I Ordered Reserve Du Chateau Barbaresco

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RCGoodin

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It's being delivered this week. Six gallons of pure juice.

I bought a bottle from the local wine store and the cheapest they carried was $17......It tasted like a cross between a Merlot and a Zinfandel.

I think this kit can be enhanced and I'm looking for your suggestions on how to enhance it.

Please give me your thoughts and thanks in advance.
 
RC...from Amazon?

Sorry, it's NOT PURE Juice. It's a concentrate/juice blend that has been rehydrated to the 23 litres (or 6 US gallons).

From Amazon, here's the
Ingredients
grape juice concentrate, varietal grape juice, liquid invert sugar, tartaric acid, citric acid, tannin,diammonium phosphate,metabisulphite,bentonite, wine yeast,ascorbic acid,potassium sorbate,kieselsol, chitosan. ay contain oak.

Steve
 
Reserve Du Chateau

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the response. Yeah, I've been reading that these kits are a little weak. That's why I was asking all the experts on this site to talk to me about enhancements. Maybe adding a fruit pack, or everclear, or something else that can help this beocome a favorable end result.

Any suggestions?
 
I can't offer any suggestions but I just wanted to post that I had just bottled the same Barbaresco from Amazon last Friday. I'm not much of a red wine drinker, but I made it on the recommendation of an Italian coworker. I find that I really like it, but it is a little lighter (sweeter?) than other red wines I've had, though it still had a little spice at the end.
Good luck with your efforts.
 
I can't offer any suggestions but I just wanted to post that I had just bottled the same Barbaresco from Amazon last Friday. I'm not much of a red wine drinker, but I made it on the recommendation of an Italian coworker. I find that I really like it, but it is a little lighter (sweeter?) than other red wines I've had, though it still had a little spice at the end.
Good luck with your efforts.

Thanks Miner,

I know these are a little ligther than thier more expensive counter parts and that's why I was looking for the senior brewers to give a little advice on kicking it up a notch. I think if I don't hear any other suggestions I will add a fifth of Everclear to it prior to bottling. That gives it a little more alcohol kick. From your findings I do believe it will turn out great just as it is.

I went to the liquor store and bought a bottle of Barbaresco and it's not cheap, so this wine could be a good investment.

Thanks for the update and please keep me informed when you open your next bottle. I will do the same.
 
Adding Everclear will up the alcohol, but do nothing for the taste and body and ... other things that make a wine a wine. IMO, the Everclear will make a poor wine worse. But I haven't tried it. Maybe you should try it with one bottle of something you already have before doing an entire batch.

Steve
 
So has anyone on here done one of these buckets? I'm interested because it's from Amazon.com, and it's prime eligible, which means free shipping for me. They have several different ones.

One interesting thing is you can save 15% if you "subscribe and save", which means you'll receive a bucket every so often, according to how often you want it, up to 6 months between orders. I mean, if one of these were actually good, 77 bucks for it every 6 months would be a great price.

But somehow it seems to good to be true. I wonder if adding some raisins or glycerin would be good suggestions for the original poster?
 
So has anyone on here done one of these buckets? I'm interested because it's from Amazon.com, and it's prime eligible, which means free shipping for me. They have several different ones.

One interesting thing is you can save 15% if you "subscribe and save", which means you'll receive a bucket every so often, according to how often you want it, up to 6 months between orders. I mean, if one of these were actually good, 77 bucks for it every 6 months would be a great price.

But somehow it seems to good to be true. I wonder if adding some raisins or glycerin would be good suggestions for the original poster?


Hi DeBoard,

I appreciate the feedback. I've tried several from Amazon and so far I have had great results. Two reds I did were the California Cabernet and the Argentinian Malbac. When I was clearing them I needed a gallon and a half of water to top them off at 6 gallons, so I decided to rack to 5 gallon carboys thinking that much water would really thin them down to a cheaper tasting wine. Both of these wines are full bodied. My wife states they seem syruppy. I don't, I like them just they are. I do wonder what they would taste like if I had added the water......This hobby is very interesting.

Oh yeah, I made the Diamonti Ice Wine and my guests are raving about it. I opened one after I heard the raves and got so excited about it, I ordered another one. It's on its way.

I think I signed up for every six months because you can not beat this price and delivered to your door. I did this for about 5 of them now.

I now have switched to the 55 lb bucket of the Reserve Du Chateau. I have a Chardonnay and a Barbaresco fermenting. I was thinking about trying to do some additives but I now think I'm just going to leave it alone.

I'll let you know how it turns out.
 
I might have to try one of these just to see how it turns out. It'd be nice if the subscribe and save allowed you to cycle through or choose a different one each time.

