Gooseberry: "Ribesculture" and Oenology History

2005
(Bin 84)

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 2004 season.

However, typically, the plant is bush trained to maintain an open canopy, prevent crossing branches, and encourage strong fruiting branches. Winter pruning is conducted 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.).


Phenological dates and observations

Event 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Budburst 1st/2nd wk Mar 2nd wk Feb 4th wk Feb <1st wk Mar 1st wk Mar
Flowering 4th wk Apr 1st/2nd wk Apr unknown ~3rd wk Apr 1st wk Apr
Fruit set 3rd wk May May/Jun unknown unknown 3rd wk Apr
Veraison July ~mid-Jun 4th wk Jun 2nd-4th wk Jul 1st-3rd wk Jul
Harvest 12th Aug 21st Aug 6,8th Aug - damn birds! 1st Sep
Yield (g/plant) 647 356 2949 - 1648
Average berry weight (g) 2.5 2.2 2.4 - 2.5
Leafdrop late Nov (~90%) unknown 2nd wk Oct (99%) 1st wk Dec (99%) unknown
Pruning regime - none 12th Dec, leaders to 1/2 length, laterals ~1 bud none 14th Jan, severe


Birds
In the past, some fruit stripping by birds had been experienced and fruiting branches were trained/raised higher to avoid this. Netting was typically avoided, however, so as to give the fruit the maximum possible sunlight exposure. Unfortunately, all the fruit from the (unnetted) 2004 season was eaten by birds while away on holidays for a few days. Netting was therefore used during the last few weeks of the 2005 vintage. This further allowed harvest to be delayed by almost a month later than had been typical in the past.

Notes on yield
The 2005 yield was down significantly on 2003 figures, though average berry weight was up on previous years. Both these attributes are considered to be the result of increased vegetative growth, since no pruning followed the 2004 season.

Notes on maturity and flavour development
The harvested berries were very mature, with extended hang time being pushed into September. It is clear, however, that extended hang time in gooseberries results in increased berry-drop and decreased flavours in remaining bush-attached berries. A reasonable compromise was probably made in 2005 between flavour loss and astringency/acidity loss, with berries showing softer acidity and astringency yet "ripe" flavours of reasonable intensity.

Windfalls showed less flavour, but softer astringency and acidity than bush-attached berries. Some windfalls also appeared to have picked up earthy flavours. (Of course, these berries were not included in the collected harvest.) Bush-attached berries which showed shrivelling at harvest also possessed less flavour, but softer astringency and acidity. Smaller sized berries generally showed higher levels of astringency/acid.



Oenology

Aims

With the third (2005) vintage of the Gooseberry the off-dry, fresh and fruity style was quite firmly in place. Nevertheless, reduced fruit yields meant reduced aromatic intensity, yet simultaneously allowed for reduced acidity.


Fruit


Variety Content (at cold soak) Content (lb&oz/US gal.) Content (lb&oz/Imperial gal.) Data
Worcesterberry (2005) 350 g/l 2 lb 15 oz 3 lb 10 oz
Red grape juice 105 (ml/l) - - -

Pure leached juice possessed SG 1.068, pH 2.88, TA 29 g/l. All fruit was frozen immediately after picking.


Crush and Must Preparation

All fruit was manually crushed. Water, grape juice, pectin destroying enzyme and 50 mg/l SO2 were then added and the must cold macerated for 29 hours at ~14°C (57°F) under CO2. Following cold maceration, sugar was added to SG 1.098. pH 3.42 and TA 6.4 g/l.


Inoculation

The must was inoculated after crush with S. cerevisiae 71B, a Narbonne isolate with low nutrient requirements, the ability to reduce 20-40% of the malic acid content of the must, and the reputation for superior ester production.


Fermentation

Fermentation began within a few hours and was vigorous within 24 hours. At this point cold fermentation proceeded at 13-14°C (55-57° F) for one month.


Clarification and Racking

1st racking: 4 weeks after inoculation the wine was racked at SG 1.002 (Brix 2) to retain some residual sugar. SO2 was added to maintain 0.6 mg/l molecular SO2.
2nd racking: 7 weeks later the wine was racked again under CO2. SO2 was added to maintain 0.6 mg/l molecular SO2.
Bottling: 5 weeks later the wine was bottled under CO2 with 220 mg/l potassium sorbate. The wine was not fined or filtered.


Tasting

After one month in bottle with a panel of 6 tasters:

Colour: Medium rich rosé/maroon pinky red.
Nose: Soft clean nose of red fruit, tropical gooseberry, candy, kir, perhaps a touch of bubblegum and a slight herbal edge.
Palate: Off-dry with good acidity and medium-body. Flavours of pink grapefruit, passionfruit and gooseberry, a soft mouthfeel and a refreshing finish.


Final analysis

Alc/Vol: 12%
pH: 3.20
TA: 7.9 g/l (as tartaric)
Residual sugar: SG 0.999


Conclusions

An easy drinking wine that successfully fulfils the targeted stylistic goals. Though perhaps with a slight sacrifice for aromatic intensity, a desirable balance was reached here between acidity and sweetness. Future stylistic exploration might involve a less directly fruity orientated winemaking regime to increase complexity.


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