Patch Note – Current Build v1.1
Case Study – The Cabernet Francs
One vineyard can yield two, or more, vastly different wines. This year’s two Cabernet franc wines are prime example.
The difference initially stems from vineyard handling : like many micro-vineyards, it is managed with the tools and time available to it which are by no means viticulturally perfect. A degree of : yield variation ; bunch ripeness variation ; fruit set variation ; and B.cinerea pressue, persisted at the time of harvest.
Two, selective harvests were made with subsequent fundementally different winemaking approaches as follows :
Wine 1 : Still Rose :
Selective harvest of pristine, perfectly set, uniform bunches.
Crushed and destemmed. Juice held on skins 24 hours then pressed. Cold settled, tracked, pitched and fermented in a very old (neutral but sound) barrel. Rack post ferment, cold settled with Bentonite then racked cellar bright to bottle.
RESULT : vivid copper colour and well clarified. Fresh, but highly textural. Red skin pear with complexing aperitif citrus bitters.
Wine 2: Pet-Nat Sparkling :
Harvest of remaining ‘seconds’ bunches with imperfections.
Whole bunch pressed in basked press. Juice collected, cold settled, racked, pitched, then bottled with <1.0Be remaining.
RESULT : Light ‘blancs de noirs’ colour but cloudy from residual yeast. Beurre Bosc pear and Tarte Tatin, very cider/perry-esque.
This is a project for a consulting client, but none-the-less an interesting example case.