Gooseberry: "Ribesculture" and Oenology History

2003
(Bin 73)

The following page details the site and growing conditions ("Ribesculture") and the winemaking (Oenology) involved in making this gooseberry wine.


"Ribesculture"

Site Details

Location

Latitude & Longitude: 55 degrees North, 3 degrees West
Elevation: ~30 m (~90 feet) ASL
Slope: N/A
Soil: sandy loam with high humus content top soil
Shelter: walled garden
Wind: probably 10-25 mph (16-40 kmh) average

Precipitation



Temperature



Note: temperature and precipitation data are for about 55.95°N 3.30°W and elevation about 41m (134 feet) above sea level. This data is roughly representative of the weather experienced by the gooseberry plants.


Variety

Worcesterberry. A very vigorous plant producing small dark purple gooseberries.


Training

The bush was not pruned at the end of the 2002 season.

However, typically, the plant is bush trained to maintain an open canopy, prevent crossing branches, and encourage strong fruiting branches. Winter pruning is done after 100% leaf drop. Fruit is borne on one year old shoots and spurs on older shoots. New leading growths are cut back about half way to produce strong branches for fruiting. Fruiting spurs are encouraged by cutting back lateral growths to about 7.5 cm (3 in.).
Some fruit stripping by birds has been experienced in the past and fruiting branches are trained/raised higher to avoid this. Netting typically avoided so as to give the fruit the maximum possible sunlight exposure.


Phenological dates

Event 2001 2002 2003
Budburst 1st/2nd wk Mar 2nd wk Feb 4th wk Feb
Flowering 4th wk Apr 1st/2nd wk Apr unknown
Fruit set 3rd wk May May/Jun unknown
Veraison July ~mid-Jun 4th wk Jun
Harvest 12th Aug 21st Aug 6,8th Aug
Yield (g/plant) 647 356 2949
Average berry weight (g) 2.5 2.2 2.4
Leafdrop late Nov (~90%) unknown 2nd wk Oct (99%)
Pruning regime - none 12th Dec, leaders to 1/2 length, laterals ~1 bud


Maturity notes
Flavour profile (2002): at harvest lovely tropical fruit flavours showed, skins were highly acidic and astringent. Two weeks later (7th/8th Sept.) tropical fruit flavours showed, skins had lower acidity and astringency had softened (more soft and furry than hard).


Oenology

Aims

The 2002 Gooseberry (Bin 69) showed some herbaceous/vegetal character that was undesirable. The aims for this wine were as for the 2002, but with that herbaceous character minimised. The style is modelled on the popular New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc grape wine style. Specific aims were: a tropical gooseberry nose, fresh and crisp palate and good length.


Fruit


Variety Content (at cold soak) Content (lb&oz/US gal.) Content (lb&oz/Imperial gal.) Data
Worcesterberry (2003) 620 g/l 5 lb 3 oz 6 lb 3 oz
Sol Vino Spanish concentrated grape juice 52 g/l (~42 ml/l) - - concentrate SG 1.220

All the fruit was frozen immediately after picking.


Crush and Must Preparation

All fruit was crushed in a stainless steel manual rotary crusher. Water, pectin destroying enzyme and 50 mg/l SO2 were then added and the liquid cold macerated at ~10°C (50°F). 56% of this extract was cold macerated for 2 days, 44% for one day.
The liquid was then drained and grape concentrate, sugar and yeast nutrient were added. Gooseberry marc was 29%/weight of original fruit weight. pH was 3.2. Calcium carbonate was used to lower the TA. New pH was 3.8 (this accounts for acid production during fermentation which would bring the pH down).


Inoculation

The must was inoculated after crush with S. cerevisiae Bordeaux strain 7013, a Narbonne yeast selected for general purpose red and white fermentation. It starts quickly, ferments down to 15°C (59°F), forms well settled sediment, and can tolerate 100 mg/l SO2.


Fermentation

Fermentation began within 12 hours at ~20°C (68°F). After two days the clear must was drained and topped up with a sugar syrup. The ambient temperature was then reduced to 17°C (63°F) to maintain fruity aromas.


Clarification and Racking

1st racking: 4 weeks after inoculation the wine was racked. The SG was 1.002 (Brix 2). 31 mg/l SO2 was added. 0.021 g/l bentonite and 2.5 ml/l isinglass mix were added.
2nd racking: 5 weeks later the wine was racked again.
Bottling: 5 weeks later the wine was bottled with 65 mg/l SO2 (included accounting for bottle ullage O2 pickup) and 200 mg/l potassium sorbate.


Deviations

The following comments regard procedures in the winemaking that would in future be conducted/avoided if possible:
  • Sulphite checks and additions should be more rigorous
  • Isinglass clarification time might be extended
  • TA could be lower, and might be made to better match the aims for this wine by partial deacidification



    • Tasting

    Colour: Medium rich rose/maroon pinky red.
    Nose: Soft, yet moderately intense nose with tropical gooseberry fruit and little/no herbaceousness.
    Palate: Tropical flavours with an almost lychee/citrus edge, dry, medium-bodied, soft mouthfeel with a refreshingly zesty finish of good length.


    Final analysis

    Alc/Vol: ~13%
    pH: 3.44
    TA: 8.3 g/l (as tartaric)
    Residual sugar: SG 1.002 (Brix 2)


    Conclusions

    This wine successfully met the goals initially aimed for, i.e. minimised herbaceousness/vegetal character. This wine might be described by a "gooseberry flesh" character when compared with the 2002 Gooseberry (Bin 69) which has a more "gooseberry skin" character.
    Additionally, this wine has more colour, aroma and flavour, and a lower acidity than the 2002 which is deemed preferable for the style. Nevertheless, some people do prefer the lighter, more herbaceous style of the 2002.


    www.brsquared.org/wine