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Chat with Alex Russan

By Alex Russan | Add to Favorites

 

  Chat with Alex Russan (12/12/2018)
Thanks everyone for coming out, and special thank you to Alex Russan for answering everyone’s questions! You can also join Alex on May 16 in Traverse City, Michigan at the 2019 WineMaker’s Conference where he’ll teach a day-long boot camp on “Advanced Winemaking from Grapes” on May 16
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 
2:00
Good morning/good afternoon Alex. Thanks for joining us today!
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:00 
2:00
Alex:
Hi Everybody!
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:00 Alex
2:02
So Alex, here in the northeast we dealt with a lot of rain, low pH, low brix grapes in 2018. What you’re best advice to winemakers who have to deal with years like this?
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:02 
 
Alex:
I wish I had that problem here!, I have to find very specific spots for low pH and brix in CA. Chapitalization (sp?) is always an option, add early on to maintain a shorter maceration, or, as fermentation is coming to a completion to have a sort of “active” extended maceration. Acid-wise, de-acidifiers (calcium carbonate, and potassium carbonate, if I’m mixing up my elements here!) are safe and neutral compounds.
  Alex
Alex: Also, if you have access to any higher pH and sugar grapes, you can always blend.
  Alex
2:05
[Comment From LawrenceLawrence: ]
Alex, What piece of winemaking advice do you have that you wished you could tell yourself years ago when you first started out?
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:05 Lawrence
 
Alex:
Master the fundamentals (SO2 use, etc)–I somewhat glossed over the basics in search of cutting edge, theoretical information, and eventually found myself scrambling last minute to deal with things that should have been second nature and probably more important for the wine than the theoretical details I was so excited to play with.
  Alex
Alex:
One thing I did without realizing it that I think was good was being as careful, clean and neurotic as possible with every step of the process. As I’ve gone on I’ve found where I can loosen up–rather than starting off loose and learning the hard way where I need to do better.
  Alex
2:08
[Comment From JonathanJonathan: ]
am making wine with Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Walla Walla in WA. The grapes went through fermentation with the grape where I punched the cap daily and also went through delestage. The wine was transferred to a new 15 gal American oak barrel on 11/10/18. At the time the PH was 3.8, SG .990, ALC ~13.5%, and Brix -2. At the end of November I sent a sample to White Labs and the results are shown below. I am rather taken aback with the residual sugar reading of 30g/l Currently the wine is going through malo but living in Bend, OR the temperatures are low. The barrel is in my garage where the temp is between 50 and 55 degrees F. In order to reduce the residual sugar it seems to me that I should induce MLF with a culture, however the temperature is too low at the moment, from what I read. My question is can I keep the wine in the barrel for the next 4 months or so until the outside temperatures rise and then induce MLF?
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:08 Jonathan
 
:
Alex: The ML bacteria won’t help you with the sugar, and sugar is much more dangerous than left over ML at this point (lots of stuff can eat sugar and spoil wine, whereas the lower pH from ML over winter will only help protect the wine, and not as many things eat malic.) I would find a way to heat up the barrel (heating pad below it, heater blowing on it, etc), and would reinoculate with a STRONG fermenter (Saccharomyce Bayanus yeast, DV10 or something like that), you can inoculate with ML bacteria at the same time, but you wanna get the sugar out asap.
  
2:11
[Comment From Mike GMike G: ]
Hi Alex! I’m pretty new to winemaking and feel like i need a better pH meter than the pen meter I have. Have any recommendations for a good one, or what to look for?
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:11 Mike G
 
Alex:
I have a Milwaukee one I like a lot, it loses calibration somewhat fast, and seems like it usually is off by .01 or .02, but it works well. Think I paid $125 on amazon. There are some other meters out there that can do multiple things that might be worth looking into.
  Alex
2:14
[Comment From WillWill: ]
What is the most common fault you see in homemade wines and what can be done to prevent this fault?
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:14 Will
 
Alex:
Oxidation, by far. Always keep carboys topped up full, they should have no more than 1/8″ of space between the top of the wine and the bung–zero space is better. Use marbles to increase volume if you’re out of wine.
  Alex
Alex:
Top barrels every two weeks, and minimize opening the bung in between. I’ve started spraying a very strong SO2 spray (couple sprays) into the bung hole every time I open.
  Alex
Alex:
Though, the SO2 spray thing is more a bacterial precaution.
  Alex
2:14
Alex:
Excuse any of my typos here, guys! I don’t get to spell check and edit these like I do with my articles, and I’m a terrible speller! 🙂
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:14 Alex
 
:
Communication is simply a means to convey thoughts…no worries Alex!
  
