VIRGINIA WINEWORKS Michael Shaps 2005 Petit Verdot

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VIRGINIA WINEWORKSMichael Shaps2005 Petit
Verdot

• Virginia Vineyards Association
• February 7, 2008

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Michael Shaps

• 18 years as a winemaker
• 8 years as consultant
• President of Kenahora Wine Company, a consulting
  company
• Consulted for over a dozen start-up wineries
• Partner of Virginia Wineworks Michael Shaps
  Wines, Charlottesville, VA
• Partner of Maison Shaps Roucher-Sarrazin,
  Meursault, France

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Experience with Petit Verdot

• 1999 First produced and consulted on various
  productions, used as a blender in Bordeaux blends
• 2002 Consulted with a client produce a varietal
  Petit Verdot
• 2007 Released first varietal P.V.under my own
  label

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Production Goals

• Varietal P.V.
• Aromatics
• Structure
• Balance
• Ageability

• Blending P.V
• Color
• Fruit
• Subtlety

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Pre-Harvest

• Growing Season
• Rainfall
• Sanitary Conditions
• Yields
• Tannin Development
• Production Plans
• Varietal vs. Blending
• Short Vat vs. Extended Maceration

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Favorable Conditions vs. Problematic Conditions

• Brix 24.0
• pH 3.45- 3.55
• TA gt 5.5g/l
• Yield 3-4 T/A (never low enough!)
• Mature seed development
• Clean and intact berries

• Brix lt22.0 or gt25.0
• pH gt 3.70
• TA lt5.0g/l
• Yield 5 ton/acre
• Green seeds/ tannins
• Poor sanitary conditions

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Processing andFermentation Options

• Sorting
• Minimal crushing
• Whole berry return for fruit driven blend
• Bleeding
• Cold soak min 2 days, max 7 days
• Fermentation temperature 75-85ºF

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Yeast Selection

• To enhance fruit characteristics
• ICV GRE
• D21
• BM45
• For structure
• D254

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Short Vat vs. Extended Maceration

• Primarily for blending- Fruit driven style
• In T-Bins with pushdowns and pump-overs
• Pressing at gt8 Brix
• Finishing in barrels or tanks

• Used as base for varietal Structure and aging
• Prefer tank fermentation
• Pump-overs 2 times per day.
• Extended maceration up to one month

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Aging and Oak Regiment

• Will use up to 50 new French oak for long term
  barrel aging variertal wines
• Oak integration is easier than other Bordeaux
  varietals
• First racking as soon as malolactic is complete
• Two more rackings during the first year

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2005 Michael Shaps Petit Verdot

• Grape sources King Family Vineyards Pollak
  Vineyards (Sept 22, 2005)
• Young vines 2nd and 3rd leaf Clone 400 on
  Riparia
• Yields 1.5 3.5 tons/acre
• Harvest Brix 24.5 25.0
• pH 3.48- 3.57
• TA 5.90

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Processing and Fermentation

• Picked into lugs, sorted and crushed into bins,
  no berry return
• So2 4 g/hl bleeding of 10 of juice
• Enzymes prior to cold soak
• 3 day cold soak
• Raised temperature to 70ºF prior to inoculation
• Yeast selection D21, Bm45 D254

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Processing and Fermentation

• Pump-overs and push-downs 2 times daily until S.G
  lt1.020
• Nutrient and tannin additions
• Minor tartaric addition during fermentation
• 3 week post fermentation maceration
• Free run separated from press fractions

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Aging

• 1/3 new French oak
• Racked post malolactic
• Racked three more times prior to bottling
• Bottled unfined and unfiltered

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Finished Wine Chemistry

• Alcohol 13.8
• pH 3.69
• TA 6.5 g/l
• VA 0.99 g/l

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Observations

• Is Petit Verdot the new Cabernet Franc in
  Virginia?
• Harvest timing is critical in wet years
• Along with Merlot, P.V. provides the most
  consistency of Bordeaux varietals
• Can be the workhorse in the product mix
• Varietal
• Blends
• Ports Late Harvest