Hello fellow LWGA members:

As we’re all winding down from our harvesting, it’s good to know that we will be having a LWGA General meeting this Sunday, October 17, at 3 PM. We will meet at the Wine Thieves, in the back area with the tables.

This meeting will be mostly a social meeting, relying on your interesting stories about your harvesting efforts this year. We’re so happy not have dealt with smoke this year! Some of us were badly affected and some not. Still a mystery as to why.

So please join us on Sunday, bring a bottle of wine, your wine glass, and an appetizer to share and let’s hear about your adventures this year.

See ya then.

Daniel

President LWGA

Via my vineyard management business, I have a new client who we just planted a new vineyard this past year.    It will be a couple years before they actually get fruit that they could use to make wine in their vineyard but they’ve asked me to help them this year get started in the winemaking process. 
I am checking to see If any member has grapes or can direct me to some grapes that we can pick and I can use with this client to get them start in the winemaking process 
please let me know

thanks,

John Benson 510-910-8000

How to conduct a Malolactic fermentation (MLF)

I thought this might be of interest this time of year. Hope your winemaking is going well!

1)  Garbage in garbage out! Get the must dialed-in at crush, so that the subsequent wine will be in good shape post alcoholic fermentation for receiving the ML inoculation. A clean, healthy alcoholic fermentation means your ML bacteria will have an easier time getting started and finishing their job when it’s their turn to work in the wine:

• Clean-out any moldy or raisined clusters (the mold makes toxins that can inhibit both yeast and ML bacteria, raisins will reconstitute in the must, boost the ºBrix, and lead to higher finished alcohol levels).
  
   
• Get your sugars and ph/TA% in line so that the finished wine will not have a final alcohol above 15% (around 14% is better), and so that the pH will not be lower than 3.1/3.2 (3.2 is better). 
   
• Make sure that the initial SO2  addition is around 50ppm “total”, or so (ideally you want to finish the fermentation with a maximum of 25–30ppm “total”, and 0–10ppm “free”. Less is better).
   
• Take care of the yeast during the alcoholic fermentation (feed them and keep fermentation temperatures in line (below 85º F, 28º C), this limits their production of compounds that can later be possibly responsible for antagonizing the ML bacteria: H2S and VA, for example. Recent research shows that MLFs actually finish quicker and with less problems in wines made with yeast that are fed a complete set of nutrients during the alcoholic fermentation compared to those that are not. So remember: healthy yeast ultimately means healthy ML bacteria down the line.)

2)  Post Alcoholic Fermentation:

• Wait until the must has reached 0º Brix before inoculating with the ML bacteria. ML bacteria, in the presence of residual sugars will also use this as a food source and one of the by-products of this pathway is VA. Ironically, high levels of VA in a must or wine can actually interfere with the bacteria’s ability to complete a Malolactic fermentation; regardless if they are the one’s who made it in the first place! And, of course, VA in detectible levels is considered a serious wine flaw. This possibility can therefore be greatly reduced by eliminating most of the sugars in the environment before they gain access to it.
   
• Rack-off of the “gross” lees 24 hours post-press before inoculating the wine with the ML culture (As mentioned earlier, there is nothing helpful in the “gross” lees.  Remove them and remove potential problems, as well. There will be enough “light” lees remaining to feed the ML bacteria and you will keep the “being buried alive in the lees” factor to a minimum for the bacteria).

3)  ML inoculation preparation & handling: Prepare the ML culture: Some bacteria are labeled “direct-addition” and can be added to the wine directly from the pouch, while others require a 15–minute hydration period in clean, chlorine-free water before inoculating the wine. However, regardless of these differences all ML bacteria, including the “direct addition” and liquid ones, will benefit from a brief Acti-ML nutrient soak before going into the wine. Therefore we recommend treating any form of ML  bacteria you may be working with as if it required a 15–minute hydration before inoculation. This means that: For every 1 gram of bacteria being added to the wine, you will be adding 20g of Acti-ML to 100mL of distilled water at 77°F (25°C). After sitting for 15 minutes gently, yet, thoroughly stir this solution into your wine. The following example will use the 2.5g (66 gallons of wine) size ML bacteria packet to illustrate this. 

