At about 6pm my eyes were heavy and my muscles ached, I sat and watched as gray clouds cast showers across the Barossa. It’s a relief after the constant heat and sunshine and it reminds me of home. I wasn’t going to write an entry today, there was no strength left in my mind to compose anything meaningful. I was drained, feet up watching Simpsons on the couch. Now feeling a bit of a second-wind and drinking a Jenke Barossa Shiraz 2002, I’m scribbling down a brief entry. The wine, actually very good, with alcohol levels under control which doesn’t leave a hot sensation on the palette, the fruits wrapped in a quite obvious but enjoyable oak. This is a soft, full bodied wine with the interesting traits that 7 years of bottle aging will give. The balance, for the Barossa is quite well maintained, don’t expect the cutting clear precision of a cool climate wine, rather a luscious yet powerful wine, smothered with brown oak and plums, touch toasty, but in a warm morning type of way.
The week so far has been based around the grapes we’ve pulled in. The grapes, after they’ve had their stems removed, get thrown into large 7 to 10 tonne fermenters. They have yeast cultures added and if above 29C are chilled. The yeast work on the ferment for a week or so and during this time the “cap” made from the grape skins , needs to be kept wet otherwise you risk microbial contamination and the formation of off-odors in the wine. The method used in this part of the world is the “pump-over”. You take juice from the bottom of the tank and pump it back over the top, saturating the cap, oxygenating the wine and reducing the high temperatures. It takes about twenty minutes for each tank, with the cap temperature being measured before and after the pump over. The Baume level is also taken to give an idea of what stage the fermentation is at. I quite enjoy pump-overs as it is often the first job of the day and gives you an idea of what the ferments are doing and if there are any potential problems arising. At the moment we have around 12 to do, three times a day. It keeps the team fairly busy, especially when you try and fit them around the other jobs of winemaking.
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