Red wines from 2009 present high levels of sediment

posted by  |  posted on Monday May 3rd, 2010  |  comments 5

Empty bin of Oscar's wine 2009

Before you ask, I’ll explain what is the photo showing: it is the bottom of a 10.000 liters bin where one of the components of Oscar’s 2009 was resting since November. After aging for some months, this wine created a compact cover of sediment, which this year is specially bigger due to two facts: very cold Winter (resulting in more and denser precipitation) and high level of anthocyans (pigmentation substances responsible for the color) in the grapes of the last harvest.

Empty bin of Quevedo Rose Port It is interesting to compare this photo, of a still red wine, with other of a Rose Port, where the bottom of the bin is covered by a much thinner and pink layer. Different levels of extraction lead to different types of sediment!

Oscar

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  1. Andy Velebil Tuesday May 4th, 2010 | reply
    Wow, that's a lot. Out of curiosity, if this much comes from a dry wine how much sediment is left from a large bin filled with Port? Andy Velebil
  2. Derek Tuesday May 4th, 2010 | reply
    Oscar, Great photo. Thanks for sharing this information. Like Andy I would be very interested to see what a Port vat looks like at this stage and at any other interesting point in its development. See you soon for some great 1960 Ports!!!!! Derek
  3. Oscar Quevedo Thursday May 6th, 2010 | reply
    Hi Andy and Derek, it took me a bit longer to answer this question as needed to hear from my sister. Normally a Port vat has a similar sediment, maybe a bit less because of the dilution effect of the brandy. But if we use the brandy to extract more color and body during the fermentation, the wine will get more sediment after the Winter. Next time we decant a vat of Port I'll put a photo here. See you both soon for some Port experiences!
  4. TheWinesleuth Saturday May 22nd, 2010 | reply
    Great pic! At first glance, I thought it was a cap that needed punching down - LOL. Very interesting to see and looking forward to more of your winery pics. Cheers!

  5. Pingback: Sediment of a Port Wine vat Friday September 24th, 2010

    […] months ago I made a post about the sediment of 2009 still wines. Huge amounts of sediment were accumulating in the bottom of the vats. At that time two members of […]

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