My First Rosé
2020 was a challenging year for all of us, to say the least. Because of varying economic reasons, two weeks before fall crush, I was forced into making a decision about Vintner’s Canvas. I decided to become a Limited Winery so that I can sell my wine. I reached out to a business who supplies grapes and wine equipment, and they came to my rescue.
For fall crush, I increased my grape order and now have eight 59-gallon barrels of wine in my garage and a 700-liter stainless steel tank which contains my Sangiovese Rosé. The amount of work during fermentation, press, and cleanup was not insignificant. In fact, I am still cleaning up and preparing the garage to become Le Garage Winery … just to be clear I am still an amateur!
One of the most prominent lessons for me was: if I add a rosé to the mix of wines I am making, it will be ready by spring so that I can begin to get a return on investment prior to the next Fall harvest. To make the rosé, I crushed Sangiovese grapes and watched the must until I felt the free run was the right color pink. This in itself is one of the bigger decisions because after fermentation, the addition of sulfites lightens the color of the wine. You need to make sure you pump the free run off at the right time to ensure a good color.
The free run was pumped off a few hours after crush. We pumped it directly into the stainless-steel tank where we added the yeast to kick off fermentation. Once the Sangiovese Rosé was finished fermenting, we racked it and added the sulfites. Of course, the wine was still cloudy but when adding the sulfites, you could see the color change before your eyes.
We racked the wine a second time to prepare for cold stabilization. Wines can precipitate, which means the formation of potassium bitartrate crystals better known as wine diamonds. This can happen in red wines too, but is most frequently seen in whites. To cold stabilize the rosé, we moved the wine outside where the temperatures are just above freezing. It will stay there for two weeks and then be racked again at which time you will see the crystals on the bottom of the tank.
While the Sangiovese Rosé is my very first rosé, that new venture does not overshadow my bigger, inspired journey down the course of becoming a winery owner. I guess at some point the dust will settle, similar to the way particles of dead yeast and wine diamonds do in wine. In the meantime, I suppose I’ll drink to that!
