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Nice view!
What's in your glass tonight?
- Thread starter Boatboy24
- Start date
Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:
retaste blended 50/50 with Marechal Foch 2023 (organic homegrown, hand destemmed and uncrushed with RC212/71B yeast combo. Here are my comments:
Pacific Black Iris Foch 2023
Appearance - inky purple
Nose - good complex, wild cherry is less dominant than before. Now its like funky cherry.
Tannin - good
Acid- good
Flavour - good, rich dark dry fruit/grape fusion wine which will age. Has a bottle of Bols cherry liqueur in it which is slightly noticeable and gives it a really nice finish. I'll definitely make this again without the Syrah i.e. blackberries, wild cherries, dried elderberries, foch I'll also try it with some regent. This could kill with venison e.g. venison wellington, pot roast, bourguignon or stroganoff. Right now I rate it as good and can see it improving over time to good-very good because of the acid and tannin.
Marechal Foch 2023
organic homegrown, hand destemmed and uncrushed, in very nice dry condition, with RC212/71B yeast combo. SG 1.094 at harvest.
Here are my comments:
Appearance - inky purple
Nose - good complex, wild meat, cocoa, plums, leather, aniseed, cardamom
Tannin - good
Acid- slightly high but not by much (This received no chemical acid reduction e.g. potassium salts, calcium salt or acidex)
Flavour - this is decent. When it drops its acid in the bottle it should improve. Tannin and acid levels say that it can. 71B yeast seems to have improved it. Since I grow it I'll obviously make it again probably 3 ways 1) this way 2) blended with homegrown Regent 3) blended with wild black cherries-blackberries and dried elderberries with or without Regent and Bols Cherry liqueur. I rate it as "good". It should improve to "good-very good" as the acid level drops over time.
organic homegrown, hand destemmed and uncrushed, in very nice dry condition, with RC212/71B yeast combo. SG 1.094 at harvest.
Here are my comments:
Appearance - inky purple
Nose - good complex, wild meat, cocoa, plums, leather, aniseed, cardamom
Tannin - good
Acid- slightly high but not by much (This received no chemical acid reduction e.g. potassium salts, calcium salt or acidex)
Flavour - this is decent. When it drops its acid in the bottle it should improve. Tannin and acid levels say that it can. 71B yeast seems to have improved it. Since I grow it I'll obviously make it again probably 3 ways 1) this way 2) blended with homegrown Regent 3) blended with wild black cherries-blackberries and dried elderberries with or without Regent and Bols Cherry liqueur. I rate it as "good". It should improve to "good-very good" as the acid level drops over time.
Found this buried in my cellar yesterday. My notes say it's 12% ABV and was bottled August 2013. I figured it would be undrinkable after 11 years. But it is excellent. Poured a glass for a neighbor without telling him what it was and his comment was "this is good stuff"! My last notes notes on this batch were in 2020 (7 years) and it was very smooth at that time. Corks used were Widgetco Bi-disc.
My son & I had margaritas while finishing cooking, then I sent him into the cellar to get a bottle. I knew what he'd grab -- my oldest McGregor:
Unaerated, it actually tastes too young at 8 years old, the tannin is out of balance.
Aerated, the tannin is muted into balance and the fruit comes out. This one is a bit acidic -- not unpleasant but noticeable. I wish I had more of it!
Unaerated, it actually tastes too young at 8 years old, the tannin is out of balance.
Aerated, the tannin is muted into balance and the fruit comes out. This one is a bit acidic -- not unpleasant but noticeable. I wish I had more of it!
