Packlab Malbec tweak

Brand new here and new to winemaking. I have a few kit batches in bottles but none are ready at this point - now I want to have some fun. I just ordered up a Malbec kit from Packlab. Any thoughts on what and how I should soup it up?

I have made Packlab kits in the past and they drive me nuts. Just proceed with caution. It is really easy to over oak them (still waiting for one to mellow out) because your desire to experiment takes over. Try some raisins in the primary and a little oak, maybe an ounce or two of a heavy toast. Just tread carefully. Also, plan to give that wine at LEAST 6-9 months to age before passing judgement. It needs time. Every one of these wines has had a NASTY, musty taste early but it does fade eventually. Give it time. Have some fun with this.

Roger

Oh sounds scary lol I havent tried tweaking at all - what are the thoughts on raisins, how much and what type?

A pound of raisins will add a nice mouth feel and good flavor. Best to get them from a health food store and make sure they are not treated with sorbate. Packlab makes several levels of kits so, depending on the volume of concentrate, I would consider making those kits to 5-5 1/2 gallons rather than the full 6 gallons. I think you will be happier with the result. The good news is you aren't spending a fortune on the product so you can experiment with them without risking a big investment.

I have also seen threads where people have added a can of Alexander grape concentrate to the kit and made a 6 gallon batch. Do a search on Packlab kits and you will find considerable information on things people have tried.

Don't get me wrong - given time you will have a nice table wine. If you are hoping for an early drinker, you will be disappointed. I know I certainly was.

melbec what is it?

Melbec is basically a mixer,blended with either Merlot,or cab,the color is usually deep and can be complex with the aromas plum like components.IN CHILLY THIS IS LIKE A EVERY DAY TABLE WINE NOTHING TO FANCY.

Now that we know what a melbecs make up and uses are we can decided on with way is better to go to enhance its natural qualities,makes sense?

OK,FIRST i HAVE NO IDEA WHAT COMES IN THIS KIT NEVER CAME IN CONTACT WITH THEM,BUT FOR ARGUMENT SAKE ,LETS SAY THEY ARE A STANDARD KIT WITH JUST THE RAW CONCENTRATE AND NOTHING ELSE,NOW WE CAN WORK.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX


IF ITS NATURAL TASTE FLAVOR IS LIKE PLUM,THE AROMA PROFILE IS SET,INSTEAD OF USING RAISINS,WHY NOT USE PRUNES (THEY ARE DEHYDRATED PLUME AREN'T THEY),OR YOU CAN MAKE A FPAC FROM FRESH PLUMS OR CANNED PLUMS,WITH SOME POWERED OAK FOR FINISH,SOUNDS GOOD TO ME ALSO i WOULD PUT SO OAK CHIPS NOT MUCH IN THE PRIMARY TO ADD SOME TANNINS .

RAW KIT,ADD HANDFUL OAK CHIPS TO PRIMARY,ADD PRUNES OR PLUMS TO SECONDARY,AND POWERED OAK TO SECONDARY AS WELL,SHOULD COME OUT EXCELLENT,AND STILL HAVE WHAT A MELBEC IS SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE END.

THAT'S THE WAY i TWEAK IT..

That sounds like a great plan Joe. I have a Williams Brewing malbec going now. Added leftover raisins from a Renaissance Impressions Amarone. May have to consider the prunes in secondary. Such a fun hobby.

I'll jump in with my notes on day 9 of fermentation with a CC Arg - Malbec. My tweaks were changing out the EC1118 with RC212 yeast (1.5 pks)dehydrated/pitched then added 1/2 tsp Fermaid to must and said a prayer) also added 12 oz of black currants. Started out like most kits, but fermentation aroma has been a bit more on the yeasty/musty odor side for my senses (don't know if the currants had anything to do with that) but SG has been very steady from 1.094 to 1.002 now, ranging from 78f to 72f temps.
EC1118 has usually burned through everything way before now, so hopefully the yeast change should give up more fruit and color. Waiting to see where it goes today before transferring/enzyme addition. Plan to use only French Oak spirals, maybe some GC Tannin during bulk aging. color looks awesome at this point.

