Chronicles of the Long Shot Farm

Wine

1st Corot-Noir Harvest

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Our first Corot Noit harvst turned out to be rather sparse.  Not only was it the first year that the vines were producing, but we had pruned a lot of clusters off to ensure the vines stayed healthy through the dry summer conditions.  But on top of all that, we had major bird damage – the story of our 2016 harvest season.

For these grapevines, we had used black netting, since it is a lot more aesthetic to look at – sadly, the black netting was completely useless.

We picked just enough grapes to end up with 2.5 gallons of must (we had been hoping for ten times that much).  Since we had so few grapes, we destemmed them manually, and then crushed them by hand.

We let fermentation run its course, punched down the cap every day, and ended up with 1.5 gallons of wine.  We’ll see how it turns out in about a year.  For 2017 we are hoping for a full barrel!

Another Bottling Day

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We took advantage of a long weekend to do another bottling run – with just three of us we bottled our 2014 Chambourcin and 2014 Rosè.  Not counting set-up and cleaning before and after, it only took us about 4 hours to bottle. Everything together took about a day with extra helpers.  Fortunately, we had no equipment breakdown and only broke two bottles during corking (go Lars!)

Wineberries?

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One of the “must have” bramble varieties for a budding winery has to be the wineberry – Rubus phoenicolasius, also called Japanese Wineberry, or Wine Raspberry (see Wikipeadia for more info)  It is a native species in China, Japan and Korea and was introduced to North America in the late 19th century for breeding new hybrid raspberry varieties.  These berries are very tasty, with a more intense raspberry flavor than raspberries themselves.  Wineberries are sweet but also tart, and the higher level of acidity is what makes them so good for jams and for wine.

Wineberries now grow wild in parts of the United States, primarily in the Appalachian Mountains – and they certainly grow around our region!  They are commonly found  along the edges of fields and roadsides, but are not widely cultivated.  Actually, wineberries are considered an invasive weed in many states, including Pennsylvania.There is a great blog post on the Cumerland County Extension website about wineberries.

What makes this type of bramble so unique is the way that the berries ripen inside a calyx – a remainder of the flower.  The calyx folds back as the fruit reaches maturity and a shiny, slightly sticky and very tasty berry emerges.

Despite the fact that these berries are not widely cultivates, we dug some out this weekend and planted them in a new row, next to a row of red raspberries.  We’ll see how cultivation affects these berries.  Hoping that we can contain them in a neat row and that they bear a lot of fruit.  Can’t wait to make some jam and maybe some wine as well.

Eastern Winery Expo

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Jens and Tina each took a day off work to attend one day of the Eastern Winery Exposition – which is held in Lancaster every other year (the odd years are held in Syracuse).  We split up for the educational sessions, so that we could cover the double track of seminars.  Luckily we did, as there was a lot of good information! We also had time to walk through the exhibit area and talk to a lot of vendors.

Sessions that were especially useful were a track dealing with the chemistry, processing and fermentation of fruit wines; and a session devoted entirely to Chardonel,
which is a variety we recently planted.  Other sessions dealt with filtering protocols for winemakers, and fungal disease prevention in the vineyard.

We ran into several winery owners we knew, met new ones and also met several of Tina’s former “classmates” from the HACC enology/viticulture program. Definitely a worthwhile day!

Sauterne – a Wine worth Trying

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One of the typical white wines from the southern part of Bordeaux is Sauterne. This sweet white wine is produced in the five small villages that make up the Sauternais appellation in Bordeaux, south of Graves. Sauterne is typically made from a blend of the two white Bordeaux grapes: Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Sometimes Muscadelle grapes are also included, usually at less than 3%.

The sweetness of Sauterne is not from a late harvest, but rather from botrytis, or Noble Rot, which develops during cool humid nights and warm, dry days at time of maturity. These humid conditions develop because the two rivers in this area, the Ciron and Garonne, have different temperatures, which cause the misting phenomenon.

The botrytis dries out the grape berries which leads to a concentration of flavors and aromas, as well as a concentration of sugar, which are the foundation of a very rich, full bodied, incredibly flavorful wine.

The botrytized grapes are hand-selected, hand-harvested, pressed, and fermented. Their high sugar levels causes the alcohol level to reach as high as 15% to 16%, at which point the yeast cells die. Fermentation ends with as much as 7% residual sugar!

Sauterne is usually aged in oak, anywhere from 18 months to 3 + years before bottling. Bottles can be consumed young, or aged for many years. The longer it is aged, the more amber the color and the more complex the flavors.

Sauterne is a very rich, sweet wine that is balanced by high levels of acidity. Aromas include honey, melon, pineapple, mango, papaya and dried apricots. It can be very complex and flavorful, and it is serves as an aperitif as well as dinner or dessert wine. Because of the time consuming harvest and production, Sauterne is one of the most expensive wines, and often under-appreciated.  Here is a link to a recent article in the NYT about this specialty wine.