RJ Spagnols Italian Amarone Winery Series vs WE Intl Selection

[geek]

Amarone is a red wine I've been eye balling and want to make soon.
My online retailer price, $123 shipped.
LHBS about 20 miles, $125 pickup.

My first option from the cost perspective would be the WE, no need to drive 40 miles to get it in my house.
I really like the grape skins from the Winery Series, the Super Tuscan came with 2 plastic jars of skins very easy to get out. I assume all WS are the same including the Amarone.

Thanks for any feedback on both....

..

 

[David219]

I've only made WineXpert kits, so I can't give you a comparison opinion as to the consistency/quality of the supplied skins, but the WE kits provide the skins in a bag. Very similar to the juice bag. Though they have a heavy plastic cap, the instructions say to cut the bag and squeeze the jammy skins out. I save some of my water back to rinse out the skins bag to flush out any stragglers...there tends to be a lot that get caught in the cap area. I've never tried squeezing them out from the cap, but I usually open the cap last, after rinsing the bag, to make sure I've gotten all the skins out. Hope this helps.

I'm making this kit right now. I racked it out of my barrel into a five gallon carboy for further bulk aging just last night. It had rested in the barrel for three months. Tasted pretty good!

The kit also includes a chaptilization step, which I had only done in port kits before. I calculated the ABV to be right at 16%

Good luck!


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[qyhcat]

I did both and got dissappointed by the Amarone, it came out no better than the value series after 4 months. However, the Super Tuscan gave a super punch in body only after 2 months.

 

[Brian55]

I did both and got dissappointed by the Amarone, it came out no better than the value series after 4 months. However, the Super Tuscan gave a super punch in body only after 2 months.

I haven't found any kits to be remotely good in two to four months, especially Amarone. Try aging for at least a year, you'll be much happier with the results.

 

[geek]

Doing some comparissons, it looks like the WE Amarone comes with dextrose to boost the initial sugar level and SG.

However, the RJS does not.

Hmmm....

 

[Boatboy24]

Have you considered the EP Amarone?

 

[geek]

More $$ Jim.
What benefit does it have, I think you did that EP Amarone?

 

[geek]

I also thought about the CC Showcase and wonder if ALL these high-end kits are 16L of juice plus the grape skins.

Morewine has this quote for the CC Showcase Amarone:

"Cellar Craft's Showcase Series red wine kits include a huge 18L of varietal juice and concentrate! Additionally, Cellar Craft is the only kit manufacturer who includes a crushed skin pack made from over 12lb of entirely new, fresh, never-processed skins that come from the same harvest lot as the juice in your kit."

But a $155 kit....

 

[Boatboy24]

More $$ Jim.
What benefit does it have, I think you did that EP Amarone?

I did - June of last year. I've only had two bottles so far. It is good, but I'm trying to give it time. I've no doubt that I'm going to be very pleased with it. It came with skins and raisins. I used the raisins (and some oak chips) in secondary a la joeswine. Also cold stabilized and gave it a little Tancor Grand Cru.

Morewine has this quote for the CC Showcase Amarone:

But a $155 kit....

$148 from FVW.

 

[geek]

FVW is not $148, I saw it for $157


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[geek]

Sorry, previous post was the RJS en premier.


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[geek]

Also, I made a couple phone calls and the en premier seems to be the only kit with 18L of juice plus the skins .....wow


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[roger80465]

Huge fan of Showcase Amarone (I have one going now). I've tried many brands but keep coming back to Showcase. My EP that I started last fall may not be ready for this Christmas as planned. The Showcase is usually ready at about 12 mo or so. It's worth the price

 

[Boatboy24]

FVW is not $148, I saw it for $157


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Oh, for EP, yes. I thought you were talking about CC Showcase.

 

[geek]

Huge fan of Showcase Amarone (I have one going now). I've tried many brands but keep coming back to Showcase. My EP that I started last fall may not be ready for this Christmas as planned. The Showcase is usually ready at about 12 mo or so. It's worth the price

I wonder if this is because the less juice in the kit? Showcase like WE is 16L juice kit plus skins, the EP is 18L juice plus skins.

 

[roger80465]

I wonder if this is because the less juice in the kit? Showcase like WE is 16L juice kit plus skins, the EP is 18L juice plus skins.

Could be the case. It certainly makes sense. I just find the Showcase to have a fuller mouth feel than other kits. At 3 years (only had one bottle survive that long), it is like drinking pure silk. Truly a sipping wine.

 

[vabeachbear]

Just my opinion, but I would try the EP Amarone. I've made it once a year the last three years, and just bought my 4th one last week for this year.

It has been my best wine, all are good, but this one has been the best. Consistent also.

In regards to ageing, I wait two years to drink, so now I'm in the rotation of having one kit a year ready.

Wine is definitely drinkable at a year, but if you can wait two years, you'll be happier. The one I'm drinking now is close to 2.75 years, and it only gets better.

I put aside a 3 bottles for 5, 7, and 10 years to test. Have to wait a while to see how those come out.

Again, my reco is EP.

 

[Boatboy24]

vabeachbear: I'm off topic, but have you made any other EP kits? I've read they take time. My Amarone from last June is bottled, though I've hardly touched it. I also have a Pinot Noir started last July. I haven't even bottled it yet. I heard from TonyT that his took 18 months.

 

[geek]

Jim, have you made any other Amarone from other kits?

I was told by a LHBS that they also get Amarone juice buckets as well as fresh grapes.
I was surprised to hear they get fresh grapes......hmmm

I wonder how an Amarone made from juice bucket would develop.

 

[vabeachbear]

vabeachbear: I'm off topic, but have you made any other EP kits? I've read they take time. My Amarone from last June is bottled, though I've hardly touched it. I also have a Pinot Noir started last July. I haven't even bottled it yet. I heard from TonyT that his took 18 months.

I made the Amarone every year, the Woodbridge Cab two years ago, and the Super Tuscan this past year (still in the barrel, but tastes great).

Will make the Shiraz after my current Amarone.

One of my issues is that the kits are turning to areas where certain wines aren't known for. They've moved the cab from CA to Spain, Pinot is now from Chile. I'm leery of paying top dollar for kits with juice from places grapes aren't known for, maybe that's silly, but hey its my money.

I usually make 3 kits a year, will always make the EP Amarone, and will probably from now on make the EP Super Tuscan as two of the three per year. My extra one will vary, I've made the CCWS Super Tuscan, French Grenache/Syrah, Old Vines Zin. Even the CCWS are changing. I wanted to make the spanish Temperanillo, but they discountinued it.I did make the WineExpert Barolo and it turned out good.

I like the EP's better, because the kits like CCWS and WineEpert, the ones that use the goopy grapy stuff seem to me to hold the fruityness a long time. Also, these seem to need more acid to me, they seem to taste "thick", if that makes any sense. I've started adding more acidic wines to these before bottling to help this out.