December 2013 Wine of the Month Club

[the_rayway]

LOVING those bottles Lori! And T-caps are the perfect solution. Wish I has thought of that for my Habanero Apple!

I was telling someone about this wine the other day and how if they were going to give it a go, they should consider fermenting in the garage

 

[Jericurl]

I had never even considered the T-caps.
Do you just push them in?
Can you still use the PVC shrink wraps over them?

 

[the_rayway]

Ok! 1 year is up, and I'm here to report on my Apricot Port

It is not bottled yet, which I sort of figured as I would consider port to be a longer term project. I've finally managed to get it to clear by racking it somewhat energetically a few times, then hitting it with Sparkolloid. That did the trick more than anything else I've tried.

The smell is intoxicating - pure apricots. There's a hefty whiff of alcohol too. As before, I feel that it will take tweaking quite well. I may sweeten it a bit more to balance the acid, as it has quite the pop. The taste is also nearly pure apricot, again with a good dose of alcohol, though surprisingly little considering the 20%.

I popped in some American Oak cubes about a month ago - medium toast. I will also likely do some vanilla bean after that to layer the flavours. To be honest though, after that I'm a bit stumped as to what else to add! Should I add anything else? Or just let the apricot shine?

Looking forward to everyone else's updates!!

 

[the_rayway]

Took a sample tonight to see how we're coming along.

The nose has come along and matured. It is not as sharp smelling, has a delicate apricot aroma, with notes of oak and honey. First sip showed that the acidity has mellowed quite a bit, slightly oakey, a nice apricot flavour but not overpowering. Still tastes quite green even after a year and a half.

I did notice that it seems to be a bit thin on body and is missing the vanilla tones that I was looking for. So I'm going to add a vanilla bean or two and let it sit for awhile to see how quickly it comes through.