But, truthfully, you can cancel the subscribe and save after one purchase. Might seem like cheating, but if they allow it...
 
Amazon Barbaresco

I might have to try one of these just to see how it turns out. It'd be nice if the subscribe and save allowed you to cycle through or choose a different one each time.

But, truthfully, you can cancel the subscribe and save after one purchase. Might seem like cheating, but if they allow it...

Deboard,

I just sent the Barbaresco to secondary fermentation. The tasting was excellent. I really like it. It falls between a Merlot and a Cab but with a dry finish. The dry finish makes you want more. The directions state that if it tastes dry you can add sweeteners after stabilization. Personally, I like a dry wine once in awhile so I will probably leave it alone.

I'll keep you posted. Note: I could receive this every six months from Amazon and be happy.
 
Thanks,I have a couple of kits in the queue right now, but after those I think I'll try one of these.
 
I just recieved the package from Amazon but it didn't have instructions, labels, corks or anything else. Amazon is refunding my money, but I would still like to purchase whatever I need to brew this. (They didn't want me to ship it back) could someone copy the directions or provide some feedback.

1. Is the yeast in the must? If not which yeast do you recommend?
2. What clearing agent is it supposed to have.
3. Just general questions like that.
 
I'm surprised this is supposed to come with corks and labels. The more expensive kits I've made come with labels, but I've never seen corks. But the first review on amazon seems to say it should. Yeast and instructions would be expected though.

Sounds like you ended up with a good deal if Amazon refunded your money and told you to keep it anyways! If all you need to buy is a yeast packet, some corks, and labels you have made out.

I like lalvin RC-212 for big reds, but it can sometimes be finicky. Most kits come with Lalvin EC-1118, and you probably can't go wrong with that one. I would give high odds that is what you would have received had everything been with it.
 
I used Lalvin RC-212 in my Reserve Du Chateau Red Zinfandel. It did the trick nicely, but if you want fool-proof, I agree with deboard to go with the EC-1118. You are also going to need to purchase the following:
bentonite
metabisulphite
kieselsol
chitosan
I have the instructions for the concentrate kits but not the juice kits. Let me see if I can attach it.

PS. My Zin turned out much better than expected but I had to tweak the recipe a bit.

PSS. Winemaking Talk won't let me upload the 1.3MB instructions because they are too large. Go here to download them:
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/attachments/f5/3019d1318876333-help-lost-instructions-paklab-kit-4-wk-eng-.pdf
 
Amazon Kit

I just recieved the package from Amazon but it didn't have instructions, labels, corks or anything else. Amazon is refunding my money, but I would still like to purchase whatever I need to brew this. (They didn't want me to ship it back) could someone copy the directions or provide some feedback.

1. Is the yeast in the must? If not which yeast do you recommend?
2. What clearing agent is it supposed to have.
3. Just general questions like that.

Yeah, I had a chardonnay that came without any chemicals. I had another kit so I used half the bentonite and some EC 1118 that I had in Stock. When I clear, I'll use half the fining agent from the other kit and a stabalizer I have in stock. You need to stock up on some of these items. The good news is you got a kit for free...........making wine for $0 per bottle is a good thing. Amazon gave me a total credit also.
 
Reserve Du Chateau Red Zin

I used Lalvin RC-212 in my Reserve Du Chateau Red Zinfandel. It did the trick nicely, but if you want fool-proof, I agree with deboard to go with the EC-1118. You are also going to need to purchase the following:
bentonite
metabisulphite
kieselsol
chitosan
I have the instructions for the concentrate kits but not the juice kits. Let me see if I can attach it.

PS. My Zin turned out much better than expected but I had to tweak the recipe a bit.

PSS. Winemaking Talk won't let me upload the 1.3MB instructions because they are too large. Go here to download them:
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum...lp-lost-instructions-paklab-kit-4-wk-eng-.pdf

Can you share how you tweaked it?
 
I kept a close eye on the specific gravity while adding water to the concentrate and mixed thoroughly with the degasser. I added water until the SG reached 1.090. This was about 5.5 gallons in total - less than the 6 gallons the instructions stated. I then blended and added two bannanas and a pound of grapes. I added a cup of light toast American oak and fermented in the primary for 14 days.

Since making this batch I have acquired medium toast French oak that I probably would have used along with the American. I also would have added pectic enzyme to help break down the tannins in the grapes.

I'm not sure if my tweaks made the wine better or not as I've never made this kit before, however, I was super-surprised at how good this tastes. Before buying the Reserve du Chateau kit I had never purchased a cheap kit before. I've since purchased a total of four of these to keep me from drinking my good stuff that still needs several more months before drinking.
 

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