Centennial Club Newsletter

February 2022

Winemaking Update

ANDY ROBINSON | WINEMAKER

The term “As slow as molasses in January” does not apply to the winery! While this time of year finds our vines dormant in the vineyards, the winery can be a bustling place of activity. All of the post-harvest cleanup has been completed for some time now and once the new wines were comfortably put to bed in December, we shifted gears to focus on the final blending and bottling of the 2020 Vintage wines. One final topping of all of the barrels prior to the holidays allowed us to enjoy some time off with friends and family to usher in the New Year.

While we were away, the wines did play! Returning to the winery in January we are happy to find that many of the 2021 reds have been busily progressing through malolactic fermentation. This “secondary fermentation” as it is often referred to, is the second essential part of fine red wine production that allows red wine to become microbiologically stable and age-worthy. Primary fermentation is when sugars are converted to alcohol by yeast, secondary fermentation is when malic acid is converted to lactic acid by the bacteria oenococcus. This acid conversion results in a softer mouthfeel and also removes the last “food” from the wine, creating the “microbial dessert” we desire for long term shelf stability.

This time of year also gives us a great glimpse into the future of the wine, as it is typically showing its hand in final aromatics and texture. It serves as an ideal time to be planning future blends because we truly can assess how well we captured the flavors that mother nature gave us in the grapes during the last growing season. Assessing the wines at this time of year also helps us to plan our work in the vineyard during the upcoming growing season, truly completing the annual cycle of growth and improvement and starting it again.

Salute!

-The Seghesio Production Team