The boys in the lab

11/7: Punched down cap in the morning, after coffee. They make cap mashers exclusively for wine, but a 3-foot restaurant-style potato masher works just as well:



Took 1 quart of representative must to Oak Barrel for testing. Need to determine true Brix, acid, pH. This will tell us how much water to add, to bring down sugar to 24-26 Brix.

LAB RESULTS: the boys at Oak Barrel rechecked the sugar, which came out at 25.8 Brix. This is perfect, no need to dilute with water (or "over-rinse the fermenters, in wine professional parlance.) Acidity and pH data will come in tomorrow. Temperature of the must is 68 Farenheit.

YEAST: I bought 12 packets of Pasteur Red yeast, and 2 packs of "yeast nutrients." (contains yeast hulls, yeast extracts, vitamins, and minerals.) The yeast goes in tomorrow , once we are sure that the meta has disappated. Pasteur red is also called French red. Like Champagne yeast, it is a mixed population strain. It was developed in Bordeaux, France. It is meant for red wines because it is tolerant to heat and sulfur dioxide and hardly ever causes stuck fermentation. The red wines it is usually used for are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Zinfandel. Pasteur Red encourages development of varietal fruit flavors, so it will help us get a good sense of the flavor of the Pollard Ranch grapes. Pasteur Red (Davis 904), a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has been derived from the collection of the Institute Pasteur in Paris. It is a strong, even fermenter that produces full bodied reds.

ANTS!!! Ants are circling the driveway, where 10-20 lbs. of grapes lay, casualties of the stem/decrush process. Per Bernie at the Oak Barrel, the carbon dioxide from fermentation will keep the ants out of the must. Hope so. Otherwise, we'll have to start marketing "Mike's High-Protein Red." I'm a good marketer, but I'm not sure I'm THAT good.

WINERY NAME: On the off chance that this project takes off, what is it called?
* McColl-Pollard Cellars?
* Coll-Poll Cellars?
* Chateau Garagiste ?
* PM Wines ?
(If you have suggestions, silly or not, please email them on in! We'll be working on the label design for the next couple of years. I'd like to get the winery name sorted out early. )