ZABIBU

We stirred and turned the cap on the red all week to stop it drying out as the temperatures rose considerably and the fermentation got going well. Temperatures were up to 30 degrees celcius. The wine was on the skins for a total of six days and is now a great colour.

Louisa, Michael and Muia pressed the Pinot Noir through our small basket press on the morning of the 13th. Louisa says that it looks and tastes very good. The potential alcohol was at 1, which means that there is probably just under 2% sugar left (as it would read -1 if it were done).

The Pinot Noir was pressed twice; the second pressing yielded about 3 liters. There is a total of 150 litres of Pinot this year and now it is in the stainless steel tank with a water lock on top. This means that we can see exactly when the fermentation has stopped and once this happens then a solid bung can be put in the tank lid. The Malolactic Fermentation is beginning as the pH is rising and so we need to run a test in the coming days to check where we are with this secondary fermentation. We have still not added any metabisulphite to the wine and will not do this until we are sure the ML is finished.