2012 Rhode Island Primary Fermentation

OK, now with the primary fermentation:

I added Lallzyme EX and Opti-Red to each batch the night I first got the grapes, and it had been a couple days. The temperature was about 64. At about 6 PM (after work), I added FT Rouge to each batch for a little extra tannin. I was hoping this would fix my color issues from last year. At about 7 pm, I was ready to start my yeast rehydration and get things going. The Merlot was innoculated with BDX and the Cab Franc with BM45. BDX is a reliable fermenter that never has a problem. BM45 on the other hand can be somewhat fickle for others. It has a slow start time and will invariable be a few days later than the Merlot. That's fine by me, since the process of pressing I prefer to do in two batches.

I decided to boost the sugar to 23 Brix on both musts. This involved a very small sugar addition for both wines (a little more for the Merlot than the Cab Franc). I was hoping to get some more sweetness (via alcohol, not residual sugar).

I always use Go-Ferm in my rehydration procedure, and it took three must additions to get the temperature within 10 degrees before I pitched the yeast. The yeast was really happy the whole time, as it really started to bubble while it was rehydrating. Now, I was on to letting fermentation run it's course and punching the cap twice a day.