A) In a sanitized container: dissolve 50g of Acti-ML into 250mL of distilled water at 77°F (25°C). 

B)  Add the bacteria (2.5g) to the solution and gently stir/swirl to break up any clumps if needed. Wait 15 minutes.

C) Add the entire bacteria/nutrient solution into your wine and mix it throughout the entire wine volume. (Note: it is a good idea to stir the bacteria starter solution just before adding it into the wine to make sure that any of the nutrients and/or bacteria that may have settled-out during the 15 minute soaking period do not get left behind in the hydration vessel).

Inoculation and handling should take care to limit any oxygen exposure (the bacteria are anaerobic and depending on the strain may react negatively to various amounts of oxygen that may be introduced into the wine. In short, don’t splash when stirring the MLF and flush pumps and lines with inert gas before running a wine undergoing MLF through them. In general, it’s recommended not to rack a wine until the MLF is complete, however).

4) During the ML Fermentation:

• Make sure the wine’s pH is at least around 3.1/3.2 (3.2 is better), if not adjust accordingly (Information on adjusting pH can be found in our Red (BK598) and White (BK597) Winemaking Manuals).
   
• Keep the wine temperatures at around 70º F (20ºC) until the fermentation is complete (see section 5 below).
   
• Stir the lees 1–2 times a week until completion (keep vessels topped-up and avoid oxygen. Flush any headspaces with inert gas).

5) Testing for Completion: Monitor with chromatography* (MT930), and once it seems to be finished, then run the first test. Often a MLF can slow or stop temporarily. If everything in the five elements checks out (alcohol, temperature, pH, SO2, and nutrients) and there is still no more progress within the week, then it’s time to consider adding an ML nutrient (such as Acti-ML) to the wine at a rate of .75–1.0 grams per gallon (possibly with a dose of yeast hulls, as well).

*Note that the sensitivity-threshold for the standard vertical test kit is around 70 mg/l, but it takes around 30 mg/l to be considered truly done. So, a good rule of thumb is to just wait an extra week or two after the test shows that you are done and that should be sufficient for a true completion.

6) Upon completion of the MLF: As soon as the MLF has completed, it is also a good idea to add SO2  immediately in order to stabilize and protect the wine. At this time, the wine should also be re-checked and the pH/TA% adjusted, if needed. If you are working with a red wine, then it is important to rack the wine at this point to counteract any of the reduction that may be remaining from the secondary fermentation. If you are doing a white, however, then you may choose to remain on the lees for more depth and complexity but continue to stir the lees once every 1–2 months.

I learned about this interesting seed company during during recent regenerative agriculture course – that you can use to create a custom mix of cover crop seeds. Basic goal: the more diversity in your cover crop/weeds, the better for your soils.

Here is the website https://smartmix.greencoverseed.com/ And note, that its best to broadcast the seeds just before the first soaking rain, or rake the seeds fully in, otherwise the birds will dig them up and eat them.

Below is the mix just ordered for our new vineyard, all of the species may not take, but we are gonna give them all a go.

Hello Everyone:

I don’t know about you, but I’m really tired these days because of the early harvest. It seemed to have taken many of us by surprise! I hope that the harvest is going well for you! Lots of juggling around with picker’s scheduling, managing tank space and emergency bottling going on.

Because so many of us are very busy with the harvest and the ensuing wine making, the board has decided to postpone the General Member’s meeting, which was to have been on Sunday, Sept 26 to October 17, 2021. We felt that this would give everyone a breather and by October 17, things can settle down a bit for our general meeting.

Our General meeting on October 17, between 3 – 6 PM will be held at the Wine Thieves back patio area! We will be outdoors and this should be a great venue for our meeting. Thank you to the Wine Thieves!

