WineXpert Eclipse Forza

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Bottled my Forza tonight, running it through a 5 micron filter via the AIO.
Of course there was the required tasting, can't wait for this to see time in the bottle.
Did have one bottle break on me as i was inserting cork, did not have bottle centered correctly. :(
 
Wifey has surgery Wednesday, C-spine fusion, nasty stuff. Anyway, tonite's her last wine nite for a while, she asked me to go pick a wine. I came out with the first of the Forza bottles that we'll drink. 16.5 months old now.

Pretty much by the book, RC 212, used clearing agents, but no sorbate, wine stix for a few months, and barrel aged. This wine has a nose, subtle, but it's there. The fruit has stepped aside nicely, but it's dark, deep fruit, well integrated with oak, firm tannins (I added some), and a medium finish, longer than most kits I've done. I like this wine, it's impressive.
 
I haven't had one of these in couple months... I think I'm due for another taster. The wine is about 14 months old. Still have 5 tasters left.

Mine is the same age and coincidentally, I stumbled upon a box full of them last night while looking for something else. Might be time to move a few to the rack.
 
Wifey has surgery Wednesday, C-spine fusion, nasty stuff. Anyway, tonite's her last wine nite for a while, she asked me to go pick a wine. I came out with the first of the Forza bottles that we'll drink. 16.5 months old now.

Forgot to ask, did the wifey's surgery go okay? And most important, is she back in the saddle and drinking again?
 
Forgot to ask, did the wifey's surgery go okay? And most important, is she back in the saddle and drinking again?

Thanks for asking, yes, it went well. Couple weeks of meds, but back on wine now. Two more weeks of wearing the neck brace, and she'll be able to drive. I've been Mr. Mom and Dad for a month, definitely not easy, but in the end, if she can be pain free, a wonderful investment.
 
JohnD - that's great news. Could not imagine...

Had that taster on Friday. Definitely a streak of black cherry and dark chocolate running through this one. I had a taster of the WE Selection Amarone afterwards and it was nearly bland by comparison. I feel like this wine still has some transformation to do in the bottle.

Tasters - and then there were 4.
 
Just racked this one the other day. It's at 6 months right now and considering its age, it is nothing short of spectacular. Very smooth and full-bodied with a nice black cherry streak. Can't wait to try this one in another year or so. Undoubtedly this is my best tasting at 6 months, and that's saying something since I've only made Eclipses and LE's.

FYI, I followed my usual tweaks...no EC-1118, no sorbate, no chitosan...
 
Last edited:
Had one of these while I was on vacation. The interesting aspect is that I didn't have the bottle labeled and thought it was a Bordeaux blend I did from Chilean grapes/juice bucket earlier in 2015. I thought maybe my taste buds had too much beer earlier in the weekend, but then after a few more sips I figured out what it was. I was taken back on how much more it had aged in a few months, didn't expect such a dramatic change. It was very alcoholic as it was before, but the intensity of the "raisiny" notes had died back quite nicely (I didn't care for early samples as much). It still had a fruity note that would make you think it is an off-dry wine, but there was also a sherry note on my palette which balanced the fruitiness, IMHO. Much better than earlier tastings this Spring, look forward to tasting later this summer.

I've seen a bottle recently ( @Boatboy24 - on his new grill no less) and would like other's thoughts who made this wine when it came out in July-August 2015 what they are tasting.
 
My first thought was 'not ready for prime time'. Good, but still had a young kit essence to it.
 
We didn't get ours started until 2/16, and bottled in 2/17. Will open the first bottle sometime this fall to see how it's coming along.
 
We're about 2 months or so from this wine turning two years old. I had one last night with dinner. It did not disappoint. It's too potent for Mrs Mann, so I've got the rest of the production of this wine to enjoy for myself.

I feel like we're headed into prime time for this wine. But, I have enough to get me past 3 years of aging. We'll see.
 
I also recommend this wine. I find it to be full bodied and complex good with Italian to steak or just by itself....one of my favorite of the 30 kits we've done.
 
I still have 19 - 750ml bottles left. I definitely enjoy it when drinking it, but make sure I have no where to travel, or if I do I have a designated driver available. It's a bit on the potent side. I want to open one up around Thanksgiving or Christmas and give it another try. Mine was started 7-24-2015 and I could still identify it as a kit wine, though an enjoyable one.
 
Last edited:
Any one try one lately? I may have to sacrifice one. We have our community trick-or-treat on Saturday evening. A bottle of that would definitely put me in the mood to do some tricking. I think I gave one a few weeks ago to @bkisel . Bill, did you try it yet (Let's get Mikey to try it, yea, he won't drink it, he hates everything...hey Mikey (sorry, flashback))? [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYEXzx-TINc[/ame]
 
Last edited:
ceeaton; said:
Any one try one lately? I may have to sacrifice one. We have our community trick-or-treat on Saturday evening. A bottle of that would definitely put me in the mood to do some tricking. I think I gave one a few weeks ago to @bkisel . Bill, did you try it yet (Let's get Mikey to try it, yea, he won't drink it, he hates everything...hey Mikey (sorry, flashback))? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYEXzx-TINc

Bill here... No, haven't opened it as yet. Did pick it up yesterday and thought that it'd really be nice to wait until Thanksgiving or Christmas when the family was together. I have a niece that appreciates bold dry reds and thought it would really be nice to share a glass of the Forza with Jody.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top