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ttortorice · 07-04-2011, 03:51 PM

The back story - WineExpert sent me a letter for a free WE kit as a reward for winning a metal with one of their kits in the Wine Maker magazine competition. I had done their LE Brunello back when it came out and loved it. So I found someone that still had one of the LE Brunellos from last year. Date code says it was packaged in April of 2010. Started it last Saturday, the juice has a slight brownish tint and an ever so slight musty smell. I started it according to instructions and it is coming along nicely. Still a brown tinge but the musty smell is completely gone. Any worry of the kit being old is gone. I didn't keep as good of records back then, it was actually only the second kit I have ever made. I would love to know the color and smell of that kit. Given the questionable color I know this will be a stay-at-home wine, won't be giving any of this away.

Finally the question - It has been in primary 8 days, I usually ferment to dry in primary. Instructions call for 2 stage fermentation for a total of about 15 or so days. Last night SG was .998 and this morning .996. Can I assume it to be finished enough and move to clarify? Or do y'all think I need to wait for two days of the same SG? After today I will have two horrendously busy days at work and don't really want to clarify when I get home. Then out of town the rest of the week. (four days of silent retreat in Southern Louisiana)

v1rotate · 07-04-2011, 05:02 PM

Rack it to a carboy today and let it sit until day 20. Then stabilize, let it sit for 3 weeks and THEN rack to clarify. No sense in rushing the kit through the steps. I almost always follow this regime and I am very pleased with my results.

Enjoy the retreat, Tony.

DancerMan · 07-05-2011, 05:35 PM

If you just can't do as Jim suggested, keep primary sealed until you can get to it. It won't hurt to let it set for a few more days, as long as it is sealed with an air lock installed. You should be good up to day 15 or so.

For the WE kits I had done in the past, I didn't ferment to dry in the primary; I pretty much went by the WE instructions, because they rack to clarify a little differently and use a different clarifier.

As far as the color and starting smell, I can't much say. I did that kit and don't remember the must being brown or musty smelling. I would assume the must should have been a nice, clean, dark (not brown) grape juice tasting and smelling must. It might be interesting how it turns out. Might taste it after clarifying and degassing; of course it will be very green, but if the underlying taste is not good, might think about how good it will taste later on.

A kit like that one will not be truly ready to drink for at least 18 months, IMO. That's a long time to wait. Of course if the wine is not good, you will certainly know in six months or so.

ttortorice · 07-05-2011, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DancerMan

A kit like that one will not be truly ready to drink for at least 18 months, IMO. That's a long time to wait. Of course if the wine is not good, you will certainly know in six months or so.

I knew this kit may be suspect when I got it but chanced it anyway since it was free. But as you might agree it was a terriffic kit and there are not a lot of Brunellos available. I got a RJS Brunello from George when I was there and will let that one age longer than the WE. I figure I will drink the WE starting at six months thinking that it may not hang well for 18 - 24 months. I absolutely love Brunellos. I even toted 18 bottles back from Italy several years ago. Still have most of them, 1997's and 1999's, both classic Brunello years.

**Rocky** · 07-06-2011, 12:01 AM

You are right, Tony. Nothing like sitting in Montalcino sipping a great Brunello. I did not bring any back from Italy due to the price and exchange rate at the time. I think the price for the Brunellos were in the 40 to 60 Euro range and the exchange rate was $1.55/Euro, so we were looking at about $65-95 per bottle plus the hassle of carting it back. We sure drank a lot when we were there, though.

vcasey · 07-06-2011, 01:02 AM

That WE Brunello will still be pretty green at 6 months, I would wait at least 2 and if you can 3.

ttortorice · 07-06-2011, 02:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocky

You are right, Tony. Nothing like sitting in Montalcino sipping a great Brunello. I did not bring any back from Italy due to the price and exchange rate at the time. I think the price for the Brunellos were in the 40 to 60 Euro range and the exchange rate was $1.55/Euro, so we were looking at about $65-95 per bottle plus the hassle of carting it back. We sure drank a lot when we were there, though.

Me, my wife, college age kids and my mother went the summer after 9-11. a bottle broke coming down the luggage shoot. As I wheeled the bag with the broken bottle through customs leaving a distinct red wine trail behind, no one paid any attention. All they were worried about were bombs, white powder and so on. We laughed when we noticed my wine trail in Bush International. Loosing what surely was a great wine was not as funny. They disn't even care about all the cheese and cured meats we snuck back either.