ZABIBU

The two white wines were down to about 4 % alcohol on the 13th and we have been placing ice daily into the basins of water in which the glass carboys are sitting to keep them cool. We are having to buy ice to cool down in the basins. If we were ever to upscale the white wine operation we would have to invest heavily in refridgeration equipment I believe. The lower temperatures ensure that the fermentation is slowed down.However there is fairly high acidity in the Chardonnay/Pinot free run blend and so we will need to adjust this with some calcium carbonate as soon as I can get hold of it. The fermentation temperature of the free run Ch/Pinot blend is around 16 degrees Celcius. It remains cloudy despite the addition of bentonite to this during the fermentation and the carboys have all got water traps on top so there is good visibilty in so far as working out how the fermentation is progresing.