I have a FWK chard in bulk now. Got another month till I rack and bottle. I’ll post up here with a tasting before it hits the bottle.
I still buy WE Chards. To me, they don’t suffer the kit taste problems that the reds do. Ymmv.
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I still buy WE Chards. To me, they don’t suffer the kit taste problems that the reds do. Ymmv.
Haven't made the FWK Chardonnay, only the Sauvignon Blanc four times, which is really good. They're 40% off right now, so that's a good time to try.
Started my FWK Grenache Rose yesterday / today. Its my first experience with carbon and thanks to past posts & Bryan I was extremely careful to avoid the carbon dust disaster. I'm at 1.090 sg and according to the instructions it should be 1.070 - 1.080 and I was at 6 gallons exactly. Made the yeast starter yesterday and pitched this afternoon.
The must is dark! Guessing the carbon and bentonite makes it even darker. Guessing it will be fall before I get my first taste.
The must is dark! Guessing the carbon and bentonite makes it even darker. Guessing it will be fall before I get my first taste.
I received my first FWK kit of Pinot Noir -forte series late (~7:30 pm) on 3/10. Pitched yeast a bit early on 3/11 as work was kind of slow so I had time to do so. Had a SG of 1.108 per my measurement. That yeast starter is no joke at starting a colony. Already happily fermenting away.
I started my Grenache Rose in October 2022. Bottled last month. Had a bottle or two so far. It's good even young. It's finishes with a beautiful salmon color.
Oh that is great news. I already have my bottles ready and its on day 2 of fermentation. Yep, a bit excited about this!
Just bottled last year’s Bordeaux… wow! Sonoma Forte on the way to fill the gap.
I spent a little time in the cellar on Sunday afternoon - cleaned up from Saturday's Cab Sauv racking, then capsuled and labeled three wines - the Grenache, a Merlot and a Petit Sirah. I fought the urge to bottle the Luna Bianca and the FWK Forte Bordeaux. Maybe in a couple weeks.
Sampled the Petit Sirah and the Merlot on Sunday night with dinner. Young, but very drinkable. The FWK Forte Merlot had a slight menthol back to it. Not sure what that was about. It dissipated after about an hour or so.
Sampled the Petit Sirah and the Merlot on Sunday night with dinner. Young, but very drinkable. The FWK Forte Merlot had a slight menthol back to it. Not sure what that was about. It dissipated after about an hour or so.
Bottled my 2021 Bordeaux on the 4th. i‘ve made it as an early drinker before and it was great. This one was a double batch that got the full Forte treatment with 4 weeks of EM and 14 months bulk aging. It is very good but I’m going let it age in the bottle for some months now..
I started a FWK Pinot Noir Forte six days ago on 3/10/2023 at 1.108 SG. It hit 1.000 on 3/15. It was a very active fermentation early on. When I was punching down the seed packs it sounded like I had opened an air hose under water with fine bubbles coming to the surface in a constant foam.
I have been very impressed with the Pinot Noir's aroma, and am looking forward to the mandatory quality control checks.
I have been very impressed with the Pinot Noir's aroma, and am looking forward to the mandatory quality control checks.
Since I had Friday off and an entire weekend of not going anywhere, I did some work in the wine room - processed some bottles, bottled about 22 gallons of wine (11 gallons each of the Bordeaux blend and a WE Luna Bianca). Gave me an opportunity to do some tasting.
I tasted the Bordeaux Blend, the Sonoma Blend, the Northern Rhone Blend and the WE Luna Bianca.
The Luna was its usual pleasant self. No surprises there (which is a really good thing, btw). It's about 5 months old and made its way to the bottle during some down time yesterday. 11 gallons gave me about 56 bottles.
The Forte Bordeaux blend was surprisingly sedate. Tasted fine and pretty well smoothed out. But I was expecting more dark berry than I got. Then again, it could be just the ebb and flow. The wine is about 9 months old, and I added oak in the secondary. I lost a bottle when I moved the wine off the floor and into the rack (slipped out of my hand and broke on the concrete floor). I'll leave it be for a few months before sampling it again.
The Forte Sonoma Blend was a bit brighter. It's only about 5 months old and there's a lot of big wine blended in here (Zin, PS and Syrah). So, it's got a little ways to go to wear the rough edges. I've got 12 gallons of that.
The surprise of the reds was the Northern Rhone Blend. This is the Syrah with a bit of Chardonnay and Riesling. A happy wine with a big, round dark fruit taste. Very young at only 4 months old (it's sitting on oak now). I will likely rack it and get it in the bottle in another 3 months. I didn't know what to expect with this one and only got a 6 gallon kit. I may need to get more.
