WineXpert Island Mist Strawberry Watermelon White Shiraz

While I was down racking the Forza for another 3 months of aging, I figured I'd start my wife's summer wine.

I was a little surprised how dark it is. I thought, "hmmm... White Shiraz? Probably a rose when all is said and done." Well, it's a little darker than that.

These kits normally give you between 5-7% ABV. That's fine, unless you want me to drink it. So, we boosted this one with a liter of white grape concentrate, a pound of sugar made into some simple syrup; and since we like more flavor than sweet, we dropped about 1/3 of the FPac in the primary.

ABV now projected at just over 11% if I ferment to dry.

Pitched yeast and, 12 hours later, we're already seeing signs of life.

There's still a liter of the strawberry/watermelon syrup left. I may only add another 350 ml in the finish. We'll see how it tastes. My wife says the syrup tastes like a jolly rancher. Which is good - she likes those.

Has anyone done this kit before? Tips? Suggestions? Things to avoid?

Thanks!

You are doing exactly what I did on the Peach/Raspberry Sangria I started a couple of months ago. So far, so good, and it tastes really good. I like to let the wine settle for about 3 weeks after adding clarifiers, so that is the stage I'm in. Due to rack at the beginning of April and hoping to be ready for the warm weather to come. I'll trade you one or more this summer.

Edit: thief a bit tonight, had the better half try some too; incredible nose for a kit, can smell the raspberries and peaches right off the bat. Body a little light, as it should be, but the flavor is good already, only about two weeks since I added the clarifiers. I'm rather impressed, will definitely be ready to add to a pitcher of fresh fruit and sip by the pool (cheap yard chairs and a kiddie pool to soak the feet in) this summer.

ceeaton said:

You are doing exactly what I did on the Peach/Raspberry Sangria I started a couple of months ago. So far, so good, and it tastes really good. I like to let the wine settle for about 3 weeks after adding clarifiers, so that is the stage I'm in. Due to rack at the beginning of April and hoping to be ready for the warm weather to come. I'll trade you one or more this summer.

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I was doing the backwards math and think I'll be ready to bottle by early to mid-May. We'll see. Thinking about picking up a couple cases of clear bottles for this one.

Sounds good on the bottle swap, Craig.

I have a Strawberry Merlot kit in clearing stage. Don't do any modification at all, but certainly boost up the abv on the next kit. The kit ferment really fast(3 day).
I stir the sediment prior to degas with my All in one pump and add the clearing agent. Seems to go pretty well at this time.
Will probably start an other kit this week. Summer is coming.

Natrix said:

I have a Strawberry Merlot kit in clearing stage. Don't do any modification at all, but certainly boost up the abv on the next kit. The kit ferment really fast(3 day).

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You're right about the fast fermentation. I'm down around an SG of 1.015 this morning. Good thing the office is closed tomorrow. I will probably rack it if the SG dips blow 1.000.

jgmann67 said:

Good thing the office is closed tomorrow.

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I could really use a day off. I was going to say something like "Hey, do you have any job openings for someone who knows little but thinks he knows everything", but that got me thinking (a rarity). I could just run for office! But I don't want the moderators to flag me for being political or trolling or inciting a riot, so I won't say it.

Enjoy your day off while I work to pay part of my brother's salary and a teeny tiny bit of yours.

You know I'm just "funning" you.

Just starting a Island Mist Hard Limeade and boost it up with 1.5kg of dextrose. Given a SG of 1.078.
Smell and taste good and sweet. With my 6G Dragon blood, Island Mist Strawberry merlot and this kit, we will be ready for this summer !
The Hard Limeade kit come with a EC-1118 Yeast pack.

ceeaton said:

You know I'm just "funning" you.

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Of course... If it's any consolation, I've been doing this gig for about 22 years. Each swearing-in day, I like to go to the Floor, look around and mutter to myself, "... And these are the winners."

SG was down to 0.992-ish, so I racked it over yesterday. Will do clarifiers, etc., next weekend.

The remainder of the strawberry watermelon syrup is doing fine in the fridge.

Here's a question. If I'm already down to 0.990, is there any reason to wait the 10 days the directions prescribe in Step 2 (in the carboy from the bucket)? I'm thinking, no, I should move on to the next step if I've already gotten this one fermented to dry.

When I get to .990-.994 I rack.

We got to 0.990 the other day. So, I pulled the cord and moved on to stabilizing and clarifying. I got a nice volcano while stirring the wine... I used sorbate with this one because the FG will likely be around 1.000. But, the volcano made a nice mess... Took a few minutes to clean that up.

I'm holding off on the FPac for now. I want this to clear for a few days, then add the Fpac to taste. After that, we'll rack it to drive off remaining CO2; let it sit for a few weeks and see if it's ready for the bottle.

I picked up a few cases of clear bottles for the job.

Update: the wine was pretty clear yesterday. SG check verified 0.990.

So, I thiefed a few ounces for tasting. My wife likened it to the French rose wines we were drinking a couple years ago. Pleasant enough, but, since I hadn't added any more FPac since the primary, it wasn't sweet. So, we weren't hitting the target audience as-is.

I dropped 475 ml of the FPac in the carboy and stirred for about 5 minutes to blend and drive off more co2. SG at a nice off-dry 0.998. We'll let it settle for a couple days, taste again and maybe bump the SG to 1.010 if necessary.

jgmann67 said:

SG at a nice off-dry 0.998. We'll let it settle for a couple days, taste again and maybe bump the SG to 1.010 if necessary.

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Warning, if bottles of your batch last longer than you expect them to, the sweetness does become a bit more pronounced with time. The first one of those kits we did is an apple and both my wife and I cringe a little when we drink it, too sweet for our tastes. SG of 1.000 to 1.002 seems to be the right spot for my wife (after many, many tastings - she sometimes runs the other way when she sees me grab the wine thief and a glass if she knows she's not in the mood for some wine).

ceeaton said:

Warning, if bottles of your batch last longer than you expect them to, the sweetness does become a bit more pronounced with time. The first one of those kits we did is an apple and both my wife and I cringe a little when we drink it, too sweet for our tastes. SG of 1.000 to 1.002 seems to be the right spot for my wife (after many, many tastings - she sometimes runs the other way when she sees me grab the wine thief and a glass if she knows she's not in the mood for some wine).

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The last IM kit I did lasted about 6 months. I don't think this one will last that long. But, I'm with you. I don't want to get much beyond 1.000 if I can.

I dropped another 200ml or so of the FPac and gave it another 5 minute stir. I'm going to let it settle for a couple days, then measure SG and taste again.

A couple days later and it's settling nicely. The top layer is wild, clear as a bell. It will probably be a while till it all settled out. But, I'm done adding the fpac. It will sweeten a bit with a little time.

Like my last IM kit, this one has a lot of co2.

I racked to de-gas last week. And, again, it's settling nicely. The top quarter is crystal clear and the rest is... well, it's getting there. One question: There's about 750 ml of headspace at the top of the glass carboy. I don't own a headspace eliminator so the question I have is whether I should rack again to a smaller, plastic carboy, or leave it be and see what happens.

Racked to a plastic carboy. Less headspace (tho, if I hadn't spilled a cup or so on the floor, I'd be sipping some right now). I'll bottle in 2 weeks when it's clear.

Left to its own devices, it's pretty clear just after 5 days.

Racked and bottled this morning. Used the AIO to bottle for the first time. Much easier and a lot less messy.