and veggie
characteristics, and to add an oak
baseline with continued wine development
prior to going into barrels. The
results have been softer tannins in the
finished wines, significantly boosting
sales in the market place.
Meier uses both the mg/L and
ml/L measurements (1 ml = 1.4 mg).
This is because the winery utilizes
both the Parsec and Oenodev systems.
They started incorporating microOx in
2002, experimenting with several
brands. Parsec and Oenodev were chosen
for the service available, especially
important in the early trials to help
gain experience quickly; the safety features
of the units, such as a back pressure
monitor; single units that can control
multiple tanks; and the ease of
adjustments.
Meier notes that microOx is "a tool
in the winemaker's toolbox." Like all
tools, it is designed for specific uses.
Meier tried microOx on Sauvignon
Blanc with little success. He still feels
that barrel-aged wines offer a bit more
complexity and finesse than those
aged in stainless steel tanks with
microOx and oak chips or inserts. With
the total cost of using microOx about
one-third that of using barrels, for
some wines, especially those selling at
low price-points, microOx becomes an
invaluable tool.
HAVENS WINE CELLARS
Michael Havens, winegrower at
Havens Wine Cellars (Napa, CA),
started experimenting with the introduction
of oxygen into wine in 1997
using homemade equipment. In 1998,
after visiting Patrick Ducournau in
Madiran in southwestern France, he
learned more about the technique and
realized that commercial equipment
was available. He is utilizing an
Oenodev unit to microOx select wines.
"MicroOx is not simply a tool to
push a wine toward softness and marketability,"
states Havens, "that is
always a choice the winemaker makes.
He/she can just as well use microOx to
make a hard-boned, long-ageing wine if so desired.
Free/total SO2
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ratios are
much higher in most microOx wines, a
good technical advantage in itself."
It is the control precision that
microOx provides that Havens appreciates,
allowing him to make these
decisions with confidence. But the use
of microOx requires more direction
from the winemaker, Havens emphasizes.
Tannin structure is a major consideration
in the use of microOx. Havens
defines the cyclical textural path of
tannin as: 1) green, 2) hard, 3) firm, 4)
soft, 5) round, 6) melted, and 7) green
(when overdone). He feels it is usually
best to bottle when wines are in the
firm/soft stage.
Havens produces Merlot, Cabernet
Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and
Syrah. As these all have significant
anthocyanin structure, he is comfortable
using microOx for any of these
wines, regardless of their tier in the
winery production hierarchy. If he
were making Pinot Noir or Grenache,
with their typically lower levels of
anthocyanins and tannins, he would
be using microOx much less.
Havens' approach for an age-worthy
wine is to micro-ox at 60 to 80
ml/L/month starting at primary dryness.
The addition is then stepped
down at about the same point when
MLF finishes. SO2 is added and the
wine is settled. After two to three
weeks, microOx is resumed, beginning
at a rate of 40 ml/L/month, and then
decreased to 5 mL/L/month for about
one month. The wine is then ready for
barrel ageing, where occasional additions
of "punctual," or brief, oxygen
continues to develop the wine.
HESS COLLECTION WINERY
Dave Guffy, director of winemaking
for the Hess Collection Winery (Napa,
CA), applies microOx to cure the occasional
herbal or vegetative character,
or a reductive quality, from some vineyard
lots of grapes for Hess's California
Series wines. "Checking into the
hospital" is his analogy for correcting
these problem wine
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lots. Guffy does not use microOx to
reduce tannins or minimize the use of
oak barrels, and the wines must have
enough structure to tolerate the
increase in oxygen. Done after MLF
and sulfur additions, the treatment
might last from one to six months, and
the rate is typically at 1 to 5 mL/L/
month, adjusted by monitoring the
taste of the wine. In the 2006 harvest,
only two lots with H2S required
microOx.
The StaVin OxBox is used at Hess,
shifting the several lines from tank to
tank as needed. Guffy likes the simplicity
of OxBox, requiring one to
merely calculate the desired amount of
oxygen, and then adjust the flow rate
and set the timer. He and his crew taste
every other week, and watch the dissolved
oxygen rates in the wines. (The
OxBox's back pressure meters are provided
more to note when the spargetips
are clogged rather than adjusting
for tank pressure.)
HANNA WINERY
While most wineries are using
microOx in stainless steel tanks, Jeff
Hinchliffe, winemaker at Hanna
Cellars (Healdsburg and Santa Rosa,
CA), pumps O2 to Cabernet and
Merlot placed in 1,100 to 3,300-gallon
wooden uprights. Selectively using
microOx on wine with good color and
high tannins, this use of MOx in
wooden tanks typically represents
only 15% of the total blend. Oak
inserts are added to get a jump on the
oak integration prior to going to
French, European, and American oak
barrels.
Used after primary fermentation,
Hinchliffe's rates are normally 3
mg/L/ month until MLF, and then
reduced to 0.5 to 2.0 mg/L. If a wine is
on primary lees, a rate of 5 or 6 mg/L
might be used. With the reduced rates,
the wines can stay in tanks until midsummer.
Whenever using microOx,
Hinchliffe and his staff monitor by
tasting weekly, smelling for aldehydes,
and checking the DO level. In a recent
high press lot of Merlot the aldehyde
rate rose, and the microOx rate was
reduced.
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