WineXpert WE Shiraz

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dmcquade

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Hey everyone!


I have a Wine Expert Shiraz that's nearing its second month in bulk aging.


I tasted it about two months ago and it was decent, but it was kind of subtle. I added some oak chips and that has helped a little. I didn't add any sugar, so at the moment it's running at around 8.5% alcohol.


I tasted some the other day and it was still a little bit on the quiet side. I was thinking about pulling a bottle and experimenting with adding some different amounts of Port to see if I can give it more body and a little more kick.


Has anyone tried to spice up their wines with Port? I don't want it to become too sweet, but I want to give it a bit more flavor. I typically drink stronger wines ranging from mid to full bodied and love the occassional fruit bomb. So I think I'm trying to get into the mid range.


Thoughts?
 
Is it the Vintners Reserve? I made that one per the instructions (no bulk aging) and bottled it early March. At 2 months it was kind of thin to my taste (I'm no connoisseur), and now at5 months it's detectably smoother but still thin. I've read on this forum that the 7.5 liter kits can be that way. I have a 15 liter WE Selection Cab bulk aging right now, and so far it seems much better. So "spicing it up" might be a good thing to try if you like more body. You might also think about blending it with another Shiraz or Cab toavoidgetting it too sweet.
 
8.5% seems awfully low...what were the starting and ending specific gravity numbers? A Vintner's Reserve kit should be in the 10%-11.5% ABV range or 1.070-1.085 starting SG.
 
Okay, it.s 1.070 so it's running at around 9.2% according to my little chart here. I considered adding some sugar to it in the beginning to get it up around 12.5% or so, but this is my first batch so I figured I would actually complete one before I started tweaking too much.
 
Was that within the stated range for beginning this kit per
instructions cause that still sounds a little low for a shiraz. What
did you use to initially stir it up and what is the SG range per
instructions? Sometimes they dont mix up great so you really have to
work the juice into the water or you get a low initial SG.
 

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