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October 2018 WINES&VINES 79 WINE EAST GRAPEGROWING The wine is put into 2,000-gallon jacketed stainless-steel tanks made by Vance Metal, in Geneva, N.Y. The juice then settles and clarifies for one to two nights. If the grapes contain any botrytis, Becraft doesn't add bentonite. He does add KS enzyme (from Scott Labs) to get a "tight clarification" and also 30 ppm of potassium metabisulfite (K 2 S 2 O 5 ) while it settles at 54° F. The settled juice is then racked into another jacketed tank(s) for fermentation. While he does use ambient fermentation for a number of his wines, Becraft inoculates the Pinot Gris with Epernay II and/or BA11, both from Scott Labs. The Epernay II ac- centuates the lush, ripe fruit character and will slow down as the fermentation ap- proaches dryness, allowing for a small amount of residual sugar, which Becraft likes in his Pinot Gris. The BA11, however, accents a leaner min- eral character, and "I find it bordering on some spice aromatics and smoke, which tends to round out the acidity," he said. "I believe there is power in blending, and I like to have dif- ferent components to play with." He aims at a fermentation temperature of 57-59° F, especially early in the fermentation, and the duration can range from 10 to 17 days. He allows the temperature to increase to ambi- ent toward the end, usually about 65° F. He regularly tastes the fermenting wine as it decreases in Brix, and once he determines it has reached a balanced spot, he stops the fermentation by chilling the wine to 39-43° F. "It's really balance — that's what I always shoot for," Becraft said. The residual sugar left in the wine averages 5 to 7 grams per liter. Following fermentation, the wine is racked off the gross lees into one or more smaller tanks to facilitate topping off. Once the top begins to clarify, he applies "the hammer," as he described it — 90 ppm of K 2 S 2 O 5 , much of which will become bound, and ensures protec- tion for the wine into the beginning of the next year. He leaves the wine on the lees in the tank until he needs to evaluate it for blending, a bentonite addition and bottling. He likes the complexity added to the wine from the lees and added, "I would like to have it on the lees for up to six months, but I usually can't." The 2017 vintage, however, will not be bottled before August, allowing the wine to rest on the lees for 10 months. This is because of the good supply of the 2016 vintage, when 900 cases were produced. The blending evaluation takes place in the lab, and the quantity of the bentonite addition is determined. The amount is vintage-depen- dent but has averaged about 30 grams per hectoliter. The wine is checked for cold stabil- ity and then passed through a Becopad rough filter pad (about 2 microns), made in Ger- many and sourced from Aftek Filters in Roch- RAY POMPILIO Natural Corks Champagne Corks Twinline Corks Bartops VISION Synthetic Corks G-Cap® Screw Caps Sales Representatives: Chris & Liz Stamp info@lakewoodcork.com lakewoodcork.com 4024 State Route 14 Watkins Glen, NY 14891 607-535-9252 607-535-6656 Fax PIONEER INNOVATOR PARTNER Peter Becraft, winemaker at Anthony Road Wine Company Winery Online Marketing System Grower Online Marketing System Brewer Online Marketing System Distributor Market Service Distillery Database Custom Data Reports REACH MORE DECISION MAKERS • WINES & VINES DATA SERVICES winesandvines.com • winesandvines.com/databases