2020 Zinfandel
October 2020
I like last year’s Old Vines Zinfandel from Lodi, CA, so I’m making it again.
I intended to bottle most as a varietal, but changed plans. This wine is going into the Meritage Plus blend. Yes, I know Zinfandel is not a Bordeaux grape … that’s the reason for the Plus.
This log tracks the fermentation and pressing of this wine. Post-fermentation I have 3 records to track:
Unoaked Zinfandel — I’m reserving 4 liters, which will remain unoaked, and bottled separately. This wine is for comparison purposes in future years, and will continue to be tracked in this log.
Meritage Plus – The second barrel contains everything else, and is roughly 40% Merlot, 20% Vinifera Blend, and 40% Merlot. This wine is tracked in a separate log.
Meritage — Free run Merlot and Vinifera Blend went in the other barrel.
Note: I’m using the name “Meritage”, which is copyright by the Meritage Alliance. This group was founded to create and protect a name for Bordeaux-style wines that does not violate French law regarding the use of the name “Bordeaux”. Commercial wineries pay a fee to the Alliance to use the name. I’m not commercial, my wines are not for sale, and will never be tasted by anyone other that family and friends, so I don’t feel bad about using the name. If I went commercial, I’d join the Alliance.
I bottled the the 1 gallon samples of the Merlot, Zinfandel, Vinifera Blend, unoaked Meritage, and unoaked Meritage Plus with a simple label:
Ingredients
| Grape | 144# Old Vine Zinfandel from Lodi, CA |
| Enzyme | 2 tsp Scottzyme Color Pro |
| Fermentation Oak | 1 lb shredded American oak, medium toast |
| Yeast | 2 packages Red Star Premier Rouge |
| Nutrient | 12 tsp Fermax + 6 tsp Fermax |
| Sulfite | potassium metabisulfite added at various points (see below) |
Method
| Crushed & destemmed the grapes. Grapes at 52 F, have to warm up to 65 F before inoculation.
Added Scottzyme Color Pro for improved color extraction and 1 lb fermentation oak. |
10/10/2020 SG 1.090 |
| Temperature rose to 67 F in the afternoon. Added 12 tsp Fermax and yeast. | 10/11/2020 SG 1.090 |
| Added 6 tsp Fermax. | 10/14/2020 SG 1.058 |
| The cap started to drop with fermentation ended, so I got little free run from this. Medium pressed the pomace.
I reserved 2 gallons, which will continue to be tracked in this log. The remainder is part of the Meritage Plus blend. |
10/20/2020 SG 0.996 |
| Racked. I reduced this batch to a 4 liter jug and a 1.5 liter wine bottle. The remainder is moved to the Meritage Plus blend. | 11/20/2020 SG 0.995 |
| Racked. I reduced this batch to a single 4 liter jug. The remainder is moved to the Meritage Plus blend. | 02/25/2021 SG 0.995 |
| Racked, added K-meta & glycerin, bottled. | 09/28/2021 SG 0.995 |
Notes
| Yield | 5 bottles |
| Alcohol | 12.9% |
| 09/28/2021 | As with the Merlot, this one is oddly tannic, while the Vinifera Blend is not. I’d expect the opposite. |
| 09/04/2022 | I have 2 bottles of the unoaked Zin left, and one was opened today.
Unaerated: Color is bright-n-purple. Smells like Zin. Initial taste is very fruity; however, the tannin a REALLY strong on the sides of the tongue. Distractingly so. Aerated: Same color and aroma as unaerated. The flavor is markedly different — much fruitier, and the tannin, while strong, is more subdued and approachable. This wine needs another 2 years in the bottle to mature. |
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1 Response
[…] first section is an amalgamation of the starting of the 2020 Merlot, Vinifera Blend, and Zinfandel wines. 1 gallon of each of these wines is preserved separately so I’ll have 5 bottles of each […]