Saperavi
"Quintessential Georgian variety producing deeply coloured, firm, initially tart but ageworthy reds."
from - Robinson, Jancis; Harding, Julia; Vouillamoz, Jose. Wine Grapes: A Complete Guide to 1,368 Vine Varieties, Including Their Origins and Flavours: A James Beard Award Winner (p. 2262). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
Saperavi Festival in June 2024 in the Finger Lakes New York
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retaste cold out of the fridge:
Appearance - inky purple
Nose - good wild cherry dominant but less intense than when it is warmer
Tannin - good - chilling it makes it softer
Acid- good cold
Flavour - This is very good cold. Closest thing to it is Dubonnet. This should be very good on the rocks (ice) on a hot summer's day. What an eye opener - a one of a kind fusion aperitif. Next I'll try it as a spritzer. When my wife and were first married we drank Dubonnet all of the time. This is just as good. A nice surprise!
Bottom line - try to minimize your pre-conceived ideas about winemaking. I've been doing this for 56 years and I'm still learning.........such as in the case of this wine. If your wines are technically well made but slightly out of whack then experiment with all of the ideas that you find on this website. e.g. I never ever used D47 yeast until last year based on recommendations from this site. I have 3 litres of tetra-pak apple juice fermenting on D47 to seed 7 pails, tomorrow afternoon (4 Australian Orange Muscat juice fresh) and (3 pails of Chilean Viognier juice fresh) to fruit bomb Washington Sheridan Chardonnay 2023 made from fresh grapes, fermented 3 ways V13 yeast, D47 yeast and 71B yeast i.e. Chardonnay Fleur d'Oranger 2023-2024 plus Chardonnay Viognier 2023-2024 plus Fleur d'Oranger 2024 and Viognier 2024.
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Carol's Red 2020-2022
This is my wife Carol's house wine i.e. everyday red (I make it for her palate which is different than mine):
2020 - Washington Dineen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Sheridan Syrah
2021 - Dineen Cabernet Franc, Amador Cabernet Sauvignon, Lodi Mettler Vineyard Petite Sirah
2022 - Marechal Foch, Regent (both homegrown)
My comments:
Appearance - purple
Smell - good, very complex, fruity, lingering
Tannin - really good (all grapes fermented uncrushed and hand destemmed)
Acid - very good (my wife is very sensitive to acid - the Lodi Mettler Petite Sirah drops the acid)
Flavour - this is rich and tasty without being too tangy or tannic. This is totally my wife's palate.
This is my wife Carol's house wine i.e. everyday red (I make it for her palate which is different than mine):
2020 - Washington Dineen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Sheridan Syrah
2021 - Dineen Cabernet Franc, Amador Cabernet Sauvignon, Lodi Mettler Vineyard Petite Sirah
2022 - Marechal Foch, Regent (both homegrown)
My comments:
Appearance - purple
Smell - good, very complex, fruity, lingering
Tannin - really good (all grapes fermented uncrushed and hand destemmed)
Acid - very good (my wife is very sensitive to acid - the Lodi Mettler Petite Sirah drops the acid)
Flavour - this is rich and tasty without being too tangy or tannic. This is totally my wife's palate.
Winemaker81 and I could have been great friends in person. Here we are great friends on the internet.
touche!!
@Bmd2k1 asked about the FG of the Port I constructed in December 2022 from my fall 2021 wines. I reserved 3 bottles each of the 2021 Super Tuscan and Rhone Blend (Syrah, Petite Sirah, Merlot) FWK Forte kits that spent a year in barrel. I say "constructed" as I took finished wine, fortified to 20% ABV with EverClear 151, and backsweetened to taste.
At bottling time I forgot to check the FG, so I did it tonight ... which was a good excuse to open a bottle.
Overall, the experiment is a success. I made one mistake in that I did not add glycerin, so the mouthfeel is good but not great; it coats the tongue, but not quite like a real Port. A notable difference is that real Port is made with specific Portuguese grapes, which I do not have access to. Use of Bordeaux and Rhone varietals grown in California makes a difference.
Positive results? The wine does not smell nor taste hot; I was concerned that the EverClear would produce an off aroma and/or taste. The varietals that went into this wine are a hodge-podge of Bordeaux and Rhone varietals, so there is no varietal character. It's difficult to explain what it tastes like, but IMO it's a good facsimile of a real Port.
