Wine Kitz - Zinfandel too little volume

[danmack]

First off, the contributions in this online community are very inspiring. These forums are always a pleasure to read..

My problem:

I just bought a Sommelier Reserve Old Vine Zinfandel from Wine Kitz. When starting the primary fermentation I was suprised to find that way before I even got to my 23 litre mark the specific gravity had fallen to 1.070. Its a good thing I checked, as the kit says it should be betwen 1.075 -1.100.
After adding the crushed grape pack, oak and stirring the SG levelled at about 1.080.

It fermented for 6 days and I racked in at 0.992ish. When it came time to top it up, it took 4 bottles of a similar wine to bring it to the neck. Now I expected a little more, but 3 litres????

What is going on???

-Dan

 

[Drez]

My experience with Wine Kitz, albeit somewhat limited, I've always had to top up too, perhaps not quite 3l but close. Maybe you left a little too much with the sediment? I've topped up with water in the past and I'm not sure the wine has suffered for it.

 

[Tom]

So to me you left to much behind. When racking maks sure there is a solid layer on the bottom. It is OK to rack some over. 3 ltrs is to much. I hope when you did top it you used a like wine not water.

 

[danmack]

Thanx for the ideas guys.

I was very careful to take as much into the secondary as I could. We took quite all the liquid from the bottom, and I even wrung the mesh bag full of grape skins out into to primary before siphoning.

Also, the primary was not even close to 23L's when we first filled it up and found the SG was at 1.070.

Do you think it is a problem with the kit or did we do something wrong?

-Dan

 

[Dugger]

I suppose one could question the accuracy of the 23 liter mark, but your readings are the wrong way for this to be the problem. The only thing I can think of, other than an undersized kit to start with, would be not adequately mixing the added water into the must. This could give you a false low reading to start with.
Did you actually fill to the 23 liter mark or stop it when you saw the 1.070 reading?
Another thing that contributed is you probably have an Italian carboy ( with ribs) and this is actually larger than 23 liters.

 

[danmack]

Thank for the thoughts,


When I saw the SG at 1.070 i stopped adding water and mixed the must with a fizz-x attachment and a drill for 2 mins and checked again. The SG sat about 1.072. So I stopped adding water and put in the grape and oak packs. I stirred the oak in briefly and took another SG reading after adding the Grape Skins - SG= 1.080.


The carboy is smooth and says 23L on the bottom.

Here is a reply I just got from the store:


"******************
Hi Dan. My apologies for calling you Stan; bad hearing? Mark it down to aging

I talked to our Product Development manager and he explained what happened.

1. Cannot go by Specific Gravity readings. Reason being, 20% of fermentable solids are in the skin pack. It takes a minimum of 3 days for the bag to empty the juices therefore the SG will read quite low until then. In this instance stirring doesn't make a difference (or very little difference).
2. It's imperative that the bag of skins be punched down and mixed well in the primary for the first 8 to 10 days (to help leach out the juices).
3. After 1st racking topping up should be approximately 1L of water (which keeps this wine in proper balance).

Now what's happened with the amount of water that was added at the initial fermentation is that the alcohol is way too high; probably about 15%. The wine will turn out 'O.K.', but it will not be optimal. He recommends that the carboy still be topped up into the neck.

If you want to discuss this further please give me a call. I'm home today at 955-4604 or I'll be at the store Tuesday 665-1914.

Thanks Dan.

Val
"***************************

 

[Dugger]

I'm not familiar with these kits but this sounds like a premium one and this SG seems way too low for such a kit. The range you mentioned that is in their instructions must cover all their kits ( 1.075-1.100) and I would think this kit would be closer to the top. If this kit truly requires the grapepack to get it up to the target SG and it takes 3 days to do this, then their instructions should state this to avoid just the problem you encountered.
I would not be a happy customer, as I would guess you aren't.

 

[Savana123]

My experience with the wine kits is not that good and I am finding better techniques. I am not saying that wine making kits are not good but, My wine got very thin.

 

[Green Mountains]

Dan,

Val's explanation is where my mind was headed as I read this thread. Though as Dugger says the instructions while very generic in most of the kits I buy should be more specific when it comes to a kit with such a big bag of solids.

Your SG probably grew to well above the intended start within a few days and the extra water would have put you right where you wanted to be...but alas.

If nothing else you've got a pretty hot wine that might be ok in a year or so.

Wonder what would be the ramifications if you split the wine, into say a four gallon and a three gallong carboys and topped up with water? Might get your gallon back.

 

[Tom]

My experience with the wine kits is not that good and I am finding better techniques. I am not saying that wine making kits are not good but, My wine got very thin.

One thing to remember when getting kits. You get what you pay for. You cant expext a great wine in a low end kit. These kits are great for the newcomer and fast to bottle. Look into one one the 19ltr or all juice kits.
So if the kit is $120 thats ONLY $4 a bottle $150 = $5

 

[danmack]

So to you guys the Wine Kitz reply sounds correct then.

I don't want to sound argumentative but I want to throw some more info out there:


I was careful to check the SG frequently, as well as squish the grape skins bag against the side of the fermentor every day, in order to squeeze out as much sugar because I was so worried about the low SG level. The SG went up immediately when I put in the oak and grape skins to 1.080 and then up that night closer to 1.090 but then the fermentation started it it went down gradually to 0.992 on day 5-6 and we racked and stabilized on day 7.

So could the SG have gone up but at the same time come down due to fermentation? Or do you think its possible it never went up about 1.100?

The kit is the most expensive kit Wine Kitz sells, its a 90%(?) juice kit i believe; but it is also a brand new release, and wine kitz doesn’t have much information about it.

-Dan

 

[Dugger]

Well I suppose it makes sense that if it takes 3 days or so to fully extract whatever is extracted from the grapeskins and this is what gets you up to your target SG, then it would be going up from this and down from the fermentation at the same time. Kinda makes it hard to know what your starting SG is!
It's the first time I've seen a kit maker say you can't go by gravity readings!!