I tasted the Bordeaux Blend, the Sonoma Blend, the Northern Rhone Blend and the WE Luna Bianca.
The Luna was its usual pleasant self. No surprises there (which is a really good thing, btw). It's about 5 months old and made its way to the bottle during some down time yesterday. 11 gallons gave me about 56 bottles.
The Forte Bordeaux blend was surprisingly sedate. Tasted fine and pretty well smoothed out. But I was expecting more dark berry than I got. Then again, it could be just the ebb and flow. The wine is about 9 months old, and I added oak in the secondary. I lost a bottle when I moved the wine off the floor and into the rack (slipped out of my hand and broke on the concrete floor). I'll leave it be for a few months before sampling it again.
The Forte Sonoma Blend was a bit brighter. It's only about 5 months old and there's a lot of big wine blended in here (Zin, PS and Syrah). So, it's got a little ways to go to wear the rough edges. I've got 12 gallons of that.
The surprise of the reds was the Northern Rhone Blend. This is the Syrah with a bit of Chardonnay and Riesling. A happy wine with a big, round dark fruit taste. Very young at only 4 months old (it's sitting on oak now). I will likely rack it and get it in the bottle in another 3 months. I didn't know what to expect with this one and only got a 6 gallon kit. I may need to get more.
This time, last year, FWK were in short supply. It appears they're clearing the warehouse for the next round. Kits are widely available until March, then the supply drops.
The northern Rhône blend, the Pinot Noir and the Petite Sirah - all very good. If there are any left, money we’ll spent.
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Just got an email from LabelPeelers that the FWK Chardonnay and Peach Apricot Mist Wine Kits that I ordered have shipped, should be here tomorrow or the next day. This is my first white FWK. I'll probably make it pretty well to instructions, charcoal and all that fun stuff. Interested to see if the whites are as outstanding as the red kits are. I might add just a bit of lemon or grapefruit zest to secondary.
The Peach Apricot is one I often have on hand, it will get bumped up to 10-12% ABV. Everybody loves it and thinks you are a great wine-maker with that one.
I have been doing a drug research thing for experimental RSV vaccines based on the same technology as the Covid shots and you get paid. One shot, push some buttons on an app once a week, make about $500 (or something like that) so I got to spend some of that.
The Peach Apricot is one I often have on hand, it will get bumped up to 10-12% ABV. Everybody loves it and thinks you are a great wine-maker with that one.
I have been doing a drug research thing for experimental RSV vaccines based on the same technology as the Covid shots and you get paid. One shot, push some buttons on an app once a week, make about $500 (or something like that) so I got to spend some of that.
I was watching a review of FWK on YouTube. I’ve watched this guy’s videos before. He seems to know what he’s talking about for the most part. But as he’s reviewing the kit, one of his complaints related to the skins.
He said he wished the skin bags were labeled so he could be sure that the skins matched the varietal. He went on to say that a wine gets most of its flavor from the skins and that it’s important that a kit contain varietal matching skins.
I had to hit pause right there.
Do they??? Do they really????
I had to think back. In the dozens of kits I’ve done, I can’t honestly say I’ve ever been sure of what varietal my skins were. Skins add body, color, and tannin. But varietal flavor? I just flat out disagree.
Is it me?
He said he wished the skin bags were labeled so he could be sure that the skins matched the varietal. He went on to say that a wine gets most of its flavor from the skins and that it’s important that a kit contain varietal matching skins.
I had to hit pause right there.
Do they??? Do they really????
I had to think back. In the dozens of kits I’ve done, I can’t honestly say I’ve ever been sure of what varietal my skins were. Skins add body, color, and tannin. But varietal flavor? I just flat out disagree.
Is it me?
I believe I have watched the same video as you. That statement seemed odd to me as well.
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I think that statement is what I would call opinion, not fact. I'm almost certain that every wine kit comes with Merlot skins. That's one of those things I read somewhere, sometime. If it absolutely mattered the manufacturer wouldn't do that.
Ohio Bob
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The juice provides the flavor, not the skins, IMO. Skin contact is a very short time in the life of a wine.
But would everyone agree the skins do add to the overall production of the wine? Definitely worth having skins vs not having skins in either the Forte or Tavola?
My Tavola Syrah and Forte Pinot Noir arrived yesterday and I started the PN Forte with double skins & seeds mainly because I have never used either of them.
My Tavola Syrah and Forte Pinot Noir arrived yesterday and I started the PN Forte with double skins & seeds mainly because I have never used either of them.
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