Other Festa Juice?

[Brewgrrrl]

Has anyone here made wine using Festa juice? It's from a Canadian winery/wine juice supplier in Ontario called Magnotta. I ask because I'm in Michigan (close to Canada!) and I met a local wine guy this past weekend who's going to be opening a store here and selling this brand of juice. I picked up a 6 gallon pail of Sangiovese that was already infused with yeast (this is how it is sold - they drop the temp down to keep the juice from fermenting until you buy it). Even though the wine was less than 40' when I bought it and my house is only about 68', the juice was popping away within three hours of bringing it home and it was fermenting fast within about six hours. I had poured it into a six and a half gallon glass carboy because I can't keep pail lids loose in my house (cats - need I say more), so it was well aerated but that's the only "work" I've done so far. Easy cheesy.

Anyway, it smells great and the fermentation is really healthy. I was wondering if anyone here has used Festa juice before and if so, how they compare to other full juice wines/kits out there...? I tasted some of the must that this guy had brought to the farmer's market and the juice tasted fantastic so I have high hopes that this will produce a very nice wine.

 

[Wade E]

A local retailer sells them and has made a few. Ive only tasted 1 which was a Pinot Grig in which he lightly sweetened and it was very good but white wines dont make a good judge of what a wine kit is capable of like a big red does IMO.

 

[Waldo]

Brewgrrrl, where the heck are your pitures?
Looks like they also offer a selection with skins too from the info on their web site.
May be another linefor George to look at

 

[cpfan]

There is a Magnotta location not too far from me (30-40 minutes?). I just bottled a Festa Brew kit (ie beer), but it won't be ready to try for a few more days. It's 23 litres of wort plus yeast. No boiling or other brewing.


They seem to have 3 lines of Juices. The 23 litre (ie 6 US gallon) pastuerized kits. The 21 litre fresh juice kits. And 21 litre fresh juice with skins. The last two are available while supplies last at this time of year.


I haven't made any of them, and the store staff weren't to helpful. It is a winery store mostly, and most kits need to be ordered in. I was going to try one of the fresh juices, but realized that I only had 23 litre carboys, and didn't feel lilke buying a 19 litre one. I'm trying to get one on Freecycle without any luck so far.


Steve

 

[Brewgrrrl]

Yes, this local guy is going to sell the beer kits too - great price for 6 gallons of beer, if it tastes good. I like to get my hands into the actual brewing so I probably wouldn't do those unless I had a big party coming up and needed a quick 6 gallons of beer.


This local guy has been making wine from this juice for 8 years and he seemed very excited about becoming a retailer for them here in the States. He was very enthusiastic about the product and, knowing who he's made wine for in this area, I felt confident thatthis juicewould make, at the worst, decent wine.

I hope he decides to carry the juice with the skins. I was actually going to call him today anyway because I can't believe how fast the wine juice started up and how great the fermentation smells. I'll have to ask him about the juice with skins...


Waldo - I took pictures and didn't have time to post them yet. I'll try and do that tonight.


The only potential hurdle I think you'd have to getting these in TX is that, because they are already infused with yeast, they have to be stored and shipped at a very low temperature. I have to say though, that method seems to create the ultimate "yeast starter" - with no trauma to the yeast from temperature change, since the must warms up gradually and the yeast are already in it (as opposed to dumping them in the midst of a must that's a different temp). The yeasties in my batch are having a major party right now.

 

[Brewgrrrl]

Okay, I just realized that I didn't get a picture of the actual pail, but this is the Festa juice as it entered my home:

I siphoned it into a six and a half gallon carboy due to the previously mentioned cat infestation. This also aerated the must really well.

The juice looks great and the fermentation is well on its way! I'm sitting next to it while I'm typing this and it's just popping away, at a rate of about two airlock "pops" per second!

 

[Brewgrrrl]

To clarify: I siphoned about 1/2 the must so I could lift the rest safely and dump it in using a funnel. THAT aerated the must really well!

 

[nursejohn]

Looks great. Wish we had "smell-o-vision"

.

 

[Brewgrrrl]

Me too - it really smells good.


I talked with the juice supplier and he said that he is still trying to get FDA approval to import the fresh juice with the skins. Apparently, they would let him import juice, they would let him import skins in bulk (hmmm - that might be nice to buy separately), but somehow importing fresh juice WITH skins is different.

He added that, as a consumer, I could drive to Canada, purchase these kits and bring them back for personal use, but he can't even bring back a few as a retailer. The closest place I could get them is about four hours away... so hopefully he'll get FDA approval to import them!

 

[Waldo]

Looks might good Brewgrrrl.Great color. Did you perchance sneak a taste ?

 

[Brewgrrrl]

I did indeed, Waldo! Very full fruity flavor - I think it's going to be delicious, but I'll post notes when it's done.