I have a million questions and am a newbie here.

[hayseedjim]

So far I have made a Merlot-Cabernet and a Pinot-Noir from kits. They turned out to be pretty good,(only aged for two months) and now they are gone! Since then I have made a 6 gallon Blackberry (60%)- Raspberry (40%), harsh but delicious,( need patience to let it age), a 5 gallon Peach, a 5 gallon Peach/Raison,(both of which taste terrible), a 5 gallon Black Plum, a 6 gallon Blackberry, a 5 gallon Blackberry/Raison, another Pinot-Noir (kit), a Shiraz (kit) and one more 5 gallon Blackberry (Fermenting). All of these are still in carboys. As you can probably see, I am not one who slowly starts a project. So here come the questions that I have. You don't need to answer them all- only the ones that you are pretty sure of the answers.
1) If the kit wine is still fermenting after the alloted time for the next step- do you proceed as per the directions, or do you let it continue fermenting?
2) Do you allow a carboy of wine to continue to ferment- or do you stop it at a certain point? (SG).
4)Is it a common practice to blend wines?
5)If you start a fruit wine-can you treat it like a kit wine and add the same ingredients (chemicals) to speed up the process?
Thanks for your input.
Jim
P.S.
I still have a million more questions!!!

 

[Luc]

2) Do you allow a carboy of wine to continue to ferment- or do you stop it at a certain point? (SG).
4)Is it a common practice to blend wines?
Jim
P.S.
I still have a million more questions!!!

Welcome to the forum Jim.

I have 2 answers for you, and as I am not a kit wine
maker and so I do not have any experience with them I will not comment on kits or their methods.

2) Always let your carboys ferment out and then take the next step.
4) If you have 2 good wines but they miss something you can blend them
If you have 2 bad wines and blend them they will not get
any better.
If you blend a good wine with a mediocre the wine will be at best mediocre.

You can blend a good wine with low acid with a good wine with high acid to level the acid.
Same goes for dry and sweet wines.

It is also common to blend 2 or more kinds of fruit like blackberry and elderberry (delicious).

Luc

 

[hayseedjim]

Peach wine

Hi Luc,
Thanks for answering a couple of questions for me. I am assuming that you make mostly fruit wines. I made two batches of peach wine and they smell yeasty and taste bitter. When I made them, I didn't use a straining bag- but rather poured the contents thru a sieve into the carboy where I let it sit for about five weeks. Did I perhaps let it stand in the lee for too long, causing the off smell and bitter taste?
Thanks.
Jim

 

[Luc]

When did you make this wine ??

Most times yeasty taste and bitterness will dissappear with aging.

Most wines are aged a year before being drinkable.

Luc

 

[hayseedjim]

Made in August

Thanks for the info, maybe not all is lost. I made the peach wine in August at the height of the peach crop here in Washington State, USA.
I like to taste the wine that I use when checking for SG. Trying to get a feel or taste of what it starts as and what it finishes as. I plan on aging my wines for a year.
Jim