Thank you all for the excellent ideas - I think I need to get a few more kits and try them all out. I think on this first batch I will try out the raisins - what is the best way to proceed? Primary or secondary? Should I grind them up a little? This kit is the 23 liter pail, I havent received it yet but hoping to start the batch next weekend

nowwhat said:

Thank you all for the excellent ideas - I think I need to get a few more kits and try them all out. I think on this first batch I will try out the raisins - what is the best way to proceed? Primary or secondary? Should I grind them up a little? This kit is the 23 liter pail, I havent received it yet but hoping to start the batch next weekend

Click to expand...

I have used raisins whole with success and have ground them in my blender. Whole is certainly easier but it is up to you. It is easier to have them contained so I would put them in an infusion bag of some type. I have not done the Pack lab pail so I will be interested in your results.

Thats great Roger - what would be the issues with just tossing 1 pound whole raisins into the primary? I would think that if they were whole I wouldnt have too much trouble syphoning into my secondary or am I wrong?

You are right, siphoning would be the issue. They can clog the racking tube and prevent a free flow of wine.

The other issue is that the raisins absorb wine as they hydrate and, as a result, contain a considerable amount of flavor and fermentables that remain trapped inside the skins. Being able to squeeze out that valuable commodity is important to the end flavor and mouth feel of the wine. By squeezing the infusion bag with a sanitized hand, you release those fermentables and all that flavor into the wine. That is a very good thing.

I have a Malbec kit in secondary. I added 1 pound of chopped raisins to the primary. Personally I don't care to drink Malbec but made the kit for my son. I've tasted it before putting into secondary, I might be tempted to drink this one. Liked the mouth feel from the raisins so much I put them into the Pinot Noir I just started for myself. Bakervinyard

Ok baker and roger thank you - so chopped it is, in the primary and in a bag. Last question I think - how often do you give it a squeeze?

I give it a squeeze at least daily, twice a day during the first few days in primary. I want to get every drop of goodness out of those raisins I can possibly get.

Guess I'm the outlier here. I keep raisins whole and put in strainer bag. Squeeze the bag daily and remove by day ten. I wring it out like a dish rag. No mess or cloging. I dont add the raisins till a vigorous fermentation is underway.

ok Im going to start the batch tomorrow - It just dawned on me - do I need to do something with the raisins before I put them in the primary? Do I need to sanitize them - boil or something else? dumb question?
Rob

I rinse the raisins first then put them in a rinsed and sanitized strainer bag. Then into the already fermenting must.

OK Got it Tony - thank you

About three weeks ago, I started an inexpensive 10 L kit (lots of water added) and added almost one pound of raisins when I pitched the yeast, wihtout chopping or bagging. My theory was, the whole raisins will get chewed up and broken down enough by the fermentation that chopping would be unnecessary. Turned out I was right - I anticipated gathering the raisins at the end and squeezing them out, but they were mostly broken apart to a loose pulp when I decided to rack after a week in the primary. I manually pressed them after I racked ~9/10ths of the juice to the carboy, because they didn't start plugging the valve until then.

Bottom line, bagging or chopping raisins added during primary fermentation (or not bagging or chopping) will make little difference in the final product, although bagging would be a little more convenient (though you never can be sure you squeezed it *completely*). I recommend using raisins because it adds some mouth-feel, and a little sugar/alcohol, which is useful in the low-end kits, but it is not essential.

Raisins in the wine

To each his own, the whole purpose of putting the raisins in the secondary is that the alcohol that has been established in the primary will start a secondary fermentation on the raisin, it is not necessary to chop it up. That's probably what you don't want to do. The reason for that is, it can come off too strong. If you put the raisins and a whole in the secondary. The alcohol will start rehydration, extraction and use what ever the reason is able to give you without all that unnecessary work. However, putting them in a whole not in the bag. Don't bother squeezing them out, just dump them out. Maybe into your garden after you see all the fine fermentation bubbles are gone.

Not every red wine benefits from the raisins. Example a pino noir , does not require nor should ever have raisins added to it is a fruit forward wine with its own style of body, speaking of body wine has three different styles of body. It could be thin, medium, or heavy so however your wine does turn out. It does have body unless it's just like water in that case your base was wrong. There are only a few red wines in all my readings that really do well with raisins, mostly all the big Italians will do okay, pass that mark, not really. From all my findings in all my reading about winemaking and do's and don'ts raisins can be very beneficial but they have to be put in the proper perspective and they are not not good for all wines.

It's great to experiment. And if you have read when good wines :
gone bad, then you should know that I think outside the box ALL THE TIME............. know the characteristics of the wine that you're making, study the profiles............... then apply. That's how we learn. That's how we do................... just my opinion.............