Saturday 30 November 2013

Some bits from first year


Mapping out a new patch at Rock Lodge vineyards. Post bashing is an utter nightmare!


SO2 by Aspiration. This chemical protects our wine and juice from oxidation and microbial spoilage. The technique involves adding a few chemicals to a wine sample, and then bubbling air through it. Then you titrate it against NaOH and estimate the level of free/bound SO2 in the sample. You get some crazy colours from it too!

 
Lining my tractor up before ploughing the life out of the rows! Great fun!


 
I dont drive, not at the time of writing anyway. So driving a tractor was a nervy experience! This is me and the guys fine tuning our skills on our tractor obstacle course.

Friday 29 November 2013

A bit more than boozing

I thought I'd give you guys a chance to see what the daily schedule is like for my 2nd year of uni. Many people find it hard to believe exactly what can be expected of a winemaking BSc. But thats just it... BSc, most of my week is spent analysing samples of juice and wine and working out what additions to make, this involves a dump load of scientific theory which is mind boggling at best! Luckily for me I selected two modules that allow for 5 hours of tastings each week (most aren't great), but still, a lot of work is needed to analyse the wines for how they got their certain characters (maceration periods, vinification techniques, viticultural conditions etc). Have a look a the schedule below for a better idea! In the coming weeks you can expect more detailed updates on subjects covered and other wine bits.



 

Tues


Morning - Wines of the World

A decent start to each week for sure. 3 hours of tasting wines from around the world, with an insanely enthusiastic lecturer (Matthew Hudson). In the last 3 months we have just about covered France's wine regions. Most of the lesson is spent learning about what makes that region unique, how it got that way, the techniques applied in that region, the factors affecting the style and quality etc etc. But then we slurp wine for the last 45 mins, which is great! This syllabus mirrors that of the WSET Diploma.

Afternoon - Wine Analysis

We get a sample of wine, we test it for various bits. Simple. Not really! We test for things like malic acids, SO2, pH and TA, density, alcohol etc. All require a steady hand and active brain, difficult after boozing for 3 hours earlier that morning.




Weds

Morning - Vinification

This lecture shows us everything we need to know about how to process juice into wine, with Tony Milanowski (former winemaker for Hardy's). Expect indepth discussions on scientific theory, normally used on the following tues for Wine Analysis.

Evening - Winery

Some hands on experience! At Plumpton we harvested and processed 30 tonnes of grape this year, we sell the wines in various stores up and down the country, and our sparking has even beaten some top Brdx wines in blind-tasting sessions! Basically, we work for free, but its great experience in how a winery behaves. All overseen by Peter Morgan (former winemaker for Nyetimber).

 
Thurs
 
Morn - Sparkling and Fortified
 
Two hours of sparkling/fortified wine is a reasonable way to start the day, still feeling battered and bruised from the Wednesday evening winery sessions.
 
Afternoon - Research methods and Statistics
 
Research methods and stats is the final 4 hours of my week this term, not the most interesting of lectures! Essential for knowing how to write proposals and translate statistical data though.
 
To the pub!