help again - - -

[rrawhide]

Hi all



I am about 10 days away from bottling the IM White Merlot and the IM
Wildberry Shiriz. I kinda sneaked a sample of each today and they
sure are sweet. Will the sweet kinda soften or what it is - is
what it is? I also realized that I made a mistake on the White
Merlot - got in a hurry and racked off the lees before I fined and
stablized. (guess I read the instructions after the fact - good
learning curve though). What happens now? Is this shot or
will it be ok? Can I add something or keep racking and hope it
clears or should I add super-clear or or or? The Wildberry sure
has great flavors but the Merlot , well? Do the IM products age
at all or because of the low alcohol what it is is what it is?
Any assistance will be appreciated. Thanx.

rrawhide

 

[smurfe]

I have only made one Island Mist kit so I really can't comment on the flavors. In regards to racking off the lees, go ahead and add the stabilizing agents and the clearing agents as instructed. It ought to clear OK. It will probably clear fine. It may take a bit longer but it should clear up for you.


I have heard quite a few say that the do improve with a little age but with the lower alcohol content they are made to be drank up faster. They will need a bit of time to get over the bottle shock when bottled.One thingI do to curb the sweetness and they actually taste better IMHOis to serve them ice cold and or over ice. I have ony had the fruity white zin though.

 

[grapeman]

The IM Wildberry Shiraz does improve some more with age. At close to a year it is outstanding, even for a sweet wine. The flavors really come though. I've never made the White Merlot so not sure about that. If it doesn't clear within a month, I would certainly try the SuperKleer.

 

[Wade E]

I have made quite a few of these kits and my friend makes them to and we switch bottles so there are only 2 I haven't tried and those are bulk aging a little right now. Did you stabilize them both before adding f-packs? They do get a little better with a little bit of age but don't recommend going to much past 1 year as the lower abv will peak and start digressing. They really wont become less sweet but will smooth out very little. This is why some of us add sugar to the kit( voiding warranty) to up the alc. for aging and cutting the sweetness some. I have the Watermelon white merlot in carboy and am drinking a bottle of the wildberry shiraz as we speak as my friend gave me a bottle of this 2 days ago and its been in the fridge chilling!I think it is a nice 1 but still think the green apple and the peach apricot are the best followed by th blackberry merlot.
Edited by: wade

 

[grapeman]

Wade did you ever do the Kiwi Pear Sauvignon? My sisters love it, but it's way too sweet for me - very fruity and flavorful.

 

[Wade E]

That is 1 of the 1's Ive not yet tried and why I dont know cause I really love pear and the scratch batch of Pear was 1 of the bestt wines Ive ever made so it will happen.