I am a super newbie at this, so I started with the Winexpert Selection Premium Sauvignon kit. I mixed it together and started fermentation on January 19 (my wife and I wanted to call the wine our “Inaugural White”). My staging area is in the basement, and as we live in Upstate NY, it stays pretty cool. I was afraid of not having it warm enough for the yeast to do its thing, so I used a brew belt to help things along.
Maybe it was too warm, because the primary fermentation was pretty much complete by January 26, judging by the SG. I transferred it to the secondary, and it barely bubbled. Well, to make a long story short, I followed the rest of the directions, racked it twice, topped it with distilled water (maybe not a good idea?), then bottled it on March 28. We tasted it then, and it wasn’t bad, but didn’t have that citrus complexity we love about Sauvignon Blanc. I told myself: be patient, it just needs some time in the bottle.
Well, we uncorked a bottle last night, and it is still kind of bland. It isn’t bad, but kind of boring, with no tart acid. My wife says it tasted more like a non-oaky Chardonnay.
My questions are: will it get better? Could the rapid fermentation have something to do with the blah flavor? Should I have topped it with wine instead of water?
I welcome any and all comments!
Maybe it was too warm, because the primary fermentation was pretty much complete by January 26, judging by the SG. I transferred it to the secondary, and it barely bubbled. Well, to make a long story short, I followed the rest of the directions, racked it twice, topped it with distilled water (maybe not a good idea?), then bottled it on March 28. We tasted it then, and it wasn’t bad, but didn’t have that citrus complexity we love about Sauvignon Blanc. I told myself: be patient, it just needs some time in the bottle.
Well, we uncorked a bottle last night, and it is still kind of bland. It isn’t bad, but kind of boring, with no tart acid. My wife says it tasted more like a non-oaky Chardonnay.
My questions are: will it get better? Could the rapid fermentation have something to do with the blah flavor? Should I have topped it with wine instead of water?
I welcome any and all comments!