Wine yeast for Cabernet Sauvignion

[stephenm2]

Hi, this season I am planning to make red wine from Cabernet Sauvignion grapes. What yeast do you suggest using and do I need to add any yeast nutrients or will it be included in it?. I am planning on reaching around 12% alcohol. The yeast should be resistant to heat since in my country the temperature can reach up to 32 degrees celcius.

Thanks

 

[PRM]

Hey Stephen.

Are you purchasing the Cab Sauvignon grapes whole, juiced or buying a kit? The amount of materials required and effort varies greatly between those options.

Regardless, I use EC-1118 as my general purpose yeast and it seems to do fine in most situations. If you purchase a wine kit you will most likely get EC-1118 since it works well for general use on red or white wine. EC-1118 can usually manage up to 16-18% abv and generally ferments through pretty fast which might make you temperature problems worse. I would also look into Lalvin RC212 which is a Bordeaux yeast and would give you a lot of the qualities you would want when fermenting Cab Sauv. 32*C (89F) is a little on the higher side. According to Lalvin's parent website (lallemandbrewing) you might be right on the edge of too warm for either EC-118 or RC212.

Do you have a cellar that you can make your wine in? My cellar stays a pretty consistent 22-23C (72F) during the summer months. If not, you can try to make a swamp cooler to keep the temperatures within reason. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/swamp-cooler.199965/

 

[stephenm2]

Hey Stephen.

Are you purchasing the Cab Sauvignon grapes whole, juiced or buying a kit? The amount of materials required and effort varies greatly between those options.

Regardless, I use EC-1118 as my general purpose yeast and it seems to do fine in most situations. If you purchase a wine kit you will most likely get EC-1118 since it works well for general use on red or white wine. EC-1118 can usually manage up to 16-18% abv and generally ferments through pretty fast which might make you temperature problems worse. I would also look into Lalvin RC212 which is a Bordeaux yeast and would give you a lot of the qualities you would want when fermenting Cab Sauv. 32*C (89F) is a little on the higher side. According to Lalvin's parent website (lallemandbrewing) you might be right on the edge of too warm for either EC-118 or RC212.

Do you have a cellar that you can make your wine in? My cellar stays a pretty consistent 22-23C (72F) during the summer months. If not, you can try to make a swamp cooler to keep the temperatures within reason. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/swamp-cooler.199965/

I was thinking about using white labs liquid yeast. It seems to be much more tollerant to high temperatures. Im using whole grapes

 

[PRM]

I only use Lalvin & Red Star. Unfortunately I don't know much about what White Labs has to offer. What yeast were you considering?

 

[PRM]

I know it's been almost a week, but I came across page below and figured it might be useful to you if not now then in the future.

https://www.winemakersdepot.com/Yeast-Wine-Reference-Charts-W173.aspx