Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/1031957
October 2018 WINES&VINES 77 WINE EAST GRAPEGROWING lugs onto the sorting table, where gross MOG, if any, is removed before the grapes are put into half-ton MacroBins, which are dumped into a CMA Lugana 1R destemmer, sourced from Prospero Equipment. The grapes are pressed with an older Bu- cher RPM 25-hectoliter press that was ob- tained from Dr. Konstantin Frank's Vinifera Wine Cellars about five years ago. The side- wall bladder tank press holds 5 tons of crushed and destemmed fruit and operates without a programmable logic control, utilizing timers and contacts throughout the process. The Pinot Gris is divided into two loads to process about 9 tons of the purchased and estate- grown fruit. Arras did say that he plans to press whole clusters in the future for his white wines, seeking a cleaner and finer phenolic structure in the juice. The press cycle runs about two hours, starting at 0.2 bar, roughly equivalent to 3 psi, and will gently press the fruit eight to nine times before reaching a maximum pressure of 2.5 bar. He monitors the pressing via sight and taste, and when he determines a change in the juice quality, he separates the press frac- tion and possibly fines that juice before blend- ing it back into the whole. He does not add any SO 2 at crushing or pressing, choosing to determine his pressed gallons of cold juice, to which he initially adds about 30 parts per million (ppm) of potassium metabisulfite (K 2 S 2 O 5 ) if the fruit is very clean and uncom- promised, and up to 50 ppm if the need arises. During the last few vintages, Arras put the Pinot Gris juice into two 1,000-gallon jacketed stainless-steel tanks, one for free-run only and the other a blend of free-run and press frac- tions. Prior to inoculation, he added bentonite for protein stability and to soften the pheno- lics. He fined the press fraction with gelatin for greater clarity. When Arras inoculates the Pinot Gris, he chooses to use less yeast than the recom- mended amount, as he is leaning toward more natural yeast fermentation in his wines. In 2016, he used Alchemy II yeast from Scott Laboratories, which emphasizes ester pro- duction. "I wanted to make a tropical fruit bomb," he said. Although he liked the results, the next vin- tage he changed to ELIXIR yeast, also from Scott Labs, which was developed by the yeast hybridization program at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. Scott recom- mends the yeast to enhance floral and fruity aromas and greater complexity in aromatic white wines. The fermentation occurs at temperatures from the low to high 50s and finishes in a maximum of 40 days. The lees are stirred between once a week and every two weeks. He commented that after the wine has had one "hard settle" in the original tanks, "I like to rack early and often, as Pinot Gris tends toward reduction if left on the gross lees too long." Malolactic fermentation is not used for the Pinot Grigio, so that the fresh, crisp style Arras likes is maintained. The young wine is tested for heat stability, and bentonite is added if necessary. He then cold-stabilizes the wine at about 28° F for up to a month. Once the wine is cold-stable, he racks once more prior to blending trials. If KEY POINTS While Pinot Gris is not widely grown in New York, two wineries in the Finger Lakes have found there is a market for different styles of wine made from the variety. Phil Arras, winemaker at Damiani Wine Cellars on the east side of Seneca Lake, produces approximately 750 cases of Pinot Grigio each year. His goal is a light, crisp wine with good flavor and an alcohol of about 12%. Anthony Road Wine Co.'s winemaker, Peter Be- craft, makes three wines from the west side of Seneca Lake.