WineXpert Bravado Super Tuscan

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dcbrown73

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So, I started making this one two weeks ago and last week when I pumping it out of the primary into a carboy. Oh boy! That was a tough job! It had so much "crap" floating in it it continuously jammed up my siphon. I will say that I just switched to a metal tube that isn't an auto-siphon and just use my AIO pump. That could be part of the issue, but the oak wasn't powder, it was small wood chips. (it has cubes too)

I tasted it today when going from secondary into clearing. That is the roughest wine I've made so far, but I'm a huge fan of Tuscan wines, so I have high hopes for it.

I still have a LE Red Blend to make, but I kind of wish I had just gone a head and picked up the South African Chenin Blanc Kit as I have many reds and only two wines going and one of the whites (Chardonnay) is already bottled. (the other being Riesling)

I know some of you have the Super Tuscan going also. Did you have such a fight going from Primary to secondary?
 
I had a great deal of loosely compacted lees with this kit...probably the worst I've experienced in this regard.
I always put the oak chips in the bag with the skins so as not to have an issue with them on racking (I use an AIO). I only fermented with the RC212 provided. Don't know if skipping the EC1118 had any effect. Did you use both of the supplied yeasts with the kit?
 
Yes, I used both yeasts. Looking at the wine, it was quite hardy, I figured it probably needed both. I believe I asked here too and received a similar answer.

Great idea about putting them in the skins bag. Thanks for the great tip!
 
I may rack mine tonight...I was having such a relaxing four day week end that I didn't want anything to mess it up! I moved it up on the table about two weeks ago. It looks to have a solid 1 1/2" of lees....and yes, I did bag oak.

Plan on AIO racking to clean carboys several times vs stirring snot out of it. Then letting it clear for a 2-3 months, then repeating again....I really want to get this pretty clear before I use the Chitosan...if I use the it at all. I also plan to filter this wine too.

dcbrown...hit up the Dollar store for a pair of panty hose...not only will you generate some very strange looks, you will have enough filter material for the bottom of your tube to last for years. Cut a small piece and rubber band it on the bottom.
 
Trust me when I say it isn't the oak chips that cause the racking issue. It is the Eclipse kits themselves. They have the fluffy-est lees I have come across. A real pain in the arse but so far the kits have been worth it. Makes you wonder what you get for your final product if using a ferment on premise business. Can't see them going through all the effort to salvage a few extra cups of wine from the bucket

cheers
 
I may rack mine tonight...I was having such a relaxing four day week end that I didn't want anything to mess it up! I moved it up on the table about two weeks ago. It looks to have a solid 1 1/2" of lees....and yes, I did bag oak.

Plan on AIO racking to clean carboys several times vs stirring snot out of it. Then letting it clear for a 2-3 months, then repeating again....I really want to get this pretty clear before I use the Chitosan...if I use the it at all. I also plan to filter this wine too.

dcbrown...hit up the Dollar store for a pair of panty hose...not only will you generate some very strange looks, you will have enough filter material for the bottom of your tube to last for years. Cut a small piece and rubber band it on the bottom.

What's the point of letting it natural clear vs just using the Chitosan early? Less particles left allowing the Chitosan to be more effective? I know this kit came with 2 Chitosan packs.

When I racked mine from secondary fermentation it had about 1 1/4" of lees. Though, I say secondary fermentation, but in truth. Fermentation was finished well before I racked from the fermentation bucket to the first carboy. I too was basically just letting cruft fall for a week after fermentation before starting the real clearing stage.
 
Trust me when I say it isn't the oak chips that cause the racking issue. It is the Eclipse kits themselves. They have the fluffy-est lees I have come across. A real pain in the arse but so far the kits have been worth it. Makes you wonder what you get for your final product if using a ferment on premise business. Can't see them going through all the effort to salvage a few extra cups of wine from the bucket

cheers
2 oak chips stuck at the point where the cane meets the hose is all it takes to stop the siphon. On the other hand, I used to suffer the same problem as you until I quit one habit: squeezing the goo out of the grape pack until I got the necessary SG. Now that I trust that the grapepack adds .02ish to the SG and leave the grape pack alone, I get better lees compaction. Your mileage may vary. I agree that you wouldn't get as good a result from a u-vint.
 
What's the point of letting it natural clear vs just using the Chitosan early? Less particles left allowing the Chitosan to be more effective? I know this kit came with 2 Chitosan packs.

When I racked mine from secondary fermentation it had about 1 1/4" of lees. Though, I say secondary fermentation, but in truth. Fermentation was finished well before I racked from the fermentation bucket to the first carboy. I too was basically just letting cruft fall for a week after fermentation before starting the real clearing stage.

Plan on it being in glass about a year, no rush. If it will clear on it's own, why not let it? I don't pay a lot of attention to the instruction time lines.
 
It's stabilizing day for my Bravado. A couple of tablespoons of wine always leak through the gasket on the auto-siphon, and that's always my free taste every time I rack. This wine is very...very fruit forward, tannins are soft and nose does not exist yet. I think we're going to like it!
 
Mine is sitting at home hopefully all finished fermenting as it has now been 8 days. I get back home in 3 days and I will get that wonderful juice over to the carboy. This is the first time I have put the oak in the mesh baggie so I am hopeful for that helping. Also my AIO showed up too so I will rack with that for the first time.
 
Also, I don't plan on using any clearing/fining agents on this kit. Anyone else skipped them all on this kit?
 
From what I've heard, I wouldn't skip the bentonite. Though skipping the chiosan should be fine provided you bulk age it long enough. This wine has a lot to drop.
 
Also, I don't plan on using any clearing/fining agents on this kit. Anyone else skipped them all on this kit?

I will be skipping all of the additives, but did add two big pomace cakes from fall pressing. Pressed and then racked off of the gross lees, AF is over now and I'll be degassing / sulfiting shortly. It's already dropping fine lees and clearing up nicely, by the time its bulk and barrel aged, should be crystal clear.
 
I'll be racking to bulk aging this next week and will need to top up as I've got a little bit of headspace. Any recommendations on something to top off this Super Tuscan with? I don't really have any "reasonable priced" super tuscan's that I've been able to find locally.
 
Super Tuscans typically contain varietals like Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, so you really have a pretty wide range of choices. Topping up with a well priced bottle of any one of those would be a reasonable choice. If you need more than a bottle to top up, you could pick two and use two varietals.
 
Super Tuscans typically contain varietals like Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, so you really have a pretty wide range of choices. Topping up with a well priced bottle of any one of those would be a reasonable choice. If you need more than a bottle to top up, you could pick two and use two varietals.

Thanks for the thoughts! I was thinking about using a Sangiovese, but also have some nice Cab's that I could use that I think might blend well. I think I'll only need one bottle as I'll be adding some oak as well for bulk aging, and that should bring up the headspace to an acceptable level.

I tried to keep as much as I could when racking this kit, but the lee's are super loose as everyone has noted.
 

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