I just pressed and racked my Cabernet Sauvignon wine into its
secondary's. The wine is in active MLF. (can see and smell it).

This was the first year I used fresh grapes from Lodi California. They
were picked on a Sept 22, shipped to me, and crushed on Sept 27.

All is going well, My numbers look good, but my color seems light.

I am also processing some local Chancellor grapes which are dark as
black ink, and that may be skewing my perception, but my Cab wine
seems a bit light.. (lighter that the commecial Cabernet i am
currently drinking).

Some background on my process:
I used RC-212 yeast, added DAP after about 1/2 the sugar was gone, and
put some pectin enzyme in at that time too. 2 days later I induced
MLF.

SG was 1.10 at start and is now at .0998. It is currently resting on
the gross lees.

My fear is that my ad-hoc press did not extract enough from the skins.
(see my other post to see pics of the press.)

So, my question is this; will my wine darken?

Wayne,

A few points.

Your wine will darken as it ages. It will continue to clear for many
months. If you introduce your wine to any sort of oak, it will also
pick up some color from that. My wines darken substantially in
barrel.

I've never done a Chancellor but Cabernet is not going to be as dark
as some wines. Grapes like Syrah and Zinfandel are naturally darker,
almost black, while Cabernet is usually a deep crimson red and
something like Nebbiolo is more of a rosy brown.

If you let the wine ferment on the skins for at least 7 or 8 days the
color will be fine. If you're currently going through MLR you should
be able to taste the wine to see how much extract you got from the
skins. If the wine tastes good you have nothing to worry about. Time
and a little oak will take care of the color.

Paul

On Oct 11, 12:14*pm, ":Paul" > wrote:
> Wayne,
>
> A few points.
>
> Your wine will darken as it ages. *It will continue to clear for many
> months. *If you introduce your wine to any sort of oak, it will also
> pick up some color from that. *My wines darken substantially in
> barrel.
>
> I've never done a Chancellor but Cabernet is not going to be as dark
> as some wines. *Grapes like Syrah and Zinfandel are naturally darker,
> almost black, while Cabernet is usually a deep crimson red and
> something like Nebbiolo is more of a rosy brown.
>
> If you let the wine ferment on the skins for at least 7 or 8 days the
> color will be fine. *If you're currently going through MLR you should
> be able to taste the wine to see how much extract you got from the
> skins. *If the wine tastes good you have nothing to worry about. *Time
> and a little oak will take care of the color.
>
> Paul

Thank you. I have both time and oak.....
-Wayne

On Oct 11, 3:28*pm, Wayne Harris > wrote:
> On Oct 11, 12:14*pm, ":Paul" > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Wayne,
>
> > A few points.
>
> > Your wine will darken as it ages. *It will continue to clear for many
> > months. *If you introduce your wine to any sort of oak, it will also
> > pick up some color from that. *My wines darken substantially in
> > barrel.
>
> > I've never done a Chancellor but Cabernet is not going to be as dark
> > as some wines. *Grapes like Syrah and Zinfandel are naturally darker,
> > almost black, while Cabernet is usually a deep crimson red and
> > something like Nebbiolo is more of a rosy brown.
>
> > If you let the wine ferment on the skins for at least 7 or 8 days the
> > color will be fine. *If you're currently going through MLR you should
> > be able to taste the wine to see how much extract you got from the
> > skins. *If the wine tastes good you have nothing to worry about. *Time
> > and a little oak will take care of the color.
>
> > Paul
>
> Thank you. *I have both time and oak.....
> -Wayne- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -


Your wine may or may not darken over time...oak will impart some
colour, but some colour also drops out as the wine settles, fines, and/
or stabilizes. Older wines tend to become relatively more pale-
brickish rather than deeply vibrantly in colour.

Did you cold soak or "bleed" the must ? If not, you may not get a
wine as dark as if you had. These practices are very common in
commercial premium wines. In the future, if colour is a concern for
you, you can cold soak for a few days (see other posts or wine
resources on the steps and precautions to take), or bleed off some
free-run juice, which is generally lighter in colour, ferment it
separately, then blend some back if desired or just treat it like a
white wine and bottle it as a rose. This involves letting the first
10 to 15% of the wine run off freely, remove it (ferment is
separately), then press to get a more concentrated 85 to 90% of the
wine--the press-wine is always darker in colour and more concentrted
in tannins and phenols).

Since it is too late for these in your current situation, if you want
to deepen the colour you might want to experiment with blending some
of your much darker chancellor wine into your Cab. You'd be surprised
how much of a different 5% or less can make in colour. Run some
blending trials to see what amount of Chancellor works best in terms
of colour without adversely affecting the taste/aroma.


Good luck,
Chris.