Got this one underway on Wed. night. (sorry no pics, batteries in camera died) I have the GCI Californina Syrah and the GCI Chilean Malbec on deck and will have pics of these 2. SG was 1.10 on this one and it is working away right now. I am going to make every red in this series A) so I will have a good amount of wine that wont take 2 years to come around. Then I will be able to give the bigger kits all the time they need, and B) becasue they just seem like a nice bang for the buck for everyday wine and god knows we need wine everyday right?
RJ Spagnols Grand Cru Intnl. Brunello
- Thread starter JohnnyK68
- Start date
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Good luck on the kit. I have some friends who have made, I believe, about 6 or 7 brunello kits. I first tried their 1 year old and it was really nice. Then they gave me a taste of 6 month old Brunello, same type of kit, and it was not very drinkable.
The moral of the story - It gets really good at 1 year, but keeps getting better and better with some age.
The moral of the story - It gets really good at 1 year, but keeps getting better and better with some age.
Bartman
Senior Member
Richard,
I'm surprised to hear their Brunello wasn't drinkable at 6 months. The first Brunello I made was the Cru Select (the more expensive of the two kits George offers), and it was pretty good within a month of bottling it - it had bulk aged for 6 months. In fact, I started it on Jan. 1, 2009, and it was all gone within 1 year.
I'm surprised to hear their Brunello wasn't drinkable at 6 months. The first Brunello I made was the Cru Select (the more expensive of the two kits George offers), and it was pretty good within a month of bottling it - it had bulk aged for 6 months. In fact, I started it on Jan. 1, 2009, and it was all gone within 1 year.
Bert,
Yes and after sampling my amarone, which is not bad, even for less than six months. The brunello was so tart that it had practically no other taste. Who knows, maybe it was younger than I remembered.
And consider that it was the first green wine I had tasted; maybe now that I have had some of my own several times, it wouldn't seem to bad. I might taste it today and feel differently... However, it was nothing like the older brunello of the same basic kit. I don't know which specific kit it was. I'll ask next time I see them, because now I am curious.
Yes and after sampling my amarone, which is not bad, even for less than six months. The brunello was so tart that it had practically no other taste. Who knows, maybe it was younger than I remembered.
And consider that it was the first green wine I had tasted; maybe now that I have had some of my own several times, it wouldn't seem to bad. I might taste it today and feel differently... However, it was nothing like the older brunello of the same basic kit. I don't know which specific kit it was. I'll ask next time I see them, because now I am curious.
Bartman
Senior Member
Just bottled my second Cru Select Brunello this AM. Bulk aged for ~5 months, but wanted to get it bottled and labeled before my Dad's birthday on April 21. Since he paid for the kit, I thought it would be nice to get him two cases of Brunello (with maybe a small bottle to taste) on his b-day. I might have waited a little longer if I didn't need the carboy for my Red Mountain Cabernet finishing in the primary!
The wine was very clear without adding the fining agents- it was racked twice, just a little residue at the bottom. It made exactly 30 bottles, with the last bottle about an inch shy of the "shoulder". Which means, no leftovers to taste - only what I could drain out of the tubing (can't waste a drop!)
The wine was very clear without adding the fining agents- it was racked twice, just a little residue at the bottom. It made exactly 30 bottles, with the last bottle about an inch shy of the "shoulder". Which means, no leftovers to taste - only what I could drain out of the tubing (can't waste a drop!)
What happened with the 30th bottle, Bart? That seems like a lot of airspace if the wine only made it to 1" below the shoulder. I think I would have put that wine in a split so the remainder could be sampled, hic!BartReeder said:It made exactly 30 bottles, with the last bottle about an inch shy of the "shoulder". Which means, no leftovers to taste - only what I could drain out of the tubing (can't waste a drop!)
