Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/230154
BATONNAGE TOOLS Batonnage is most often done manually, using a metal stirring rod inserted through the barrel bunghole. The Compleat Winemaker/ TCW Equipment, Napa Fermentation Supplies and MoreWine! Professional offer several types of stainless steel lees stirrers. A "rotating head" style has a rotating oval plate at the end of a curved rod. "Paddle" and "putter" models have a perforated fixed metal plate (shaped as described) at the end of a straight rod. Another tool is a straight steel rod with an attached metal link chain that can be swept around the barrel bottom to stir the lees. Mixer rods, attachable to an electric hand drill, have retractable blades on one end that fit through the bunghole, then open in the barrel to stir the lees. One model has a silicone bung at the top end that is placed in the bunghole during mixing to reduce oxygenation. Barrel rack suppliers manufacture racks with wheels on which the barrel rests to enable it to be rolled in place manually. This enables lees mixing without removing the bung, if excess oxygen is a concern. These racks are used for both whiteand red-wine barrel fermentations. Western Square manufactures the Barrel Master system – two-barrel portable and stackable racks with wheels to roll each barrel in place. OXOline manufactures modular barrel racking systems with wheels for rolling barrels in place. For larger-capacity production, Albrigi Tecnologie of Verona, Italy, manufactures Batotank, stainless steel fermentation tanks in capacities from 1,000 to 30,000 liters with automatic batonnage systems, designed with rotating blades in the tank bottom to stir lees into suspension. STRUCTURE AND MOUTHFEEL Jordan Vineyard & Winery, also in Healdsburg, uses batonnage on barrel-fermented Russian River Valley chardonnay, a practice started by winemaker Rob Davis in 1979. Jordan director of wine Greg Miller said, "Batonnage is really important in providing a structural component to our wines." Greg Miller, director of wine for Jordan Winery, uses batonnage in combination with partial ML. Barrel racks with wheels, such as Western Square's Barrel Master, allow barrels to be rolled in place. 64 V I N E YA R D & WINE RY MANAGEM ENT | Jan - Feb 2014 Two-thirds of the chardonnay is barrel fermented in French oak, and one-third is stainless steel-fermented. Miller said the chemistry and conditions of the grapes coming into the winery determine which lots go into barrels. "We analyze the wine at every step during vinification, and decisions are made from tasting to pinpoint those lots for sur lie and batonnage, and how long we age sur lie," he said. On average, chardonnay is left sur lie for two to three months, and batonnage lasts five weeks, stirring once a week or every two weeks. Each barrel is stirred for about 15 seconds using a rotating-head lees stirrer. w w w. v wm m e d i a . c o m