First Wine Results (Pics) (Vintners Reserve Coastal White Kit)

[dessertmaker]

This is the first wine I've ever done.

Started with coastal white concentrate and added bentonite and red star premier couvee

Racked off lees after 2 weeks. It fell clear the next day. Sample was bitter with a yeast taste.

Degassed 2 weeks later. Sample was still bitter and very strong yeast taste but I could taste a little of the grape.

Didn't like the clarity, degassed again 1 week later and added sparkolloid. And campden tablet.

Fell clear 3 days later.

Let it sit for another 2 weeks. It sampled, bitter, yeasty, slight fruit and body

3 months later it tasted identical. So I drew some wine off the top and made a spritzer out of it, which was tolerable, and backsweetened with 4 cans welches white grape and 4 cans welches peach frozen concentrate. Sampled still bitter but much more body, fruit, grape taste. Not much yeast left.

I let it sit on that sediment for 9 months. Result: Full body for a white, peach and apple bouquet, semi sweet and with a bite at the end.

I lost the SG measurements but it fermented dry to 12% and didn't referment the welches concentrate.

The 12% was too hot for the wife, so I cut half the batch down to 6% using Sprite. She absolutely LOVES it. Brought some to a family party and all the aunts and cousins went nuts over it. The bottles were empty within an hour.

And for the record I think the color of the wine is absolutely Gorgeous! It originally cleared out blush, but the concentrate brought the blush more to a yellow. Here's some pics: its even pretty clear right after bottling.

 

[olusteebus]

I am surprised it took so long to come around. Looked good.

 

[hobbyiswine]

Looks great! You might need to find some different bottles. Corking a screw top would make me nervous for more than one reason. Congrats on your success!

 

[dessertmaker]

That's a screw top that had a decorative top and came with a cork in it. It's crazy how they package some of these new wines isn't it? At any rate, I don't think I have more than 2 of the same bottles in the whole batch. That's the only nice clear one I had which is why I took a pic of that one. I've got a buddy who works at a restaurant snatching a certain brand of bottles for me so this is the only batch ill make like that. The next one will be nice and uniform.

 

[dessertmaker]

I am surprised it took so long to come around. Looked good.

It actually came around right at about 1 month after adding the welches but letting it sit for another 9 months made a difference in the bouquet and the finish. I could have bottled it long before I did but just never made the time.