when good wines gone bad

[vacuumpumpman]

I can hardly wait to get my kit of Amarone started especially after reading all your posts !! Thanks for all the small details

 

[joeswine]

Amarone the king of italian reds

go back and review the AMARONE process...........................

 

[joeswine]

Amarone the king of italian reds

MOVING THE FLOW FORWARD....

 

[joeswine]

Amarone continued

Wineexpert Amarone​

*UPDATED*​

Here is our kit that we received from Wineexpert. This kit is a Wineexpert Selection Series Amarone. This kit has the following included. (This list is a little different from the usual kit that you receive. This is a top of the line kit.)

The box includes the following:
· Large bag of juice
· Grape skin pack (You can actually see that there are grape skins in it!)
· 2 packs of Lavin RC-212
· 2 Chaptalisation Packs (bags of sugar)
· Package #2 (bentonite)
· Package #3 (Metabisulphite)
· Package #4 (Sorbate)
· Package #5 (Chitosan-(Fining Agent)
· Mesh Straining Bag
· 3 Packages of European Hungarian Oak
Just for reference, I’m sure everyone knows by now if they have been following the posts, that you will need certain equipment to make this kit. For the newbies, I’m going to put it below so you know what you need:
· Primary Fermenter (minimum 30 Litres/7.9 US gallons capacity)
· Long stirring spoon (Plastic or stainless steel)
· Measuring cup
· Hydrometer and test jar
· Thermometer
· Wine thief
· Siphon rod and hose
· Carboy (6 US gallon capacity)
· Bung and Air lock
· Solid Bung (if you are bulk aging)
· Unscented winemaking detergent for cleaning (we recommend Onestep or any other oxygenating cleaner, including Kmet....JUST NOT BLEACH!)
· Metabisulphite Powder for sanitizing
· 30 wine bottles, thirty corks , thirty seals
· Corking machine (there are various types, we use an italian floor corker.)
The Process:
· As always, sanitize anything that comes in contact with the wine. Including yourself. J
· Add half gallon of warm water to the primary fermenting bucket with the bentonite packet and stir until dissolved.
· Add the large juice package. (Be careful, it’s heavy!) Rinse this out with a little bit of spring water to make sure you get it all.
· Next, we added the smaller “grape skin packet”. It’s lumpy so you also want to rinse the bag out w/ water also, to get all the grape skins.
· Now, we take the SG reading. We’re at 1.10.
· Next, we added the smaller “grape skin packet”. It’s lumpy so you also want to rinse the bag out w/ water also, to get all the grape skins.
· Now, here comes all that Hungarian oak! We are adding 3 packets of Hungarian powdered oak (wow!).
· Here comes the fun part. YEAST! 2 packets of RC-212 yeast. Cover with a towel and wait 5-7 days, gently punching down the grape skins.
Secondary Fermentation:
Now that we fermented dry (SG reading is 1.010), now it’s time to rack it.
Notice the grape skins on top? This is the cap that formed from the grape skin packet that was provided in the Wineexpert Amarone Kit, along with the addition of California Raisins (that I added to add more body).
We racked this down to a carboy but it is pretty gassy. I’m going to let this settle out for a few days and degas some on its own. Over the weekend, I will force-gas it (If I have to) by giving it a good old-fashioned stir. Once I feel that it’s de-gassed enough, I will stabilize it with the potassium sorbate packet, K-Met Packet, and packet of Chitosan (clearing agent).

UPDATE:​

We finished bottling our super-awesome, Winexpert Selection International Amarone Kit. We are quite happy with the results. Our end result is a dark, inky-color, rich, full bodied, wine. It has a spicy-earthy, sour cherry aroma, dried fruit, bitter almond, from the huge volume of tannins.

For a kit wine that started just 2 1/2 months ago, the results are quite impressive. (We started this kit on August 22, 2013. We bottled tonight, 10/24/2013. After doing this kit, we would def. recommend this one for any true Italian red-wine drinker.

We would like to thank Winexpert for giving us the opportunity to present one of their finest wine kits they have available. We would definitely recommend this kit to the novice and experienced winemakers alike as it truly is exceptional.

We are looking forward to our next tutorial now that this one is complete. Please give us feedback and recommendations of what type of wine you would like to learn how to make.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Thanks Joe

I got my kit and soon will be starting it !!

