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Wine style. With its lush aromatics and crisp acidity, La Crescent shows best as a semi-sweet to dessert white wine. Typical varietal flavors of apricot, peach, citrus, and pineapple are enhanced and intensified in wines finished with residual sugar, resulting in a well-balanced, rich palate and a lingering finish.
Average harvest chemistry from the HRC vineyard (2003-2005):
°Brix: 25.5
TA: 13 g/L
pH: 3.0
Fermentation temperature and yeast. To retain the complex aromas that make up La Crescent's varietal character, the wine is best fermented cool (55°F) with aromatic yeast strains. Warmer fermentation temperatures may result in the loss of aromatic intensity, as can excessive amelioration to reduce acid. Acid-reducing yeasts have shown limited potential at reducing acidity without significantly reducing aroma and flavor. Malolactic fermentation is not recommended, and will decrease desirable wine aromas.
Palate balance. The key to successful palate balance in La Crescent is the retention or addition of appropriate sweetening. This can be accomplished three ways: by stopping fermentation, by back-adding sugar, or by reserving juice at harvest and blending it in following fermentation.
Stopping Fermentation: One means of achieving an appropriate acid:sugar ratio is by stopping fermentation, either by filtration or cold-stabilization. Membrane filtration (not plate-and frame) at 0.45 or smaller should stop fermentation instantly. Stopping fermentation via cold-stabilization is tricky, as it can take hours to days for the yeast to cease activity. This delay is largely dependent upon the equipment and conditions available. Of these methods, filtration is much easier for commercial wineries, as the lag between action and cessation of fermentaion is greatly diminished. Less aggressive, aromatic yeasts are desirable, as these strains tend to slow down as alcohol levels increase. Preserving some of the natural sugar in the wine can increase aromatic intensity and mouthfeel. This technique has the added benefit of keeping alcohol levels moderate.
Back-adding sugar or juice: The simplest way of sweetening La Crescent is to ferment the wine to complete dryness, then back-add sugar. This technique has the advantage of allowing the winemaker to perform bench trials of various sweetness levels prior to adjusting the wine, so the final product can be fine-tuned to a desired level of sweetness.
Another back-sweetening method involves reserving a portion of juice at press time, fermenting the rest of the juice to dryness, then back-blending the reserved juice to provide sweetness and intense fruit character. Care must be taken in storing the reserved juice; usually this portion (called sussreserve) is clarified, treated with SO2 and frozen until needed.
