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Amen! So far I have bottle aged all my wines. I have several batches including a RMC that are now aged a little over four years and they are great! I think they'll safely age even a few more years...

Good on you!! Personally, I don't think you will have a problem with the Island Mist storage. It's not really designed for long term storage so it will probably be good by the time you drink it no matter how you store it. With the Merlot you will certainly want to store it properly for at...

Yes, I have sampled the wines over time and found that while they most certainly are drinkable and taste OK early, the heavy deep reds that I enjoy really didn't start to take on that wonderful complex flavor until after two-three years of cellaring and even more so after four years. I am...

I made my first batch of wine four years ago (all deep dark reds) and I'm just now starting to drink them four years later. I also don't have a basement so I bought two 75 bottle wine refrigerators and filled them with my wines, all from various kit manufacturers, and stored them undisturbed at...

The very first wine I made was two years ago, A Cellar Craft Showcase Cabernet. Since then I have made five more kit wines from CC, MM, and RJS. My wines:

When I fortified my La Bodega last summer I wrote my own Excel spreadsheet for calculating Fortification. I used a half and half mix of XO flavored Everclear and VSOP brandy. I used formulas that I found here...

I made a fortified La Bodega this summer - it turned out marvelous. After fermentation I clarified then put it on oak for a month (I like oak). I racked to the bottling bucket then added the fpack and fortification. I fortified with three cups of Everclear flavored with Liquor Quik XO brandy...

George, I appreciate your input! Maybe I am making a mistake, don't know yet..... I read that other guys thread and his comment that the La Bodega was more along the line of a "Late Bottle Vintage" port and he was trying to push it more toward the "Tawny Port" style with tweaks. I'm also a...

The specific gravity of the must after all the additions and prior to pitching the yeast was 1.124 that equates to ~16% potential alcohol if fermented to dry. I wrote an excel spread sheet using adaptations of the formulas found here http://www.finevinewines.com/August_2009.html#LETTER.BLOCK9...

I'll see if I can find the thread that piqued my interest but here's what I'm going to try: I added the mush from three ripened then frozen and thawed bananas to the fermenter bucket before I added the juice. I added one Cabernet grape pack. I also added about 3/4 Tbsp of Tartaric acid. Original...

I just started the MM La Bodega last Saturday - I think it's going to be very good. I'm modifying it a bit with some tweaks I found on another forum. It's smelling great and is now just about ready for the first racking.

Pictures of my wine and beer making experiences.

Looks good. I have to agree on those gold shrink caps. Being new to this hobby I've only bottled three batches now and the shrink caps all came out fine, but they weren't the gold ones. Yesterday I bottled a CC Yakima Valley Syrah and used gold shrinks - they didn't come out nearly as nice as...

Well, being a newbie myself I'm not sure - but here's some stuff I found.... http://www.nanaimowinemakers.org/Steps/H2S_Issues.htm

OK - I'm a newbie here, what are biolees???

I'm up in Prescott....

Thank you all for the welcome. This is going to be fun!!!

Yeah, I think you do get what you pay for. I like the CC Showcase but I'm finding it a bit thin which is why I alluded to the MM Meglioli. I'm thinking of doing a MM Original Petite Syrah, bottling it then blending it after uncorking with the CC wines to give them a bit more body - do you...

Well it's day two and it is fermenting very well, nothing blowing out the top - yet.... I think I'll cross my fingers and hope it all stays in the bucket! I have just finished three CC Showcase kits and they didn't fill the bucket quite that full. I think I like the MM 23 liter offerings...

Sure, now I read this thread..... I just pitched the yeast on a Meglioli Old Vine Zin and I thought that 7.9 bucket looked a little full.....