Sauvignon Blanc
The challenges surrounding COVID this year convinced us to pass on Washington State and return to the Okanagan for wine grapes. It had been a decade since our last foray, and with some help from Anita's cousin in Penticton, we found a winery in Naramata that was willing to sell us Sauvignon Blanc. Anita's family has deep roots in the Okanagan grape industry, and her dad's knowledge of the valley, its vineyards and agriculture is never lost on me when I visit.
A wet spring initially set back growing in the valley, but a warm and dry summer made up for lost time, and we initially expected an earlier harvest towards the end of September. Then, the smoke from California arrived, blotted out much of the growing energy delivered by the sun, and set the harvest back into October. After a couple of false starts, we finally settled on Friday, October 9th, for harvest.
The pictures and video clips below tell the story of harvest, crushing, pressing and initial fermentation of this year's vintage.
Robert, hard at work cleaning the crusher de-stemmer before heading out to Naramata to pick up the crop. This guy is amazing and comes from Quebec for harvest, every year. In his off time, he even insulated my garage!
A big shout out to "Wayne & Freda", a trendy little cafe in Penticton with amazing sandwiches, baked goods, and coffee.
Vineyard manager Sophie bringing in one of two boxes of Sauvignon Blanc from the vineyard. She picked in the rain and was thoroughly drenched by the time our shipment was ready. #goodpeople
Almost 600lbs of fruit on the weigh scale.
Wrapping the boxes in poly to keep everything dry on the way home.
Richard, the owner and winemaker, showing his skill on the forklift.
One box loaded, one to go. Robert was very careful to measure the boxes and ensure our rental truck had enough room.
Nearly 1300lbs of Sauvignon Blanc secured for the journey up the Coquihalla Pass and on to Fort Langley. Our truck felt like a boat with the bow riding high on the water.
Five hours later in my garage with Robert and Brent - our crushing crew.
Getting set to start crushing. No feet involved!
Crush begins!
Looking into the crusher de-stemmer. The auger (visible) pulls the clusters of grapes over rotating rubber rollers. The rollers can be set to gently crack the berries, fully crush them, or anything in between, depending on winemaking style. Below the rollers (unseen) rotating paddles and a mesh separate the stems from the fruit. For Sauvignon Blanc, we are fully crushing the berries.
Juice and crushed berries, now referred to as must, fall down the shoot into stainless steel buckets. From there the must is loaded into stainless steel tanks and readied for pressing.
On to box number two. Crushing itself took only about an hour; however, the preparation and cleanup required several hours of effort.
Sauvignon Blanc must in the tanks and ready for pressing the following day.
The conclusion of a big day that started with harvest 500KM's distant and completed with a thorough cleaning of all equipment and our garage.
Press begins! With white wine grapes, it is typical to press immediately after crushing. Unlike red wine grapes, whites ferment on juice instead of must.
Our press crew had some fresh help...
and club members who took part in the earlier crush.
For this year's vintage, we are using a specialised yeast to highlight flavours typically found in the New Zealand expression of Sauvignon Blanc. Called Alchemy for its magical powers 😉it produces thiols, or sulphur compounds that give Sauvignon Blanc its characteristic grassy, boxwood, passion fruit and citrus flavours.
The grape juice ferments in stainless steel tanks. Without the lid, the foaming must is clearly visible.
To ensure that no oxygen contacts the wine, all tanks are sealed with lids. Because the fermentation (especially in the beginning) is evolving significant quantities of carbon dioxide gas, a bubble lock is fitted to the lid. The lock contains a water trap that allows CO2 out but no air in.
Music to the winemaker's ears! With fermentation under way, the bubble locks are busy. CO2 accumulation in the cellar is a significant safety concern, as it is possible to asphyxiate when concentrations are high. Two professional wine makers in the Okanagan died in a related tragedy around the time we started making wine.
As Robbie Burns said, the best made plans of mice and men go oft awry. Such was the case when our cellar air conditioning unit failed. It's important to ferment whites like Sauvignon Blanc in a cool environment. Fortunately for us, mother nature helped out with cool and low October temperatures.
After taking the air conditioner in for servicing, a grill was placed over the opening of the cellar. With a fan and some ducting installed inside, we've managed to keep things cool.
Ferment has been underway for six days, now. In another week or so, all of the sugar provided by the grapes will have been consumed by the yeast leaving the wine still and dry. Until then, warm regards from your friends at The Purple Habit.
