Walker Hall Winery

Autumn

The warm September days which are so typical of the climate of the Niagara region are crucial to the grape ripening process.

The Merlot plots are harvested quickly as we next move onto the Viognier and then the always challenging Cabernet Sauvignon. As the wines finish their alcoholic fermentation, we wait eagerly and impatiently to get to know each wine, one by one. Then suddenly, the harvest is finished. At this point the ageing process begins once again as the reds are moved into the ageing cellar in the basement of the Walker Hall Manor Inn.

Ripeness

The prerequisite for making a great wine is the acquisition of the grapes of perfect ripeness. All the work in the vineyard therefore is geared towards this.

For grapes to ripen 'well' is a little like to be 'well' brought up for children -no extremes, consistency and especially in harmony or balance. All of the components in the grapes must develop together at the same rhythm: sugar, acidity, aromas, tannins etc. Some of these increase, others disappear or are transformed, but they all converge towards this state of equilibrium, which defines ripeness. Only in temperate climates, in relatively poor, or moderately rich soils can vines work in partnership with the grapes in this task. Climates which are too hot or too cool, soils which are too fertile or arid, do not suit vines, as their extremes only cause imbalances.

Grape harvest

After a year's hard work, full of risk, fear and hope, the moment to pick the grapes finally arrives. There is nothing more to be done, or almost nothing. The picking proceeds fairly quickly, as very ripe grapes are prone to rot, but enough time is always allowed to sort carefully through the bunches and even the berries. The crop thinning operation during the summer had of course already discarded any unwanted bunches, but a last strict sorting has to be done. The responsibility for this job is with each picker and then with a more specialized team, posted the sorting table before the grapes are delivered to the crusher or in some cases our Vacuum system Press.

Fermentation

It is the alcoholic fermentation which is responsible for the transformation of grape juice into wine. The bio-chemical transformations brought into play by fermentation are numerous and complex. What was the art of wine-making, and has now also become the science of wine-making, still comes down to the successful completion of those transformations in the best possible conditions. This particularly involves a strict control of temperature, to prevent the heat generated by the fermentation from eventually killing the yeasts which are themselves making the juice ferment. Also pumping over, which consists in pumping the must from the bottom of the vat to the top, helping to dissolve the components of the grapes, as well as bringing small doses of oxygen which are necessary for the metabolism of the yeasts.

Once the alcoholic fermentation has finished, the maceration continues until the wine is run off the skins. The wine is then almost finished, but in order to be completely stable, a last bio-chemical transformation has to be performed: the fermentation by bacteria of the malic acid in the wine into lactic acid. It is spontaneous, but does not always start easily. The wine needs to be maintained at a temperature of at least 20°C (68°F). Before its discovery at the end of the 1950s, it was often noticed that during the first warm spells in spring, the wine suddenly began to ferment. People thought that the flowering of the vine could have been the origin of this mysterious occurrence. It was simply the malo-lactic fermentation which was triggered off by the rise in temperature. All this progress may not have made the great vintages any more remarkable - they are first of all the result of favoured natural conditions, but it partly explains why the lesser vintages are that much better.

Running off

During the vinification of red grapes, as the fermentation takes place, many components present in the skins are extracted. This maceration continues throughout several days after the end of the fermentation until the running off, the process of separating the wine by pumping it off the marc (the solid parts of the grapes). The running off therefore puts an end to a period of very complex dynamic interactions when the components in the grapes are dissolved in the wine to good and sometimes bad effects.

The result, of course, depends firstly on the quality of the grapes. Only very good grapes, perfectly healthy and ripe and from great estate terroirs, are they likely to be transformed, by means of fermentation and an appropriate maceration, into a good or great wine. When the vintage is more complex, generally through lack of grape ripeness, there is a greater risk of extracting bad flavours, particularly vegetal aromas and harsh and bitter tannins. This is when it becomes very important to watch the maceration very closely.

White winemaking

Grapes are gently crushed and then pressed with our Vacuum system Press. For our top shelf barrel fermented wines the grapes are gently pressed with whole clusters. After the pressing the juice is left to settle for 12 hours, racked and inoculated with selective yeasts. Three days after the yeasts have been inoculated, they are transferred by gravity into French oak barrels where by completing the alcoholic fermentation and then remaining on their own lees for about 12 months. During the first six months the wines are gently stirred (batonnage) to help the yeasts autolysis which enhances the wine aroma and stability. Wines which remain in stainless steel are kept on their own less after fermentation for another 5 months. During this time we gently stir them at least once a month.