So it’s been six days since the ‘07 Zinfandel was harvested and crushed. It’s been cold soaking in three separate open top containers all week. Today it was time to inoculate the must with yeast to kick off the primary fermentation. However, as one of the containers was warming up to prepare for its new sugar-eating inhabitants, it decided to kick off, or start fermenting, on its own. Whenever you see a description of how a wine was made and it includes something about being fermented using wild yeast, this is exactly what they mean. The must is starting to ferment using the yeast brought in from the vineyard. This is a first for me.

I decided to stick to my original plan and combine two of the bins and keep the other on its own. I wanted to inoculate the two lots with different yeasts so I could blend the characteristics of both in the final wine. The larger bin got D254 and the smaller bin got D80. Both bins will get nutrients in the morning.

Hopefully the larger bin (the one that was starting on its own) will not encounter any of the difficulties, such as a stuck fermentation, which are common with wild yeasts. Perhaps the D254 will muscle its way in there and keep the wild child yeast in line? We shall see.