WineXpert Share your Island Mist aging experience

Thanks DOKKI

That is the kind of experience sharing I was hoping to get. Thanks Eric.
I'm thinking by adding sugar up front the mist kits may take longer to smooth out but, may also last a little longer due to higher abv.

Dave

Kit wines

I'll go back to what I stated earlier, the correct balance point for these wine kits should be 1.010,if blended to the formula, then they come out spot on and ready for drinking as the mfg. intended. If your taste buds see a difference in aging then by all means age, but that was not their intent to be aged,in my oppion there is nothing to age (content wise) your base is completed and that's the end .It's the abv. that becomes the catalyst for the FPAC,but it's all in the tasters, taste buds, so enjoy.

While we are on the subject of these "mist" kits, I have a question/observation. These kits use a wide variety of base grapes yet they all seem to finish out around 6 to 7% ABV. I can only think of a couple of reasons for this: 1) The grapes are early harvest (low brix), or 2) The concentrate does not produce a "full" must. By this I mean that after adding your water you do not arrive at a brix level equivalent to the grape at harvest.

Since these kits are typically 6 or 7L, it seems the latter is true. That is why the wine (absent the f-pack) tends to be very light bodied, even flabby in my experience. It seems the f-pack enhances this with the extra flavor and sweetness and also contributes to the early drinkedness (new word?) of these kits.

I am not bashing Mist kits; as you can see from my sig line I am actively participating in this market segment and enjoying the ride. I only bring this forward since we have Joe's attention. I am curious, Joe, if you have any advice to add body to these sorts of kits? I know you can't really add back what isn't there to begin with, but I have read some pretty good out of the box ideas of yours in other threads. No harm in asking, right?

FABulousWines said:

While we are on the subject of these "mist" kits, I have a question/observation. These kits use a wide variety of base grapes yet they all seem to finish out around 6 to 7% ABV. I can only think of a couple of reasons for this: 1) The grapes are early harvest (low brix), or 2) The concentrate does not produce a "full" must. By this I mean that after adding your water you do not arrive at a brix level equivalent to the grape at harvest.

Since these kits are typically 6 or 7L, it seems the latter is true. That is why the wine (absent the f-pack) tends to be very light bodied, even flabby in my experience. It seems the f-pack enhances this with the extra flavor and sweetness and also contributes to the early drinkedness (new word?) of these kits.

I am not bashing Mist kits; as you can see from my sig line I am actively participating in this market segment and enjoying the ride. I only bring this forward since we have Joe's attention. I am curious, Joe, if you have any advice to add body to these sorts of kits? I know you can't really add back what isn't there to begin with, but I have read some pretty good out of the box ideas of yours in other threads. No harm in asking, right?

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Ok may be a strange question....but when people talk about the body of the wine is it in reference to the thickness, for a lack of better word, of the liquid itself or the taste of the actual wine. Sorry for the dumb question but I have been wondering about this.

I haven't made one of these kits myself, but my guess is that the amount of concentrate/juice is insufficient to give a typical 20+ Brix level upon dilution. I wouldn't think that you would see much changing as it ages as far as the wine base is concerned, but it will probably become better integrated over time. The low alcohol levels would limit how long it will stick around, however.

Good questions

YES the body of the wine is the viscosity of it, the higher the tannin concentration the thinker (to the tongue) the wine feels. KNOW this wine comes in threes body's,thin ,moderate and heavy, or full, this descriptions can change depending on who's doing the tasting.there are other terms but if you follow (good wines gone bad) or the other treads, you see a thread entitled WINE DEFECTS AND FAULTS.ALSO.this will also impart a coating on the glass showing the amount of alcohol and sugars the coating can also be considered a sigh of how much body the wine has..

THE MFG. always has a final taste that they are going for and it's your job to match that plan, HOWEVER it is also your job as a winemaker to imprint yourself ,if possible on the wine to make it yours. THAT is why I always boost the abv. in the beginning I boost to 1.010 try that next kit and see what a difference it makes to the finished wine.

THE fpacs,that these kit mfg. Make are outstanding in there ooun right, the outrageous combinations they can come up with is incredible, don't you think. I have made ever kit CRU HAS MADE AND almost EVERY island mist kit, AND lounge wine kit at least once or more, can you boost the body yes but if your on the right track for these wine kits ,there should be no reason to, and that's how I know about the raspberry cab, the only one that failed and I don't know why, unless I miss measured the water content? or the fermentation wasn't completed ,(got stalled ) who knows at this point....but I will correct it down the line(when good wines gone bad) you'll see....

Since we have an abundance of bananas in the freezer that were too ripe to eat, we always add a couple to the mist kits. That does increase the body. We will be starting one more tomorrow, probably watermelon and will add 3 or 4 bananas and skins to the primary.

go to Midwest and read the reviews!!

Im going to try an experiment. One Green apple and one Black berry Merlot. Same fermenter same carboy no extra water lol 2 in one see what happens. Will add both fruit packs half u front the rest at the end and will add extra sugar to boost the alcohol. What do ya think?

The more I think abut it that might be a bad idea. lol Maybe make the two as directed then mix them.

Experiment

Not A good idea ,what's the end goal?

Tess said:

Im going to try an experiment. One Green apple and one Black berry Merlot. Same fermenter same carboy no extra water lol 2 in one see what happens. Will add both fruit packs half u front the rest at the end and will add extra sugar to boost the alcohol. What do ya think?

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I did ponder a thought experiment using two kits of the same type to basically arrive at a 14L kit. That should produce a more full bodied wine closer to the intended varietal. But for the money you might as well just go for a higher end kit and backsweeten and/or back flavor.

Are you referring to combining the concentrates from two kits into the primary and diluting up to 6 gallons? I think that would be a bad idea. Everything would be potentially off balance...particularly the sugar levels, and it might even be difficult to ferment.

SouthernChemist said:

Are you referring to combining the concentrates from two kits into the primary and diluting up to 6 gallons? I think that would be a bad idea. Everything would be potentially off balance...particularly the sugar levels, and it might even be difficult to ferment.

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no, after rethinking that I realized it would be a bad idea. Just do the two kits and combine them when I bottle. Fab, I would get more wine then a upscale kit. Twice as much

Good judgement

THAT'S good judgment....

Tess said:

Fab, I would get more wine then a upscale kit. Twice as much

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If that is what you are going for, then yeah, sure. Let us know how it turns out.

yeah just getting different flavors?

I've made IM green apple riesling X 2 IM Blueberry Pinot noir X 2 IM peach apricot chardonnay X 2 IM strawberry white merlot X 1 and IM blackberry cabernet X 1 since last summer,only the first couple times i made some newbie mistakes( i was lazy to rack one more time to leave the sediment away before bottling which the last few bottles came up with a unbalance, lacking aroma, and higher alcohol wines). except that I am pretty satisfied with IM series.

Label Peelers recommends this *If you're a fan of the Island Mist Series kits but like your wines a little bit stronger, consider "bumping" them with 1 pound of corn sugar and 1 liter of grape concentrate* Has anybody tried their recommendation?

I bumped with 3 pounds of sugar, and 1/2 the f-pack during primary. Everyone likes them (blackberry, exotic fruits, green apple), and wife says it gives her quite a buzz. It didn't need the grape concentrate, but that would be worth trying.

Even with 1/2 the f-pack, it is still a little sweet for my taste. I will cut it even more with the next kit.