

Barrels, Drama & We're On The Air WSCS 90.9FM

[here's Anton (left) and me (Paolo) with French Oak loaded up]
The French Oak arrived on Tuesday - and so did the snows. Mid afternoon Anton and I did a sanity check - do we just get them because we're excited and will do it under any conditions, no matter how bad, or do we wait. We decided to get them but not take the trailer and risk it sliding all over the place pulling the back end of the pickup all over the place.
In the end we loaded 6 barrels on the pickup and secured them with straps. They were held in place by a stand on the end. The remaining barrel and two stands when in the Explorer.
Marty was at the winery to help unload.

[above - here we all are with our pet cellar rat in middle - left to right, Michael, Marty, Cellar Rat, Paolo, Anton]
Drama.
Since the flextanks won't be here for the weekend there's no rush to do the Bordeaux so all we did on Wednesday was the Shiraz. Everything was going fine but then Marty said that the barrel we were filling was creaking. Was it the wood responding to slightly warmer wine? Was it the barrel settling on its rack as it got heavier? Creaking? So I turned the pump off and went to go see. Just as I arrived Marty pulled the hose out of the barrel and the wine exploded out of the bung hole!
What had happened was that as we were filling there was no air escaping and so the barrel was creaking as the pressure built up inside. You'd think the hose would have popped out of the bung hole. So a good thing we didn't keep on as we may have burst the barrel itself. Has that happened before?
We couldn't start the pump after that until after we disconnected all hoses and stripped the impeller housing down and then took a look at the drive pulley. We got it going again.
After we filled 2 barrels (@158gallons or 790 bottles) we then decanted the Shiraz in the demijons. This will be used to top up the Shiraz barrels.
On Saturday we'll do the Bordeaux blend, and next week the Sangiovese Pinot Noir.

Friday we're On Air at WSCS 90.9FM New Hampshire - I think they broadcast on the web too. We'll be talking at 2.45pm EST on the Kitchen-sink program. Soap-box time! We must behave.

And this is John who came by to lend a hand. He's siphoning the Shiraz in the demijon.

New Ageing Area

Tomorrow we sort out the new ageing area where we'll store the barrels of our wine. I hope that we'll have pics to show you as we've been too long without them, but please go back over our Archive to see lots and lots of pics and video.
We're concerned you're getting bored, so please go back and see just how interesting and amusing we can be.
Michael - no trials of strength please - we don't need more injuries.

Kelly - thanks for your Comment. We discussed it on Wednesday. You certainly brought up a couple of experiential aspects of the cork that we had missed.