We decided to purchase a pallet of beautiful ‘Whistler’ Black Currants from our good friends in Ontario. Popham Lane Farm grows quantities of luscious flavourful currants. He also was kind enough to send us several samples of his preserves and jams! Decadent. The care and attention he gives to his crop is evident in the flavour and quality of his products. I hope we can do his fruit justice by crafting a fine table wine, as flavourful as the berries we received! We are hoping to get sufficient product from Collin’s Ravensfield Farm this year to create another exclusive batch of Black Currant Reserve in the fall.

May 12, 2021

Fermenting is going very well. In fact, we’ve had to cool the batch down considerably! Today, we pressed out the fruit and returned the fermenting juice to a dedicated glycol-chilled 1000 L tank. The pomace will be composted and used as fertilizer for our orchards.

May 21, 2021

Fermenting is about finished. We monitor all our ferments daily, with specific gravity testing and a quick taste test, as well as a ‘sniff’ test to determine if the fermentation is proceeding according to plan. We also check the chiller and make sure the temperature of the wine is kept at the appropriate level to the specific yeast we use. We also look at the CO2 monitor and make sure the Venmar is on to ventilate the building (bonus of a higher than 1000 ppm in the room of CO2 is we know fermentation is still active). Today, the specific gravity was 1.005, with a final goal of 0.992, which we expect to happen by the end of next week (3 - 4 weeks from start). Many people wonder why the specific gravity is below 1.0; the answer to that is in the alcohol. Specific gravity of liquids containing alcohol and no remaining fermentable sugars is lower than 1.00. How much lower depends on the method used to measure. First, we do a quick hydrometer test which gives us a baseline and a good estimate. Once the fermentation is deemed complete, we test the alcohol/volume by distillation (to remove the remaining non-fermentable sugar and other sediments from the water/alcohol mixture). Click here to see our post on how this is done.

June, 2021

Fermentation completed and the work of finishing has begun—-racking, filtering, minor adjustments, aging a bit, then fining, aging some more. We expect this wine to be in tank for another 3-4 months before we achieve the taste profile we are looking for—and then we’ll bottle this goodness for you to enjoy in the Fall of 2021. The taste profile is complex but young, with the expected somewhat ‘woody’ flavours characteristic of Black Currants expected to mellow in the coming months.

July, 2021

Aging continues. Really nice profile expected to develop well.

August, 2021

A bit of work was done to back sweeten, adjust the taste profile, and with the addition of a little süssreserve (natural sweet black currant juice which is returned to the already fermented wine to sweeten and flavour it), it is coming along very nicely. It needs at least another month to meld flavours and develop the tannin structure to balance the alcohol, which is still a little heady and predominant.

September, 2021

After another month of aging and a few adjustments, and lots of tastings, plus a little fining, this wine is ready to bottle. The last 3 weeks before sales commence will both serve to mitigate bottle shock, and further balance the flavours and alcohol with the aromatic profile. Very very pleasing wine!

October, 2021

Bottled 90 cases. Released to market.

February 2022

The remainder of the Popham Farm Black Currants were fermented and set aside for aging in tank until May, then they will be amended and fortified to create Kinlochaline Fortified Black Currant Dessert Wine in June 2022. Will use 200 L for the fortified, and 100 L for regular MacAngus bottling.

Mid January, 2022

A small quantity of Popham Lane Black Currants is now undergoing a modified version of carbonic maceration popularized by the Beaujolais region of France, in their Beaujolais Nouveau Gamay wines. This is an experiment, and we are hoping to derive some unique flavour profile by this method. Essentially, carbonic maceration involves allowing the uncrushed fruit to macerate and ferment internally, under blanket of carbon dioxide. After the juices are released and the fruit flesh is exposed, the fermentation is started as normal, with the addition of yeast and nutrients. You can read about Beaujolais Nouveau in France to get a feel for how this method may be used in a modified way to help expand our wine profiles.

Late January, 2022

Fruit was crushed and water, sugar, yeast, nutrients were added as normal. Then allowed to ferment for several days, and fruit was pressed. Pomace discarded to the compost pile in the Home Acre orchard for orchard amendments.