spaniel
Senior Member
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2012
- Messages
- 370
- Reaction score
- 53
I just got back the judging sheets on my bronze medal Cayuga White from the Indianapolis International Wine Competition. While the overall scores between the 3 judges were close, I had to chuckle at the variability in judging the individual scores. That said, two of three agreed that the wine lacked a popping fruit character and I would agree that this matched my personal greatest negative critique of the wine.
So in preparation for improving my score next year, I am going to try three things:
1) Send them the "free run" wine vs the "pressed". AFTER I mailed the entry I decided the free run was better.![Frown :( :(](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
2) Harvest a bit earlier. Things were earlier last year, but I'm going to harvest the same date this year and bring things in a big younger this year to keep some of the fruit flavor with this grape.
3) -- the point of this thread -- the yeast. I keep hearing that 71B gives a fruitier wine. Anybody ever tried this vs Cotes des Blancs? That's what I used last year. I'm making the switch this year and interested in experiences. I got docked on both bouquet and flavor from a fruit perspective.
So in preparation for improving my score next year, I am going to try three things:
1) Send them the "free run" wine vs the "pressed". AFTER I mailed the entry I decided the free run was better.
2) Harvest a bit earlier. Things were earlier last year, but I'm going to harvest the same date this year and bring things in a big younger this year to keep some of the fruit flavor with this grape.
3) -- the point of this thread -- the yeast. I keep hearing that 71B gives a fruitier wine. Anybody ever tried this vs Cotes des Blancs? That's what I used last year. I'm making the switch this year and interested in experiences. I got docked on both bouquet and flavor from a fruit perspective.