I did not adjust the acid, and tasting now shows this was a good choice. However, I tend towards drier wines, so I backsweetened less than others might. If I added more sugar, then I might need to add more acid.
The wine was bottled in splits.
At bottling time I forgot to check the FG, so I did it tonight ... which was a good excuse to open a bottle.
Overall, the experiment is a success. I made one mistake in that I did not add glycerin, so the mouthfeel is good but not great; it coats the tongue, but not quite like a real Port. A notable difference is that real Port is made with specific Portuguese grapes, which I do not have access to. Use of Bordeaux and Rhone varietals grown in California makes a difference.
Positive results? The wine does not smell nor taste hot; I was concerned that the EverClear would produce an off aroma and/or taste. The varietals that went into this wine are a hodge-podge of Bordeaux and Rhone varietals, so there is no varietal character. It's difficult to explain what it tastes like, but IMO it's a good facsimile of a real Port.
I did not adjust the acid, and tasting now shows this was a good choice. However, I tend towards drier wines, so I backsweetened less than others might. If I added more sugar, then I might need to add more acid.
The wine was bottled in splits.
retaste:
Pinnacle of the Pacific 2020
This is 60% Washington Dineen Vineyard Cabernet Franc and 40% California Amador County Cabernet Sauvignon. Pinnacle is my designation for a Cabernet blend. Pacific is my designation for at least 2 vineyards on the west coast. This is hand destemmed, uncrushed and fermented with RC212, Amador for 18 days and Dineen for 21 days before pressing. Alcohol is 13.8%. I have 3 left. Here are my comments on this wine:
Appearance - clear, deep, dark purple red
Smell - figs, pomegranates, plums, chocolate, blueberries, black currants
Tannin - perfect
Acid - perfect
Flavour - this is delicious. Really rich and tasty with a long finish. I'll try to leave the last 3 alone for 3 to 5 years. I would make it again in a heartbeat.
Pinnacle of the Pacific 2020
This is 60% Washington Dineen Vineyard Cabernet Franc and 40% California Amador County Cabernet Sauvignon. Pinnacle is my designation for a Cabernet blend. Pacific is my designation for at least 2 vineyards on the west coast. This is hand destemmed, uncrushed and fermented with RC212, Amador for 18 days and Dineen for 21 days before pressing. Alcohol is 13.8%. I have 3 left. Here are my comments on this wine:
Appearance - clear, deep, dark purple red
Smell - figs, pomegranates, plums, chocolate, blueberries, black currants
Tannin - perfect
Acid - perfect
Flavour - this is delicious. Really rich and tasty with a long finish. I'll try to leave the last 3 alone for 3 to 5 years. I would make it again in a heartbeat.
retaste:
Appearance - slight fizz which disappears with 10 minutes in a glass, clear lemon yellow
Smell - very fragrant muscat similar to Gewurtztraminer
Tannin - fine
Acid - fine
Flavour - rich tasty dry muscat. This is really good. Acid is just high enough to balance it. It has a super long finish. The aftertaste is excellent and lingering. This is 100% homegrown organic Siegerrebe/Ortega Dry Auslese. I can't make this every year because my climate doesn't allow it. I'll save the last 7.5 bottles as long as they last without oxidizing even a tiny bit, because of the killer aftertaste.
This year I'll try to make a spatlese i.e. SG 1.083+ on juice or if I'm really lucky an auslese SG 1.093 (like this one) on juice. The aftertaste on the auslese is unbelievable!
retaste:
Appearance - inky purple
Smell - good rich nose - black licorice, cocoa, plums, cigar box, tar
Tannin - good
Acid - good
Flavour - this my wife's premium red. rich, complex, not acidic, not too tannic i.e. her palate. This is very good, for her maybe excellent. I'm glad that I have 10 bottles of this as her premium red. She loves Petite Sirah flavour when the wines are balanced, and this is a balanced sky high brix Lodi Petite Sirah due to blending to drop the alcohol and raise the acid. My palate - this is really good and I am thrilled to have 11.5 of these.
