Recent content by Stickymatch

Signed up as well. Winexpert™ Eclipse Napa Valley Stag's Leap District Merlot Wine Recipe Kit

Thanks Mike, again I appreciate the help. My thought is that since this is a kit, the amount of SO2 is higher than what would normally be required to prevent oxidation because the manufactuer has to assume no testing is done and wants to ensure no spoilage occurs.

Mike, I appreciate the help but I read your reply to be a bit condescending. Step 3 requires the addition of k-meta, sorbate, and fining agents....which I added. However, I just realized that I didn't account for one additional step in my original post and that was at Step 4, where I...

Directly before...nope. I know that that would have effected the results. This has been bulk aging for 4 months with no addition of k-meta since Step 3..about 4-1/2 months ago.

I was going to bottle my Eclipse Pinot Gris and decided to test my free SO2 using my MoreWine AO setup, which I haven't used before. Using MoreWine's writeup on SO2 Management, I calculated that I needed about 25PPM free SO2 based on the pH of 3.24, which my Pinot Gris tested at using a digital...

Probably could have saved some money from the above links, but I ended up buying mine from More Wine: http://morewinemaking.com/products/glass-marbles-topping-3-lbs.html

Great, thanks for all the replies. I think I'm going to go the marble route to be on the safe side. I definitely don't want to run the risk of altering the profile, even by a little.

So I'm about to rack my Eclipse Barolo and realized that I don't have any Barolo to top up with. Obviously, the grocery stores around me don't carry anything of that variety and before I hit a liquor store, I figured I'd ask here....what do you guys normally top up with for this kit? I do have...

Thanks Mike. I'll admit, I have a lot of experience with reading test colors as I had a reef aquarium for ten years but reading the Accuvin was a pain in the ***...to where I was questioning my eyes, etc. I'll add 1/8 tsp for safe measure and will buy the A/O rig from Morewine. Thanks for...

Within the next week or so I plan on bottling my WinExpert Eclipse Merlot, which is my first batch of wine. Wanting to understand and learn more about the science of wine making, I bought a digital pH meter and an Accuvin free SO2 test kit. I calibrated the pH meter per the instructions using...

Thanks for all of the suggestions, greatly appreciated. I'll do some searching on best prices and make a move from there.

I'm getting all my stuff together for an Eclipse Pinot Gris and I'm wondering what type of bottle to use. Commercially, I've seen Clarets in clear to Burgundys in clear or dead leaf....with and without a punt. So any recommendations on type and color or does it really boil down to personal...

Well after waiting a few days after not getting a reply back from Lafitte after me initial email, I gave them a call and received a call back from Nate relatively quickly and started the process. We had to work through some issues with the proof as it wasn't the quality I expected for a proof...

I contacted Winexpert a few months back about this very topic. Their response was, under optimal cellar conditions...3-4 years max. I plan on taking at least one of my bottles of Stag's Leap to 5 years, just to taste if it's gone downhill. This is assuming I have the willpower and don't...

Yep, no dice.