Cellar Craft Argentinian Malbec

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starsfan

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Getting ready to pull the trigger and pick this kit up.

Have you made it? thoughts? how did it turn out and did you change anything?

Much appreciate thoughts and comments! ;-)


Steve
 
I made this kit, started in Jan 2014 and bottled by May 2014.
I haven't really try in a long time so thanks for reminding me...lol

I don't think I made any yeast swap, one thing I did was to cold stabilize in the garage for some time.

Time to open a bottle soon and give it a swirl....
 
I made this kit, started in Jan 2014 and bottled by May 2014.
I haven't really try in a long time so thanks for reminding me...lol

I don't think I made any yeast swap, one thing I did was to cold stabilize in the garage for some time.

Time to open a bottle soon and give it a swirl....

Please do! and if your just feeling generous, I'll send you my address! LOL

;-)

Thanks,
Steve
 
@sour_grapes
Paul made this kit too...::

Right you are, Varis! Good memory. Starsfan and I have had a conversation about it by PM this morning. But, the upshot is, that it is I have not had any of it yet; it is due to join my drinking rotation in about 2 mos. Tasted pretty good at bottling, though!
 
I just ordered the WE Selection Malbec with skins. Will start it some time in April.

Never a big Malbec guy. But, in an "I'll buy if you fly" deal my brother, I'm going to teach him how to make it and we'll split the proceeds.

EDIT: ordered yesterday, DELIVERED today!! Seriously, LP = awesome service.
 
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Made 2 batches of it and very happy with it. Long aging really helps as with any wine. Make and forget and don't cheat.
 
I have not even started this kit yet, and today I picked up the WE Eclipse Pinot Noir! :slp

Lot's going on! LOL

Can anyone bring me about 120 bottles please? ;-)
 
I started this kit today (FINALY)

So, I did to a couple of things...First, I did not make make this 6 gallons...but rather just slightly over 5 gallons. I cut back on the water to up the ABV...and I read someone who talked about making all his kits to 5 gallons and has had some luck winning some contests...so I thought I would give that a go with this batch. I also added 3 cups of sugar dissolved in 2 cups of water. again, looking for a slight boost in the ABV.

This was the first kit I have made with a grape pack...I was really surprised that the grape pack was more like a bunch of smashed up grapes and it was a pretty muddy consistency. I had imagined it to be packed in some juice but it was more like pressing caulk out of a caulking tube to get the grapes out of the bag. ;-)

The instructions said that the most accurate time to get the SG was to wait at least 6 hours after adding the grape pack and stirring it up! I wasn't able to do that so I would assume that my SG is going to be slightly higher then what I registered...According to my hydrometer, we were sitting right on 1.120

Added the oak chips, dust and pitched the yeast! just waiting on the bubbles! ;-)

on a side note: tasting the grape juice in this kit prior to adding anything to it....this seemed to have the closest flavor to say...welches grape juice I have found in the kits I have done. Not to say it tasted like welches...but it was closer to it then my shiraz kit or the Pinot Noir kit.

Can't wait to see how this one goes! ;-)

Thoughts, comments?

Steve
 
You may want to add back some more water. I'm afraid you'll end up with rocket fuel otherwise. That, or it won't be able to finish fermenting and you'll have a sweet red on your hands.
 
You may want to add back some more water. I'm afraid you'll end up with rocket fuel otherwise. That, or it won't be able to finish fermenting and you'll have a sweet red on your hands.

ut-oh.....

well....now you have me worried! :(
 
You should be concerned, shorting the water, plus adding sugar, plus the grape pack will probably put you in the 16% ABV range. If your kit came with EC 1118, it will probably ferment it dry, it'll be hot!!! If you are using a yeast with lower alcohol tolerance, it will die from alcohol toxicity before the sugar is depleted and you'll have a sweet Malbec.

When I do bigger reds, I try not to start with a SG higher than 1.100. Tweaking kits is fun, but you should understand the numbers and how they affect the finished wine. Consideration and respect for the varietal characteristics is also important. We're it me, I'd add a half gallon of water and see if the SG will come down out of the clouds.
 
You were following advice on how to tweak cheap kits, unfortunately you applied these tips to a mid/upper level kit. Hopefully it's not too late to correct and bring it back on course...
 
Ok, about 2 hours ago I added back the water I shorted to bring it all the way to the 6 gallon mark. hopefully that will prevent me from having "rocket fuel" LOL

I am about to go ahead and take a new SG reading....since it has only been about 4 hours give or take...I will use the new SG reading as my starting SG. I'll post it and hopefully were all good now. ;-)

and the kit did in fact come with EC 1118

thanks,
Steve
 
so...again, im back to having a hard time reading the hydrometer...where am I at? this is AFTER adding back the water to the 6 gallon mark. I think im seeing 1.102 to 1.104

Am I correct in reading it that way?

Screenshot_2016-04-19-23-20-47_zpsuzjusmfr.png


Thanks,
Steve
 
Well... ok.. maybe it's more like 1.107, it's hard to tell with it bobbing up and down like that. Or is that just me?
 

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