We are asking our members to please bring your notes about this year’s harvest, and tell us how it went for you. I am sure we’ll have a lot to talk about! Also, maybe you can bring a bottle of your wine from last year or another to share with the group.

We hope to see you all on the 17th of October.

Until then, happy harvesting!

Sincerely;

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA President

Just in case you were wondering how to get those pesky birds out of your vineyard, I have come up with a solution. See attached. Enjoy!

Hi! The Board is looking to create a stylized map of the Lamorinda AVA and are wondering if we have the talent within the membership to create the map. If this is you, please email me (Amy) at germinatekitchen@gmail.com

The style we’re looking for is illustrative rather than reality, like this

Thanks!

Amy

UC Ag Expert Talk: Grape Powdery Mildew Management and Challenges

Aug 11, 2021 1:00 – 3:00 PM

Zoom webinar 2 DPR CEUS applied for. Register at https://ucanr.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R9j887HIQTSOvyaJ2D4Mcg

This 2-hour webinar will cover:

·       Biology and ID of powdery mildew

·       Sulfur use and role in resistance management

·       Sprayer settings, nozzles, assessing coverage

·       Effect of certain weather conditions on drift

·       Fungicide resistance

·       Efficacy of powdery mildew products for vineyards

As some may know, Kathryn and I have struggled to organically control mildew in our vineyard, in large part because neighboring vineyards are not mildew controlled. This year we had great success (finally) with mildew control using the following organic tank mix. It combines anti-mildew bacteria with sulfur or stylet oil for improved performance, and is relatively inexpensive as well:

Sulfur, Cease or Sonata, spreader/sticker (I added a bit of Regalia as well but that probably isn’t necessary)

Stylet oil can be substituted for sulfur, just remember to allow 2 weeks interval between oil and sulfur

Here is more info on this tank mix. It apparently is as effective as chemical based mildew products.

https://defeattheresistance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Sonata-Sulfur-DF-Res-Mgmt-flyer-v3.pdf

Hello Fellow LWGA Members:

On Sunday, July 25, 2021 LWGA held it’s first General Meeting in person since the arrival of the Covid 19 restrictions. It’s been a very long time and seeing everyone was a real treat! There were 29 people present that day over at Mel & Diane Haas’ home in Lafayette. There was ample wine and food donated by the membership.

We began the meeting with a longer than usual social time, but well received.

I introduced our host, Mel Haas. Mel gave us a warm and interesting introduction to the history of the property and vineyard

David Hicks set up a demonstration of a netting system and gave us a talk about it’s use and set up. I have made a video of the presentation for those who could not make the meeting but the recording was too long for me to present here. Sorry. I am sure David would be happy to review this with you personally.

I spoke after Dave to announce the 2022 AVA celebration planed for Sunday, April 24, 2022. This will be an open event to the membership and the public as a fundraiser for our little LWGA. It will be located on the parking grounds between the Wine Thieves and Larry Thal’s new tasting/production facility next door. I suggested the name of “Lamorinda Wine Hub” but it’s Larry’s call on the name. There will be food trucks, wine tasting and sales from our bonded wine makers, music and loads of fun for all spread out between the two venus! I mentioned that there will be a need for volunteers and that we will be reaching out to our membership for help for this event. We’re all excited to be there

I then invited Larry Thal to give us an update of his much anticipated tasting room and production facility in Lafayette. Larry said that he anticipated that the facility could be ready by March of 2022, just in time to be used for the 2022 AVA celebration being planned right now.

Once all the formalities were completed, we were invited to tour the Haas Vineyard in veraison. Mel mentioned, that halfway through the tour, there was a gazebo where wine could be found to top off your glass as needed. It didn’t take much to get people moving through the vineyard. It also turned out to be a great spot to sit and talk to your fellow members on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Some of us stayed well until 7 PM. Hopefully Mel didn’t mind.

Respectfully submitted:

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA President