Picking up the 2007 Icewine juice from Watsons
I drove down to Niagara-on-the-Lake to pick up my Icewine juice order from Watsons yesterday. I had ordered 15L of whatever variatals he produced and was happy to see that he had three different varietals to offer this year: Vidal, Riesling-Traminer and Cab Franc.
This is the first time I've been able to get ahold of red Icewine juice and I'm excited to try my hand at it. Last year his Cab Franc came out murky and he sold the entire batch to a professional winery that owned the centrifuge required to clarify it properly. But this year it fell clear naturally and he was selling it to amateurs like myself.
the Cab Franc clocks in at a whopping 41°B while the Riesling was 39°B and the Vidal 37°B. The vinifera has more sugar than last year and I'll need to either make sweeter wines or ferment to a higher level of alcohol as a consequence. That's fine with me.
As usual, Kevin doesn't know the acid numbers, but recommends a minimum 5g/L or tartaric acid for the vinifera in order to bump the pH into reasonable territory. I tasted the Cab Franc immediately upon getting home and I have to agree -- just on the taste alone this needs MUCH more acid in order to effectively counter the massive sweetness.
I've let it sit overnight and I'll adjust the acid and innoculate with yeast this evening, once the juice has warmed up.