[Affe]

My girlfriend is a big fan of Pinot Noir, and as a result I decided to go ahead and purchase some concentrated juice.

I purchased two cans of Alexander's Sun Country Concentrates for $19.99 each while I was buying a few more supplies from Midwest Supplies:



First, does anyone have a recommended recipe?

Second, would this be much like making any other wine from juice concentrate?

And finally, has anyone tried this variety of concentrates? They seem to have a very reasonable price when compared to some other kits I have seen, and they have a nice variety of both reds and whites available.

EDIT: I've racked this once into a 5 gallon carboy. It's turning out to be fantastic -- very good taste so far.

I used 500 g of raisins to make up for the extra gallon I didn't have to begin with:



Here is the recipe:

2 Cans Alexander's Pinot Noir Concentrate
Ingredients labeled on can for 5 gallon batch (I'll add these here if I can find the can/get a new one)
1 packet Pasteur Red yeast
500 g California Raisins
2 ripe bananas
5.25 gallons water

Mash bananas and mix with one gallon of water. Slowly heat for about 15 minutes, keeping just below boiling but warm enough to cause some steam to slowly waft off.

Place 500 g raisins into blender. Add partial of banana mixture to blender, puree until raisins are well blended. Add back to pot, add one crushed campden tablet, allow to simmer for 20 - 30 minutes, stirring often.

Prepare everything as labeled on can. Add all dry ingredients, except acid blend, to 6 gallon carboy.

Add raisin mixture to carboy. Add all liquid ingredients (juice concentrate, water), and stir well. Add 1 cup additional sugar to balance out the additional water, bringing SG to just below 1.10, 1.08 - 1.09. DO NOT ADD TANNIN. The raisins will take care of this... Add acid blend as needed.

During fermentation, you will notice the raisin pieces and seeds floating up and down endlessly, much like a raisin in a glass of champagne, automatically stirring your mixture.

Ferment to 1.00 or 0.98 (near dry). Rack to 5 gallon carboy, as there will be a large amount of sediment created from the raisins.

[harmony24]

How did it turn out? How many cans did it take? Im a big fan of Pinot Noir also.

[robie]

Harmony,
Unless you are on a very strict, low budget, I wouldn't recommend trying to make a decent Pinot Noir from Alexander's concentrate. Probably the cheapest kit you can find will make a better wine than that concentrate. If you possibly can do it, buy a nice, premium Pinot kit; you won't be sorry.

Just my opinion.

[kevinlfifer]

I found the WE World Vineyard Pinot to be pretty good. Aged on some extrra oak (med toast) for a couple weeks. Did it in Dec 2011 and have 4 bottles left.

[harmony24]

Thanks for the reply. The wine store up the road has a WE kit of Pinot Noir for $72. I'll have to pick it up

[cpfan]

Harmony24:

According to the Winexpert web-site they have SEVEN different Pinot Noirs, plus the Island Mist Blueberry Pinot Noir (which is probably more a Blueberry wine than a straight Pinot Noir). Do you know which one they are selling for $72?

Steve

[winemaker_3352]

Originally Posted by robie

Harmony,
Unless you are on a very strict, low budget, I wouldn't recommend trying to make a decent Pinot Noir from Alexander's concentrate. Probably the cheapest kit you can find will make a better wine than that concentrate. If you possibly can do it, buy a nice, premium Pinot kit; you won't be sorry.

Just my opinion.

I agree - if you can swing it - i would go with the kit as well...

Also - around March you can get the Chilean Pinot Noir juice...

[harmony24]

I think it is the WE Vinters Reserve Pinot Noir.