This particular kit and wine is definitely one of the best wines I have ever tasted !!

Thanks for all the details !

 

[sdelli]

Joe... Got a question. I am making a batch of Moscato from WineExpert kit. Made a few of them before with great success. It is a very good kit for this brand of wine. I am not a fan but my wife loves the stuff! I was thinking of adding a little sugar when it is time to add the fpack to it. Would this make it sweater or do more damage then good?

Thanks

Sam

 

[joeswine]

Moscato

I'VE MADE THIS ALSO STRAIGHT UP IT COMES OUT SWEET EN OUGHT ADD THE SUGAR TO THE PRIMARY AND BOOST THE ABV,THAN IN THE END THE FPAC WILL BE MORE BALANCE OUT .JUST THE WAY I WOULD AND HAVE DONE THIS KIT.

 

[geek]

Joe,

sounds like you use the fpack in secondary to finish fermentation, not to back sweeten it.

 

[joeswine]

Amarone the king of italian reds

every item goes in the primary...

 

[Angelina]

Hey Joe, I am waiting for my RJ Spagnols En Primeur Amarone and and while waiting I have started reading your post of the Amarone project. Is there anything you would do differently with the RJ Spagnols then what you did with the WE Amarone?

 

[Boatboy24]

@Angelina: I'm not Joe, but FWIW, I took an approach similar to his with my EP Amarone. It came with raisins and skins. I used the skins in primary and raisins in secondary (I racked at 1.000). My starting SG was 1.104, so I didn't chapitalize as Joe does. I estimate the raisin addition gave me another 0.005 in sugar, and using that, I fermented to 15% ABV. It also got barrel time and Tancor Grand Cru tannin.

 

[joeswine]

Amarone the king of italian reds

BOATBOY 24, that sounds like a good plan to me how is yours so far?RAISINS IN THE SECONDARY IS A GOOD WAY TO GIVE THE WINE MORE DEPTH, in the primary more balance is added, either way works. but you need to pay close attention to the degassing process should be more then normal, tannins in the secondary are especially vital for the wines structure.

 

[Angelina]

Mine will not get barrel time, so I will have to use another option there. When my kit arrives I believe I might need a little hand holding. My inter wine geek is wanting out and my tool box is ready, thank you Joe I just feel a little intimidated at the same time. This kit is a "big deal" for me.
Also, I am already trying to think ahead to attempt a "baby amarone" with the leftovers from the amarone kit.

 

[Boatboy24]

BOATBOY 24, that sounds like a good plan to me how is yours so far?

Nice so far! You had some when you went to JohnT's last fall for the "Big and Bold" competition. It took a silver at just over a year old.

 

[joeswine]

boatboy24

WHERE PLANNING ANOTHER CONTEST THIS YEAR BIG /BOLD REDS AND ADDING WHITES WHAT SAY YOU????

 

[Boatboy24]

WHERE PLANNING ANOTHER CONTEST THIS YEAR BIG /BOLD REDS AND ADDING WHITES WHAT SAY YOU????

I'll be in.

 

[Angelina]

WHERE PLANNING ANOTHER CONTEST THIS YEAR BIG /BOLD REDS AND ADDING WHITES WHAT SAY YOU????

I might have to be in as well!

 

[Angelina]

I received my Amarone kit today! Here's what it looks like. My first thought was it came with lalvin 1118. This seems like a normal go to for every kit.yes? The metatartaric acid I have no experience with, but I understand that it is used to prevent crystals? I was surprised at how heavy this kit was!

If I pictures are sideways I apologize. Lol I have tried to figure it out but epic fail.

 

[joeswine]

Amarone the king of italian reds

ANGELINA, do you have wine tannins? you'll need some for the secondary at least two table spoons. Yes EC is a work horse and will handle the added abv..do you have simple syrup you'll need 1 quart, for the primary, then with every item you have from the kit your ready to make a outstanding AMARONE. This will take a little work but the effort will be well worth it.Does all your oak go into the primary??it should. WHAT type vessel are you using for the primary,bucket,carboy?

 

[Angelina]

Yes I have wine tannins. I will make the simple syrup this evening. I can put all the oak in the primary. I also have French medium chips if that would be better. Not sure what kind of chips they included.