This leaves only the Limoux chardonnay, which is slowly fermenting, to go. It was 7.7g/l residual sugar last Thursday, 7.1g/l on Saturday and today 6.7g/l. The fermentation is very slow and activity is disappearing. I will warm the wine to 19ºC and stir up the lees where the yeasts have settled, but this is the last chance, and if no signs of life by tomorrow we are going to do what we call in France a ‘pied de cuve’, which is a rescue yeast culture to kick start the ferment again.
A rescue culture is not easy, especially at the 7g/l sugar level, as the alcohol already in the wine kills off the new yeasts before they become strong enough to resist. The wine is also currently without sulphur, so open to the other worries of oxidation and volatile acidity during the movement of the un-sulphured wine.
It is Cepe season at the moment and we managed to get hold of some of these magnificent mushrooms to cook up.
I used the classic Bordeaux recipe of butter, garlic and parsley matched with a lovely simple half bottle of 2007 Graves from Chateau Lehoul. Visit laithwaites.co.uk
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