2:19
[Comment From JonathanJonathan: ]
Thank you Alex. I have 3 pkts of 4028 Red Wyeast (liquid yeast) in the fridge which inoculates up 6 gals per pack. Would this yeast work?
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:19 Jonathan
 
Alex:
Looks like that one is a slow fermenter (did a quick googling), you want something that is going to knock it out as quickly as possible at this point and is a strong fermenter–unless your fermentation stopped from temperature, there could be various reasons for the stuck fermentation, and you want something strong and with a kill factor. Anything for Champagne or that is Saccharmyces Bayanus would be best: EC1118, Prise de Mousse, DV10, etc are what you want. Also, do not add nutrients at this point, as any left overs can cause odors or feed Brett.
  Alex
2:22
[Comment From Steve gSteve g: ]
can you speak to the potential for smoke taint. I got my grapes this year from Lake county and they seem clean, when would i notice smoke taint?
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:22 Steve g
 
Alex:
I’ve never had personal experience with smoke taint, however, imagine that it would be apparent immediately, unless it was subtle.
  Alex
Alex:
(If it was subtle, I’m thinking the intensity of post fermentation aromas could eclipse it), but I have a feeling if it was there, you’d smell it right away.
  Alex
2:29
Alex:
Anything else guys??
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:29 Alex
2:29
Alex:
I could tell you old fishing stories if I had any…..
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:29 Alex
2:31
[Comment From JonathanJonathan: ]
Appreciate your advice. This is the first time making wine from grapes (destemmed by hand, pressed by hand). Learnt a lot for the next batch, next year. Just hope I don’t lose this batch.
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:31 Jonathan
 
Alex:
You’re very welcome. You should be fine, with the wine so cold right now, bacteria that could damage should be mostly inactive. When you heat up and inoculate, hopefully the yeast will out compete anything that’s present. I’d heat up to at least 65 or 70 if you can for the yeast.
  Alex
2:31
[Comment From Alex I rarely have h2s2 problems with reds but almost always with my whites. I’m very careful with yeast selection. Any advice to overcome this.Alex I rarely have h2s2 problems with reds but almost always with my whites. I’m very careful with yeast selection. Any advice to overcome this.: ]
Alex I rarely have an h2s problems with my red but almost always with my whites. I’m very careful with yeast selection. Any advice?
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:31 Alex I rarely have h2s2 problems with reds but almost always with my whites. I’m very careful with yeast selection. Any advice to overcome this.
 
Alex:
Wes Hagen always puts a prophylactic dose of copper sulfate into his white musts before fermentation. You could also try (perhaps you already are though) oxidizing your must–w the reds you’re getting oxygen into the ferment (which yeast need) every time you punch down, but as you don’t do that with whites, they only have the air that comes in with the must. Don’t worry if the must browns, all the compounds that oxidize prior to fermentation will precipitate out during fermentation, and as a result of having fewer oxidizable compounds in your wine, it might extend it’s life too!
  Alex
2:38
[Comment From TimTim: ]
What are the pluses and minuses for trying to set up a solera system of aging at home?
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:38 Tim
 
Alex:
One question first–what style of wine?
  Alex
2:41
[Comment From RogerRoger: ]
What can I do with a wine that won’t complete malo?
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:41 Roger
 
Alex:
Sterile filtration or lysozyme. Lysozyme is good for a few years in bottle, but you should be fine, especially if you store it cool. Also, maintain .8 molecular in the wine prior to bottling and at bottling.
  Alex
2:42
[Comment From TimTim: ]
I was looking at Bordeaux varietials – I’ve heard it can used that way in addition to just Sherry.
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:42 Tim
 
