Mosti Mondiale Initial Kit Aroma Comparison

[fiat84]

Hi:



Made my first Mosti kits and was surprised at the lack of grape aroma
initially from the All Juice 23L pails/Renaissance kits compared to the
RJS Cellar Classic Shiraz and Cab/Shiraz kits. Have taken the leap of
faith with Mosti products based on George's feedback and the great
reviews here. These are my initial observations before adding the
yeast which I hope is related to each companies different kit making
process.



Controlled taste test comparison ready in two years:


1 - RJS Cellar Classic Shiraz(Started Dec. 18/07) - huge grape aroma


1 - RJS Cellar Classic Cab/Shiraz(Started Dec. 18/07) - huge grape aroma



2 - All Juice 23L pails Amarone(had one packet of oak)(Started Jan. 4/08) - faint aroma

1 - Renaissance Aussy Cab/Shiraz(Started Jan. 4/08) - no aroma

1 - Renaissance Amarone(had two packets of oak)(Started Feb. 7/08) faint aroma

1 - Renaissance Aussy Shiraz(Started Feb. 7/08) - no aroma

1 - Vinifera Noble Sauv. Blanc(Started Feb. 7/08) - apple juice aroma. Plastic bag had this black sludge with large
brown crystals like wine diamonds in it, no response from Mosti to my emails, has anyone else ever had this?



Note: The Mosti's have developed aroma as they have fermented, wow the 23L
Amarone pails really foam up compared to the concentrate kits.





Have had great success with RJS Cellar Classic products but the price
differential in my area has become too extreme. Am hoping the Mosti
products are better than the Cellar Classic's but will be happy if they
are at least equal. In two years will post the taste test results.

 

[Dean]

Those crystals are bitartrate crystal, otherwise known as wine diamonds. I get those in all the higher end grape pack kits, and in *ALL* my real grape wines as well, especially my whites. They can fall out of solution even before the juice is fermented. I would think during shipping of that box, it got cold and stabilized a little during its journey to your store.

It should not affect the finished product.

 

[Wade E]

As far as comparing aromas, are you smelling them right from the kit bag and tasting them from the bag or after you have mixed the RJS with water. If you are smelling and tasting right out of the bag then the RJS will win as its concentrated. Its kind of like comparing a bottle of fresh squeezed O.J. versus a can of frozen concentrate, the concentrate will have more smell and more flavor but which 1 do you think will taste better?

 

[geocorn]

I have found that the All Juice/Renaissance products need at least 6 months bottle aging before they really start to develop. We opened a Renaissance Carmenere at Christmas that we had last tried during the summer. We were not pleased on the last tasting and were not expecting much at Christmas, but we were amazingly surprised. I am now telling customers to NOT buy an All Juice or Renaissance if they do not plan to let it sit for at least a year; otherwise, they are wasting their money and should buy a Winexpert kit instead.

 

[fiat84]

Thanks for the feedback.

Out of curiosity tonight we opened a Mosti Fresh Juice pail of Red Zinfandel bottled in November 14, 2007 and were impressed at how good it was after three months. Full body, pleasant aroma's, nice slightly peppery taste, interesting mouth feel, still a bit green but much smoother than expected this early. This is a very high quality Red Zinfandel that will be very good next Christmas. It still amazes me how wine can transform with aging into something magical.

 

[Travisty]

I have found that the All Juice/Renaissance products need at least 6 months bottle aging before they really start to develop.

George, Do you mean bottle aging separate from bulk aging? We are bulk aging a Renaissance Chilean Malbec for 6-9 months and were hoping to enjoy it come Christmas time. Should we shoot for more like 5 or 6 months so that the wine can age at least 6 months in the bottle or does the bulk aging take care of that?

 

[Wade E]

Wine will age faster in a bottle which is not always good. If you have good cellar conditions then a few months bulking is sufficient just to be sure there are no more lees dropping and this also gives the wine time for gather complexity. Make sure you get the wine bottled a few months ahead of time so that the wine rids itself of bottle shock.

 

[uavwmn]

George, so with "ALL" AJ kits it would be better to wait a year to open a bottle?
Will be bottling the AJ Amaronne this weekend.

 

[smurfe]

I for one am pleased with the lack of "grape" aroma of the Mosti kits. I just racked both my kits, the Master's Edition Carmenere Mondiale and the Original All Juice Montepulciano and find both of them to have their own distinct aroma. Itwasn't powerful but very noticeable.Each is very close to the description in the catalog.


I found this impossible with the Wine Expert kits until they had been bottled or aged at least a year. They smelled exactly alike to me. Both of these kits were started the end of September 2007 and are still bulk aging in the carboy.

 

[geocorn]

That appears to be the case, but we need more bench trials on each kit to say for sure. We have found the Master's drink pretty good without much aging. Don't ask me why!

 

[fiat84]

Quality Update on the Renaissance Aussy Shiraz:

We literally had an "ah-ha" tasting experience with a wonderful transformation in the Renaissance Aussy Shiraz(started Feb. 7/08 with two of the Mosti red wine raisin packs, bottled May 20/08). It is finally opening up into a good spicy Shiraz and now has developed more mouth feel, body, and is much better than in the previous tastings. Was a bit concerned about the switch over to Mosti products due to this Shiraz kit but not anymore as it comparatively needed more aging time to develop.

And last week we had a tasting party which included opening the very first bottle of a 15 month bottle aged Cellar Classic Winery Series Merlot. This Merlot was equal to or only slightly better than the 12 month bottle aged Renaissance Barolo, Renaissance Rio Grande Rojo(Merlot, Cab Sauv, Carmenere blend George likes), 16 month bottle aged All Juice Amarone, and a 22 month old fresh juice California Petit Syrah/Cab Sauv blend. Consensus was these were all quality wines with each chosen as a favorite by someone in the tasting group. The biggest testament to the high quality was that none of the wines were singled out as being significantly better or worse than the others.

 

[grilljockey]

I've only 7 kits under my belt so far (2 of which are still bulk aging). I have done one Heron Bay, 3 Cellar Craft Showcases, 2 Mosti Mondiale (an AJ and a Masters), and one RJS Cellar Classic (Supertuscan). By far the best nose on an early view is the RJS. My Supertuscan is only 3-4 months from starting, but the nose is huge, with lots of spice and pepper, and no 'fake fruity' flavor going on. No clue how it will hold up in both the short and long term, but I'm as encouraged as I have been with any other kit so far on this one.

 

[fiat84]

Aging the big red kits two or three years results in a tasting treat compared to drinking them young. The quality transformation is amazing with a well aged wine. Am having a hard time waiting for these Mosti kits to fully mature with the regular "samplings" we have been having.

To help out we have another Mosti Renaissance Barolo kit and after reading some great 2008/2009 Chilean wine grape harvest reviews bought two Chilean Renaissance Carmenere(like a bigger Merlot) kits. Planning not to sample these for at least two years.

The RJ Cellar Classic kits are very good and I love their Shiraz.