New World Winemaker Blog

“Some call her sister of the moon, Some say illusions are her game…”

Those of you who are into Fleetwood Mac (I shall give you a hint: A popular rock band which got together in the late 60’s), are probably intrigued by the familiar lyrics yet again, and those of you who are into biodynamics, probably enchanted by it.

It is a science although not regarded as one. It has many truths, although not acknowledged by too many. Some facts though, that I can put on the table, remain in my view, significant:

 1. I grew up spending time with Cousin Riaan in Chenin blanc and Shiraz vineyards, almost 20 years ago, dusting vines with sulfur no more than 3 or 4 times during season. All dry land vineyards. 30 tons per hectare. Today we might not survive if we do not put down a few systemic sprays and a couple of contact sprays. What happened? Are we not treating symptoms instead of zooming in on the reason for these symptoms? Our focus is simply on “pumping the soil” full of required elements to sustain next year’s bottom line. We spray the vine with all sorts of funny things when it shows symptoms of illnesses, disease, pests or deficiencies, instead of zooming in on the variables that cause the distress We have forgotten how to treat and respect the well being of a living entity in our quest to “push the yield”…no wonder we have such chaos in our crops.

2. I have stuck my hand into soil managed biodynamically, but almost broke my fingers trying to get into the first few millimeters of the neighbor’s.

3. Many studies confirmed significantly higher concentrations humus in biodynamically farmed soils, hence more diverse populations of soil microbes and higher concentrations of more diverse populations of microbes on the grapes.

4. I could not find mealy bug on the biodynamically farmed vines, nor those of the neighbor’s. The difference though was that the mealy bugs moved back to where it prefers to live – underground on the roots of a diverse population of plants (even though some are regarded as weeds). Luckily of course Chlorpyrifos (or by the household name Dursban) got rid of the mealy bug via ant control. Unfortunately bees are not to keen on Dursban either.

5. Lower costs of farming biodynamically have been researched and verified by many studies, despite a slightly lower yield.

6. The slightly lower yield justifies itself in better quality grapes and wine. Higher phenolic concentrations, smaller berries and slightly lighter clusters.

7. “Better” wines? I have my personal convictions when it comes to this “sensitive”, abstract term.

My personal conviction on Biodynamics is that scientists and critics do not need to ask whether BD can be regarded as a scientific category or even point out that part of the scientific community looks at it with skepticism and marks it as dogmatic. There are over 4200 farms around the world that are certified as BD, the numbers are increasing, so it is clearly worthy of more respect and attention that it currently enjoys.

Biodynamics make sense to me because I simply believe in things I experience with my God-given senses.

 I suppose I will be outlawed as a “winemaker with a scientific approach”, just the way I was (still am I suppose), outlawed as a traditional winemaker, because I produced a “non-typical” Coffee Pinotage style. Whatever typical or traditional may mean…

Bertus Fourie is a winemaker, turned Enology lecturer and creator of the Barista coffee Pinotage.

Most of us heard about the snappy response of one of South Africa’s greatest winemakers after a lady asked him about the use of oak alternatives…

Lady (living encyclopedia of wine knowledge): “Do you use oak alternatives like chips, dust, staves and balls?

Winemaker (focused and slightly annoyed): “Lady, do you know what artificial insemination is?”

Lady (living encyclopedia of veterinary science): “Why, yes of course!”

Winemaker (with a grin): “Lady, which do you prefer?”

The question remains: Can the use of oak alternatives benefit the wine to such an extent that it can fully replace the use of barrels, i.e. that it induce in wine all the required reactions without jeopardizing the final wine’s quality and/or style?

There certainly are opposing answers to this question!

The “no” school – Investigations into oak derived products and their influence on wine quality yielded certain disadvantages, e.g. no retrieval of complexity compared to oak barrels, occurrence of hydrogen sulfide on wines associated with fermentation on chips and the precipitation of yellow, semi-crystalline substance as a result of wines treated with sawdust or shavings because of extracted ellagic acid. There is also a general lack of information concerning the influence of oxygen provided by oak derived products and its contribution towards wine quality.

The “yes” school – There are, however, important advantages as well.  We all took note of the significant cost reduction in the use of oak derived products opposed to the use of barrels. The addition of oak staves, chips, shavings or powder is a more rapid and economical method of oak treatment. Increased surface area of these oak derived products results in more significant rates of extraction. Some researchers documented the use of 7g/L of oak chips during white wine fermentation to increase the favorable perception of a tasting panel. Ducournau et al. (1999) documented oak chips to be more adapted for consistent toasting, resulting in more homogeneous lots. Zoecklein noted the use of oak derived products in combination with micro-oxygenation to result in wines with increased body, soft tannins, stabile color and enhancement of fruit and oak aroma integration (Zoecklein et al., 2002).

