Greeting from MI

[mikefrommichigan]

Hello everyone, I am new to wine making and I hope this forum can help me along my journey to making great wine.

I just bottled my first wine, the Cellar Craft Showcase Red Mountain Cabernet. I chose this wine because it had great reviews on the Northernbrewer web site. Not the best way to choose a kit but I had to start somewhere. It wasn’t until I started reading the posts on here that I realized that I should be aging this wine for at least a year or more to get the best out of it. This was a kit with I believe 20L of grape juice + skins + oak chips.

For my next wine I want to make a wine that I can drink sooner, so I would like some suggestions for wines or wine kits, that can be consumed after about 5 – 6 months and that do not need aging too long.

Am I better off going with a 7.5 or 10L wine concentrate kit for this?

Happy new Year to all,

Mike

 

[kryptonitewine]

Hi mike and welcome. I work in MI (new buffalo) but live in IN. You started out with a great kit! Mine is bulk aging but I won't bottle until next October. I haven't really done a red that I would recommend as a quick drinker but I'm sure someone will chime in.

A lot of us make dragons blood for a quickee. It's not what a lot of people would refer to as a typical wine but it is quick and most importantly tastee.

 

[Simpsini]

Mike - Welcome to the forum. I made the Cellar Craft Showcase Red Mountain Cabernet 2 years ago. Great wine. I have about 12 bottles left. As far as kits that you can drink early, you might want to try a white (Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc). Whites tend to drink better early ... however, my wife drinks the WE Eclipse Pinot Nior I make about one month after bottleing and she loves it. I don't bulk age it at all, I just follow the directions. It gets better with age, but 30 bottles only lasts me about 10 months. Need to make 2 kits next time.

 

[sour_grapes]

Faced with a similar situation, I opted for the Vintner's Reserve Mezza Luna Red. This is a 10-liter kit, and it gets good reviews. However, I did open one two months after bottling, and it was still quite young-tasting. I am going to try another bottle at 6 mos.

 

[vernsgal]

Welcome Mike. I did like Simpsini suggested and made 2(sometimes more) kits at a time. That way I could start sampling at 6 months and at a year still have some left
Now every 2 months I start a new one and always have a good selection come the 1 year mark

 

[cimbaliw]

Greetings from Grand Rapids. You anywhere close by?

 

[Dino466]

Bergamais is a good early red wine. Either Vintner's reserve or Winekitz traditional vintage. Or Vintner's Reserve Coastal Red. I like the Cheeky Monkey brand - good right away and better as time goes along.

 

[mikefrommichigan]

Thanks for all your replies, they give some great ideas to start my next batch.
I also want to try to support my LHBS so will see what they have in stock.
I will keep you updated on how it goes, and of course I will have lots of questions as I progress.

Cimbaliw – I live close to Brighton, about 2 hours East of you.

 

[mikefrommichigan]

I forgot to add that I had never heard of dragons blood, but will be sure to give it a try in the near future.

 

[ckvchestnut]

I forgot to add that I had never heard of dragons blood, but will be sure to give it a try in the near future.

Welcome to the forum Mike! You would get hundreds of comments here reassuring you that dragons blood is a good fast drinker! And when I say fast I meant fast - as in where did it all go?? I'm only on my 2nd 6gal batch but it is great!

 

[kevinlfifer]

WELCOME

Head down 23 to Dundee. They have concentrates that make pretty good early drinkable wine. I hope you saved and froze the skins from the red mt to use one more time. It's a trick that works well to beef up a cheaper kit.

homewinery.com they carry WE products as well.

I made the ruby red to 5 gal with grape skins and oak in Nov. Had the first bottle last night and was pleasantly suprised at how good it was, especially for $1.12/bottle.

If you do a Bergamais, use the 71b-1122 yeast. That promotes an early drink as well. Nouveau Beaujolais

 

[mikefrommichigan]

Thanks for the link to homewinery.com. Unfortunately I did not think about keeping the grape skins for re-use, but I will next time.

 

[winemaker_3352]

Welcome aboard!!!