Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/804714
April 2017 WINES&VINES 65 MacroBin fermented substantially cooler (8° to 9° F lower) than the insulated bin. The Apollo tank was intermediate to the two bins, and because of that temperature difference, it gave the best fer- mentation. The cap temperature was 4° to 5° F lower than the in- sulated tank, and the juice tem- perature was 3° to 4° F warmer than the uninsulated MacroBin. The insulated bin ended with a stuck fermentation at about 1° Brix, while the other fermenta- tions finished dry. The fermentation in the Apollo tank followed what I have heard is typical for egg-shaped tanks. The cap was deeply dense and very compact on its surface. The liquid level was at about the same depth as what would be found in most traditional fermentations, but because the top narrows sig- nificantly, the majority of the cap was immersed in the wine 100% of the time, which is considerably more than the wider surface area of the MacroBins. Chambourcin, the grape variety used in this comparison, is a vari- ety with lots of color but with less tannin than one would expect given its depth of color. In this study, the MacroBin wines were normal in color, while the Apollo wine was more intense. Again, there was no difference in either MacroBin from a tannin perspec- tive, and the tannin level was simi- lar to previous fermentations of Chambourcin in MacroBins. The Apollo tank, however, did have a rather substantial increased tannin extraction compared to the Mac- roBin-fermented wines. On the East Coast, fall tem- peratures often drop right around the time warmth would come in handy for red wine fermentation. Many wineries try to insulate their bins so they don't lose as much heat. True insulated bins do retain the heat and, in our case, too much heat was trapped. It appears that for the uninsu- lated MacroBin, the low fruit height relative to its large surface WINEMAKING This new offering from Sonoma Cast Stone features ultra-black concrete pigment and black fixtures in the classic egg shape.