My personal conviction? Staves work as well as barrels. Nevertheless – we are debating the wrong issue here. Perhaps the right question should be: “How does the flavor profile of my wine suit the market where I try to flog it? How can I ensure consistency in my wine in a financially viable way?” Are we afraid of the answers, because we simply do not have them? Or do we acknowledge the fact that we squander money based on our personal opinions of the consumer, what they want, how they want it and where?

Bertus Fourie is a winemaker, turned Enology lecturer and creator of the Barista coffee Pinotage.

Have you ever wondered where the circle around Saturn comes from? Interestingly enough it was discovered that one of the moons of Saturn, called Enceladus, is successful in shooting ice grains far enough to form Saturn’s ring…

Just as amazed as I was 12 years ago when I was introduced to Saturn, I was when Ice Jet came to clean some of my barrels. The technology was introduced to me a while ago, and we have decided to put it to the test.

The coopers come to your site with their mobile unit and remove the heads of the barrels to expose the inside of the barrel. And this is where I saw to my total amazement the biggest, deadliest blisters you can imagine! And I was even more appalled when I saw and smelled the puss that drizzled out of these opened wounds…I call on all winemakers to inspect your barrels, please! I have some understanding now of why barrel differences occur, why Brett spoils our wine, why volatile acidity increase sporadically, and, and, and…If only barrel inspection helped…older barrels with these types of blisters induce most of the nightmares in very expensive, barrel maturing wines!

How does this work? The CO₂ ice pellets are blasted onto the contaminated barrel surface at -79⁰ C and basically “delaminates” contaminants from the wood. Once the ice makes contact with the wood surface it, returns to its natural gas (CO₂) state and expands up to 700 times to create shock waves. This effect drives brittle materials from the surface as tartrate crystals and sediments are frozen, fractured and removed exposing original, unused toasted oak surface.

It removes not only sediment, but also contaminants on up to 99% of the interior surface of the barrel. Most bacteria and mold spores are removed, which leaves the barrel in a cleaner state than any chemical or physical process can.

During the ice blasting process a layer of wood between 0,5 and 1,2 mm is removed, exposing a freshly toasted oak surface to the next cycle of wine. This also restores micro-oxygenation as a result of restored porosity. As toasting during cooperage is typically up to 1 cm deep, there is no need for re-toasting after ice blasting.

In a major project testing this technology in the USA, very promising results were obtained. The tests showed that the treatment allowed the barrels to impart significantly more oak volatiles into the wine. The only volatiles, which showed lower readings, were guaiacol and 4-methylguaiacol, which is responsible for “smoky”, and “chary” flavors. Organoleptic evaluations found the treatment to result in wines with improved fresh oak, vanilla, butterscotch and coconut flavors, decreased smoke/char flavors and fresher, cleaner fruit.

It is not the cheapest way to clean barrels, but as sure as the ice circle around Saturn, the most effective and hygienic way to clean barrels!

Bertus Fourie is a winemaker, turned Enology lecturer and creator of the Barista coffee Pinotage.

Now you probably wonder what old Jack Sparrow had to do with this…Interestingly enough, Stinkpots, favorite weapons of pirates, were malodorous concoctions made from saltpeter, limestone, asafetida (a vile-smelling gum resin), and decayed fish that were packed into earthenware jugs, ignited, and hurled onto an enemy ship…

Most of us had to manage a stinkpot brewing in our cellar at some stage of our lives, whether it was a result of a power failure (load sharing for South African winemakers), too little nitrogen, or just a general struggling yeast population. And then of course, if the H₂S turns into mercaptans… it will just about kill any odorous component remotely smelling of fruit.

H₂S contains sulfur in its most reduced form. Mercaptans are common organic compounds. When aerated, mercaptans can be oxidized to disulfides, which slightly change their sensory threshold and character. The oxidized forms are usually less of a stinkpot. These reductive components have unpleasant odor descriptors, and these can increase post-fermentation. Some of these, such as H₂S and mercaptans, react with copper and can be removed by copper additions, usually in the form of cupric sulfate. In some wineries additions of cupric sulfate is a standard procedure, sometimes with an addition of inactivated carbon. All of us are aware of course that such an addition, particularly on Sauvignons, can reduce the concentration of aromatic thiols with up to 20%… I personally believe a slight element of H₂S might actually contribute to the complexity of Sauvignon blanc.

But what to do? Well, the magic potion arrived in the form of inactivated yeasts impregnated with copper – Reduless®. It can be suspended with water and added to the tank directly after primary fermentation. The wine is racked off the lees after 72 hours. No residues, no potential risk of copper casse forming, but only a fresh smelling, wonderful wine. It has been developed by Lallemand for red and white wines to reduce H₂S, DMS, DES and other stinkpot related off-flavors in wine.

Bertus Fourie is a winemaker, turned Enology lecturer and creator of the Barista coffee Pinotage.