Co-Fermentation of Pinot Noir

Hi All,
I’m a home winemaker, gearing up for my 4th harvest and am interested in trying a co-fermentation of my Pinot Noir. I’ve read and heard conflicting advice about inoculating the ML bacteria early in the primary fermentation as well as at the later stages. Will either work? Has anyone had success with this method?

If inoculating ML early, say 2nd day of primary, is it ok to add ML nutrients in addition to the nutrients for the yeast?

Are there any other things to watch out for?

Thanks in advance!

I think that most people will take co-fermentation to mean that you intend to ferment another variety with your PN. I gather that you instead mean that you want to run MLF simultaneously with primary fermentation. I’m sure that you’ve read advice that this can cause primary fermentation to stick due to nutrient competition. I think that there are good reasons to run MLF later (and I can’t think of a compelling reason to rush it), but I think sticking is not such a concern with PN as it might be with other varieties. PN seems to have abundant nutrients for every microbe under the sun, and I would advise against adding any additional nutrients unless you have a real good reason to do so. You don’t want PN to race through fermentation any faster than it already wants to, and you don’t want any excess nutrient remaining in the wine after you wrap up MLF.

The other problem is that malolactic bacteria produce volatile acidity if there is sugar present.

I agree that co-fermentation is generally taken to mean multiple grape varieties. Co-inoculation is the term you are looking for, I believe. I have had great success with it in CS, PS, SY, Grenache, and other varieties, though I have never tried it with Pinot Noir.

The addition window is 24-48 hours after adding the yeast. If you miss that window, you’ll be better off not adding the MLB until after primary is complete. But if you do add in that window, you should be fine, with no added VA, and a wine that is double dry in no time. Assuming that the nutrient levels in your must are adequate for primary fermentation, you should not need to worry about ML nutrients. You need those, if at all, only after the primary fermentation has consumed everything available in the must before the MLB get a crack at it.

Never done coinoculated ML with Sacc with any wine, and hesitant to because of the stuck ferment possibilities, but know many people who do so on a regular basis successfully.

I will say with Pinot noir in particular, I am, and know others as well, who are fans of delayed MLF, especially if the wine is stored in a very cold cellar to prevent spoilage opportunities. The general thought is that longer time period at lower pH helps with color stability and mouthfeel development in this most finicky of grapes with ML completing several months after primary, usually coinciding with spring warming, but your mileage may vary…

Brian Maloney
DeLoach Vineyards

Brian

Thanks everyone - very helpful. You all are right, co-inoculation is what I meant. I had good luck last season, luck being the operative word, with adding ML bacteria near the end of primary fermentation, about 2° Brix. I had forgotten to add at the beginning as I had been coached. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: But, no VA and turning out to be a nice wine, but I’m guessing it’s just luck of the draw.

MLF is always about luck! But adding at 2 Brix is pretty close to adding post-fermentation. I think the real problems arise when you add between, say, 20 and 5 Brix. That’s where both fermentations are likely to slow, VA to rise, etc. Go early or go late, but don’t go in between.

Brian’s remarks on pH and color are very interesting. I’d love to hear from PN producers who have experience with co-inoc re whether they have had any color issues.

M

Not with Pinot, but for the past couple of years I did co-inoc. on Zin, Bdx varieties, Syrah…etc. Never had any sticking issues. I usually waited until the must warmed up to about 60-65F. I didn’t add ML nutrients, and only added nutrient if nitrogens were low. Most ML nutrients are basically the same as yeast nutrient anyway.

Did you or anyone notice a difference between co-inoculated wines and the sequentially fermented counterparts? Especially with regard to aromatics / complexity / mouthfeel?

One benefit I’ve heard, if I understand correctly, is that the sooner fermentations are complete, the sooner you can sulfite/stabilize and let it rest on oak, therefore longer opportunity for oak, if desired.

No quality differences that I’ve ever noticed, but many/most people finish ML in barrel, so I don’t think that part of the equation would make a difference.
As far as VA is concerned, yes, there is a POTENTIAL for higher VA’s with co-inoc, but the same could happen to barrels that sit around for months without SO2 while waiting for ML to finish.

I tried co-inoc this year with a Cabernet ferment.

I shan’t be doing it again, without going into too much detail.

I co-inoc my Chardonnays with no problems whatsoever. I have friends and even a custom crush client who do/does a lot of co-inoc for reds.

It seems that when it fails, it’s not just a “ho-hum” affair. It fails in full-on, spectacular, “break up the party with a baseball bat, douse the place in gasoline and light a match” fashion. I also know some people who shun it…guessing it takes one experience like this and one moves from one camp to the other.

Wow. I’ve never had any issues. I’d be interested to hear about this.

Yeah, Nate, that’s a doozy. I’ve had some issues in a couple of lots when I was late to the game with the MLB. Learned the hard way that the MLB need to go in 24-48 hours after the yeast, or post-primary, not in the middle. But I had no off aromas or anything scary, just a very slow primary fermentation.

I would be interested to know the pH of the wine. If the must/juice is below 3.5 pH and ML won’t take it above 3.5, I haven’t found any major risk to co-inoculation. However, if it is above 3.5, there is much greater risk of VA. I co-inoculate with MLB once I see the primary fermentation has kicked in. The temperature is warm and conducive to ML. I do hydrate with Acti-ML or Malostart. For Chardonnay, I am doing sur lie, so the yeast lees are getting stirred, but I do that a bit on the reds as well and the wines have gotten through ML just fine. Depending on the nutrient level, it can be worthwhile to add some nutrients for the MLB.

I was reading about chitosan for brett control today and saw an interesting side-note in a couple Lallemand trials that indicated that co-innoculated ferments were much less brett-prone. This link may be a step or two away from the trial results, but it was as close as I could get Wine Industry Network

That’s interesting Stewart. The less brett-prone co-inoculated ferment info is located in the following pdf:

Sounds like doing the ML in tank (and eliminate the malic acid before the wine gets to barrel) eliminates a food source for brett.

I’d be a little reluctant to do a co-inoculate when doing a native/uninoculated ferment tho…but I’m assuming a ‘late co-inoculate’ (i.e. at 5-7 brix) and an extended maceration for a week or so in tank would have the same effect, and appeals to me more.

Those brett results are new to me.

Does anyone who does or wants to do this method of co-inoculation have certain reasons? Are there other potential benefits? I’ve never heard of any, which makes me wonder why this is becoming so popular.