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Fish ... Pork ... and a bottle of Purple Toad!

Oddly enough, I have been to that Winery in Paducah, KY. Trip from St. Louis to Florida. It was a fun stop. Didn't find many that fit my wife's and my tastes (dry, make you thirsty red wines), but I think we found a few to take along the road with us.
 
Tonight, hubby and I had some of the leftovers from when I bottled the RJS Cru Specialty Toasted Caramel dessert wine kit on Monday night. It's the 2nd time I have made the kit and I am blown away by how good it is right away! I have put several bottles aside so I can try them in 1, 2, and 3 years.

We drank/gave away all but one bottle of the first kit, bottled earlier this year in 375 ml bottles to get close to 30 from the 3 gallon kit.
Hi, thank you for your review... I've seen nothing but great reviews of this RJS Specialty Toasted Caramel dessert wine and am thinking about making a kit.

Is this more like a port or a wine where:
- You'd want to let it sit and age for years (if you can wait that long)?
- You can open a bottle and drink it over a longer period of time or have to drink relatively quickly?
- Better to bottle in smaller bottles (375 or 500 ml)?

Also, did you do any tweaks to it or make the kit as is?

Thanks in advance.
 
Hi, thank you for your review... I've seen nothing but great reviews of this RJS Specialty Toasted Caramel dessert wine and am thinking about making a kit.

Is this more like a port or a wine where:
- You'd want to let it sit and age for years (if you can wait that long)?
- You can open a bottle and drink it over a longer period of time or have to drink relatively quickly?
- Better to bottle in smaller bottles (375 or 500 ml)?

Also, did you do any tweaks to it or make the kit as is?

Thanks in advance.
It's a high alcohol dessert wine, so more like a port, but tastes great right away, in my experience. I made the first kit less than a year ago but I am excited to see how aging affects it.

I have left a bottle open (with a stopper, of course, in place of the cork) for several weeks and the wine is still delicious. It's a red wine base and with the additional sugar in the flavor pack, it seems to keep just fine without oxidizing in an open (stoppered) bottle for at least a while.

With the high ABV and the sweetness, I typically serve just a small amount at a time, and since it's a 3 gallon kit, I prefer the 375 ml bottles. Plus, I give it as gifts which means I can give to more of my friends and relatives if I have closer to 30 375 ml bottles than 15 750 ml bottles.

I made the kit as-is, with the exception of not worrying about the kit schedule for bottling - I bottled when I had time after the minimum time on the kit schedule. I also always add kmeta at bottling.

We love this so much that I bought the kit again for a third go-round even though I have a case left from the 2nd batch! I need to get the new batch started soon! 😁
 
It's a high alcohol dessert wine, so more like a port, but tastes great right away, in my experience. I made the first kit less than a year ago but I am excited to see how aging affects it.

I have left a bottle open (with a stopper, of course, in place of the cork) for several weeks and the wine is still delicious. It's a red wine base and with the additional sugar in the flavor pack, it seems to keep just fine without oxidizing in an open (stoppered) bottle for at least a while.

With the high ABV and the sweetness, I typically serve just a small amount at a time, and since it's a 3 gallon kit, I prefer the 375 ml bottles. Plus, I give it as gifts which means I can give to more of my friends and relatives if I have closer to 30 375 ml bottles than 15 750 ml bottles.

I made the kit as-is, with the exception of not worrying about the kit schedule for bottling - I bottled when I had time after the minimum time on the kit schedule. I also always add kmeta at bottling.

We love this so much that I bought the kit again for a third go-round even though I have a case left from the 2nd batch! I need to get the new batch started soon! 😁
Thank you! Now is probably a great time to buy it. Just in time for the holidays.
 
I haven't made the RJS Specialty Toasted Caramel dessert wine, but I've made numerous other ports. Like Joni, I bottle in 375 ml bottles.

My last one was the Global Vintners Chocolate/Raspberry Apres. After clearing, I put it in a 3 gallon carboy and topped with 3/4 bottle of red wine. I bulk aged 6.5 months, and added glycerin at bottling.

These wines are drinkable very quickly, and also improve with age.
 
Also, thank you for the info. I ordered the toasted caramel today. Home Brew Ohio has it for $110 and I also ordered the FastFerment 3G conical fermenter for $36 (Amazon). I'm excited for my orders to come.

Did you add the glycerin to sweeten or thicken the wine?

Have you thought of adding brandy to make it more of a traditional port?
 
Those port style kits are great. It's been a while since I've done one. But the last one I did, I chapitalized to bring up the ABV, and added brandy to finish. They are very sweet, and don't seem to have an issue handling the additional alcohol.

This reminds me - I have some older ones (2013-2014) that I should probably consume. And I'm still working on a 2013 blueberry port 'style' that turned out quite well.
 
Did you add the glycerin to sweeten or thicken the wine?
I use it to increase mouthfeel and to smooth the wine. I find that in reds it doesn't contribute sweetness as much as smoothing the oak tones. Reds are drinkable sooner, but IME it doesn't affect the lifespan.

I haven't added liquor -- yet. The Chocolate/Raspberry Apres had an extra sugar pack for step feeding, so the final result was 17.7% ABV by my calculation. Previous kits were between 15% and 16.5% ABV. Next time I do one of these kits, I plan to add Everclear to bump the ABV to 19%, and not use sorbate.
 
Those port style kits are great. It's been a while since I've done one. But the last one I did, I chapitalized to bring up the ABV, and added brandy to finish. They are very sweet, and don't seem to have an issue handling the additional alcohol.

This reminds me - I have some older ones (2013-2014) that I should probably consume. And I'm still working on a 2013 blueberry port 'style' that turned out quite well.
Sounds delicious.

What recipe did you use for the blueberry port style wine?
 

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