Last year we were lucky enough to make our wine at EMTU Vineyards with our friends Chris and John Mason. They are about 7 miles away so it was difficult to punch down 3 times per day for 10 days and do all the work necessary to make wine. So this year we decided to invest in some equipment and make the wine at our house.
A few weeks ago I posted a picture of the 160 L bladder press that will handle about 1/2 ton of fermented grapes. Our latest investment is a destemmer, it separates the berries from the stem by use of an auger and paddles. We went the Beverage People in Santa Rosa. They brought these in special just for Pinot Noir home winemakers. They only had three in stock as they didn’t know who would buy these…they said only winemakers who had French friends that had tasted Burgundy would do it. But wouldn’t you know, the three all were sold in one week, and one was to us!
Normally for whites and many reds you crush and destem at the same time. However for Pinot Noir the idea is to destem only and ferment with whole berries. This is gentler on the berry and will prolong the fermentation since the grape is whole and it will take longer for the yeast to penetrate the berry. The goal is a more complex flavor profile by retaining the aromatics in the grape longer, or so I have read. Actually, most of the commercial wineries only destem and then do an inspection on a sorter table to take out any bad berries.
Will have to see how it turns out!
