So I made my Niagara Mist Sangria White Zinfandel, and it fermented quickly at 20 degrees for some reason, anyway, it is all done and clear and just BEAUTIFUL, but it tastes like weak fruit punch. Not much alcohol or body or flavour. It needs a BAM! Can I add grain alcohol and concentrated raspberry juice, or just a bottle of some nice lusty red wine?It needs everything, sweetness and tartness.
Sad, weak whine, I mean wine.
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Putterrr
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add some London Dock baby
just kidding, these kits (and I'm not pointing only to this particular one) are typically weak and in my opinion poor quality. the only thing that makes them even passable is the wack of sugar and artificial flavour you add back in with the F-Pack.
perhaps if you tell what kind of wine you like or what you expect from your wines, you will get some sugestion as what might fit the bill or you can stick with the Dock
just kidding, these kits (and I'm not pointing only to this particular one) are typically weak and in my opinion poor quality. the only thing that makes them even passable is the wack of sugar and artificial flavour you add back in with the F-Pack.
perhaps if you tell what kind of wine you like or what you expect from your wines, you will get some sugestion as what might fit the bill or you can stick with the Dock
I was trying to copy Ernest and Julio's White Zinfandel. It's fresh, sweet, juicy, and delicious. I don't think I'll make an artificially flavoured kit again. the best thing I ever made was a White Zin that I pre-flavoured with 4 lbs of crushed raspberries. At first I thought I had fermented out the berry flavour, but after comparing it to regular wht. zin, I could taste the raspberries. I'll prob try that again. Thanks for your reply!
cpfan
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Kori:
Did you do anything non-standard when making this kit? I have done it a few times, and although I agree that it is low in alcohol, if you added the full F-pack, it should have lots of flavour. (The non-wine drinkers in the family love it.)
Re E&J's White Zin. Have you tried a straight White Zin kit? Since you have access to Vineco products, I'll suggest the Ken Ridge Classic White Zinfandel (sweetness 2 if you use the F-pack), or White Merlot (dry, no F-pack).
Steve
Did you do anything non-standard when making this kit? I have done it a few times, and although I agree that it is low in alcohol, if you added the full F-pack, it should have lots of flavour. (The non-wine drinkers in the family love it.)
Re E&J's White Zin. Have you tried a straight White Zin kit? Since you have access to Vineco products, I'll suggest the Ken Ridge Classic White Zinfandel (sweetness 2 if you use the F-pack), or White Merlot (dry, no F-pack).
Steve
EdwardLongshanks
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You should let the Island mist age for 30-60 days before you judge it to harshly. It is only going to be around 7% and it is more of a wine cooler than wine. you should focus on your next batch to get more of what you want. like CP fan said The makers of Island Mist have a few White Zin products that are exactly what you are looking for. Try Kenridge Classic since I know they are good quality for a low price. You can also try the California Connoisseur but that will be a lower quality. My mom did a Did a White Zin from WineKitz and it was delicious and about what you are looking for.
cpfan
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There are lots of "tweaks" available.I wonder if anyone has any "kit" secrets to sort of boost the flavor sort of like you do when you buy deli potato salad and you kick it up a notch??Anyone? It's a shame that you spend all that time and end up with something weak...
IMO, the best tweak is to buy a better quality kit. As EdwardLongshanks said, the Ken Ridge Classic will probably be better than the California Connoisseur. The second best tweak is to age the wine.
Expecting one of the mist wines to be a good wine is just plain wrong. A refreshing cooler or summer drink? YEP. A good wine? Not so much.
Steve
Take a sample of the wine and fortify it with some plain, non-flavored brandy. One bottle of brandy in 6 gallons of wine won't make much of a difference in ABV, but it should intensify it some.
As mentioned, it should be much better in a month or two.
As mentioned, it should be much better in a month or two.
I wonder if anyone has any "kit" secrets to sort of boost the flavor sort of like you do when you buy deli potato salad and you kick it up a notch??
Keep in mind the summer-style wines are not made from very high quality grapes. That's why they are sweet and flavored.
I have never made any summer wine but the RJ Spagnol Orchard Breezin' kits. I have made several of them.
For those kits, many of us add 3 to 5 pounds of sugar to the kit to boost the alcohol a few percent points. Generally, the included F pack provides all the flavor (and sweetness) one would ever want.
rhoffart
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robie, that's alcohol abuse
Just might be true. Just not much else, outside of blending, one can do with a weak, thin wine. I have a WE Brunello (no grape pack) that turned out somewhat that way. It tastes OK, but it is so very thin. Wish I had bought my barrel before I bottled it. It's been in the bottle for about a year already. One of those wines I'll likely drink by myself.
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