WineXpert Amarone!

I've got an Eclipse Cab about to wrap up and move out of the primary. So, the next up is the Selection Amarone with skins. I chose this one after reading the thread from Steve (AllinOne) and Joeswine.

18 liters of juice
Grape pack (1.6 liters)
2 packets of RC212 yeast
Lots of oak
Chapitalization packs of dextrose

I'm planning to drop some raisins and maybe some tannin in the primary; maybe some extra oak for 3 months in the carboy; and another 6 months bulk aging. But, that's it.

Probably starting it next week.

I've got one to start soon too. I'll follow along with yours. Keep me posted.

RedRockGirl said:

I've got one to start soon too. I'll follow along with yours. Keep me posted.

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And you me. Are you planning any deviation from the instructions?

I just transferred and sulfide mine about a week ago - PH is 3.24 and 30 PPM

It tastes wonderful, just a bit young yet. I hope to bottle mine when around the 9 month period. If not it will be ok in the carboy as I will be less tempted to open up a bottle and start sharing before its prime.

I have the same kit waiting to be started but I probably won't get to it for another month or two. I'll be watching this thread for guidance so please keep the updates coming.

Steve, I have this same kit in a carboy now at 9 months old. This is the third time we have made this Amarone, need to do it yearly. Still have a few bottles@ 6 yrs & 20 at 3 yrs. try to wait the 3 yrs. Roy

vacuumpumpman said:

I just transferred and sulfide mine about a week ago - PH is 3.24 and 30 PPM



It tastes wonderful, just a bit young yet. I hope to bottle mine when around the 9 month period. If not it will be ok in the carboy as I will be less tempted to open up a bottle and start sharing before its prime.

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FTC Wines said:

Steve, I have this same kit in a carboy now at 9 months old. This is the third time we have made this Amarone, need to do it yearly. Still have a few bottles@ 6 yrs & 20 at 3 yrs. try to wait the 3 yrs. Roy

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I've been pretty bad with the wines I've made so far - drinking them before their prime. I was thinking 9 months in bulk, then bottling mostly 750's. But, doing 6 or 8 375's to taste along the way.

Other than keeping my hands off it, is there a good reason to bulk longer than the 9 months?

I really like this kit...probably in my top 3 favorites that I have made thus far.

I started it on 12/31/13, and I debated on substituting the yeast. I wasn't sure what yeast to select, though. It would need to tolerate relatively high alcohol concentrations (mine finished right around 16% ABV). I had never made the kit before, so I really didn't have a specific goal in mind for the substitution, other than improving body and mouthfeel (and just the fun of tinkering). Ultimately, I figured I probably wouldn't do much better with another yeast than the two packets of RC212 that was supplied, so I went with that.

It spent 3 months in my barrel (of the time I bulk aged it), and I bottled it 9/1/14. So it's 17 months in the bottle right now...and I only have 11 bottles left. I haven't had one in a couple months, but I really thought it turned out well. I gave away a bunch for gifts that Christmas...I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I have!

Good luck!

Jim, the kit should be 16L of juice, plus the skins pack.

jgmann67 said:

I've been pretty bad with the wines I've made so far - drinking them before their prime. I was thinking 9 months in bulk, then bottling mostly 750's. But, doing 6 or 8 375's to taste along the way.

Other than keeping my hands off it, is there a good reason to bulk longer than the 9 months?

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I guess most of us face the same problem, getting into the batch well before it's time. Been operating on a new model for a while, which doesn't have me bottling any wines that need to age before they are a year old. Figure getting them half way to 2 years is a good start. I just keep making wine, doing quite a lot of big bold reds that need age, but mixing in some quicker drinkers. Definitely don't enjoy the quickies as much as the others, but in the spring this year, bottling 10 wines at one year old........

I've read in several articles that Amarone is one hearty wine that deserves/does well with extended aging time. I have a batch in the carboy for a year now and so much want to keep it there for another!! Many already know and many more are finding out the benefits of time and patience in this sport...

I'm doing this kit right now. Will be stabilizing, etc. later today or perhaps tomorrow. BUT! I only used one of the two packets provided. Was I supposed to have used both packets for this kit? There are no clear instructions to do so. Everything has appeared to progress normally with just having used one packet. Prior to this kit all have come with only one yeast packet.

If it came with two packages you use two.

joeswine said:

If it came with two packages you use two.

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I think it is now too late as wine has fermented to dry on the single packet.

What will be results of having only used the one packet?

Thanks...

Amarone the king of italian reds

what kit was this and did it come with a dexterous package? or a FPAC ,did you capitalize the wine in the primary and what was the starting sg and ph.

bkisel said:

I think it is now too late as wine has fermented to dry on the single packet.

What will be results of having only used the one packet?

Thanks...

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No detriment at this time! Two packets justs gets you over the lag phase a little faster. Due to the characteristics of exponential growth (really, sigmoid or logistic growth), it actually does not matter all that much, as long as your initial population takes off.

bkisel said:

I think it is now too late as wine has fermented to dry on the single packet.

What will be results of having only used the one packet?

Thanks...

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Just an insurance....
I've bought kits where 2 yeast packages were provided, but only used one.

geek said:

Jim, the kit should be 16L of juice, plus the skins pack.

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The skin pack is marked 1.6L (it's smaller than the one for the Eclipse Cab, btw). I plan to address whether it's "18 liters of juice, plus 1.6 liters of skins"; or, "16 liters of juice with 1.6 liters of skins," when I pour into the primary. The box and the video both say, "18 liters."

So, an objective test should answer this one:

Measure out 1.25 gallons of water. Use a half gallon for the bentonite. Pour the bag of juice and the remaining .75 gallons of water into the primary. Then I can see how much it really is. If it's at the line, then the answer is "18 liter bag." But, if I need another half gallon, then the answer is "16 liter bag."

Kit manufactures

when you buy a kit no matter the cost the manufacture has a plan for the end RESULTS of that product,it does matter.with the AMARONE the manufacture is expecting a higher than normal abv. So they want to ensure that the yeast will handle the activity,AMARONE is usually around 15% abv.also you might be expected to use dexterous in addition to the base sg.that's a given ,you need a work horse to handle the load,not counting the ambient the wine is constructed in ,yes it matters.IT is just that a kit you can tweak it till the cows come home but you need to respect the basic promos the MFG. started with .

sour_grapes said:

No detriment at this time! Two packets justs gets you over the lag phase a little faster. Due to the characteristics of exponential growth (really, sigmoid or logistic growth), it actually does not matter all that much, as long as your initial population takes off.

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That's comforting to read.

I've got both a phone call and an email into WE...

The instructions, I would argue, should have explicitly said to use both packages of yeast. Step 11 of Phase One says "Open the yeast package [note the singular] and sprinkle..." so I thought, at the time, that the second yeast package was added to the supplies by mistake. Contrast those instructions with Step 4 of phase one "Tear open all packages of oak powder...". Murphy's Law at work I guess.