Alex:
Yeah, you can do it with any wine, just make sure you top up–with sherries, the barrels are never filled, but they’re protected either by flor yeast or alc level. Look for Primativo Quiles, I believe they make some solera aged red table wines from Monastrell (Mourvedre). Pluses, I’ve heard that young wine takes on the characteristics of old wine quickly when blended together, so if you’re bottling a little each year and putting in young wine, you’ll have a steady supply of wine with aged characteristics at home. I’ve only heard this, and do not have any science to support it. I honestly can’t think of any drawbacks, I think it would be a really cool thing to try.
  Alex
Alex:
Might take up a lot of space is the only thing, especially if you have a proper solera system with criaderas of increasingly older wine leading up to your solera barrels with the oldest wine that you bottle from. If you are doing it with old wine, when racking old wine, you might get some oxidation from the air exposure, so I’d try to do so as reductively as possible with older wine.
  Alex
Alex:
If Im remembering right, a wine just out of fermentation can absorb something like 60 barrel equivalents of oxygen, but after a year, it’s a fraction of that, and the longer you age, the less it can handle without oxidizing.
  Alex
2:46
[Comment From George & JeanGeorge & Jean: ]
we’re apartment winemakers and have been using oak chips for years, but finally want to invest in a barrel. We don’t have space for a bigger barrel. We could fit a 10 gallon in a closet. What do you think about aging times for this size barrel? (We’re cab & zin fans)
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:46 George & Jean
 
Alex:
If you’re buying it new, you want to keep it short, the smaller the barrel, the higher the ratio of surface area to wine volume, thus the faster the wine will take on oak character–it could get intense fast. If they’re big and structured wines, maybe 2-3 months?–if you have more wine than the 10 gallons, say 30 gallons, you can swap out what’s in the barrel with what you have in carboys, or, just leave the wine in barrel and blend with wine in carboys later if the oak gets intense.
  Alex
Alex:
Make sure to keep the barrel protected when it’s empty, ether frequent sulfur burning, or, even better in my opinion, a holding solution, for a 10 gal, maybe a half cup of citric and a quarter cup of SO2, keep topped, then give a good rinse before putting wine in the following year. If you take care of the barrel it’ll last forever, and you can use oak chips for flavor–no need to ever replace a healthy barrel.
  Alex
2:51
[Comment From VinoinVTVinoinVT: ]
What goals in your winemaking are you still working to achieve?
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:51 VinoinVT
 
Alex:
I’m trying to pay more attention to tannins. As a taster I’m 95% paying attention to my nose, and maybe 5% to my tongue. This very indulgent, as most of my customers won’t be tasting that way, so I should make more of an effort to ensure delightful tannins. Im getting more and more interested in tannin structuring, so would like to follow their progression more, and take more detailed steps with regard to ML timing, oxygen exposure, lees removal and return, etc, to help develop them.
  Alex
Alex:
I wanted cooler fermentations for a long time, and finally this year got a cooling plate from Morewinemaking.com for about 200 bucks that works amazingly with my tiny glycol chiller ($880 or so from Rapids restaurant supply).
  Alex
2:55
[Comment From George & JeanGeorge & Jean: ]
Thanks Alex! Sorry one more question, speaking of blending, would you ever consider buying a 10 gal used bourbon barrel for aging say a cab, then blending that into or is that a dumb idea?
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:55 George & Jean
 
Alex:
I personally would not, but I don’t oak or non-wine flavors in my wine, and Im guessing that the ex-bourbon barrel would impart a whiskey flavor to the wine, and likely also have a heavy char to it that it would impart–if it’s something you like, or you’re willing to risk having 50 bottles of wine you may not like, may be worth a shot. Probably safer to buy a wine that had a spirit in it rather than wine, from a microbial perspective.
  Alex
:
I’ll jump in here and say we ran an article on this topoc not too long ago: https://winemakermag.com/ar…
  
Alex:
Actually, if you have the option, you could fill the barrel with water, wait a day or two, then taste the water, and that would give you some sense of what kind of aromas you’l get.
  Alex
2:58
[Comment From BrendanBrendan: ]
My wine smells like burnt toast – help!
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 2:58 Brendan
 
Alex:
Any idea why? Heavy char barrel? Smoke taint? Only think I can think of that might be similar to that might be H2S or mercaptans?
  Alex
   
3:02
Alex:
Brendan, feel free to email me at alex@metrickwines.com about this if easier.
 
 
Wednesday December 12, 2018 3:02 Alex

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