My Introduction

[Pittsburgh127]

Hello Everyone.

My name is Tim and I live in Pittsburgh, PA. I started making wine and brewing beer back in the early 90's but drifted away from the hobby for many years. Now that I have more time in my life I'm getting back into it and enjoying it immensely. So far I have fermented and bottled a Wine Expert Vinter's Reserve Pinot Grigio and Cabernet Sauvignon and an Eclipse Sonoma Pinot Noir. I just bottled an RJ Spagnols Cellar Classic Cab Sav and have a Cellar Classic Pinot Grigio currently clarifying. The first 2 batches were bottled back in early April and we're just starting to drink them. The Pinot Grigio is very good and exceeded my expectations. The Cab is OK, but I think it really needs to age more. I opened a bottle of the Eclipse Pinot Noir last night, which was bottled in May. I wanted to wait a year, but I couldn't take it any longer. It was superb. It will definitely benefit from many more months of aging, but it is very drinkable right now and I wouldn't hesitate to serve it to some of my wine snob friends.

So, now I'm contemplating what to make next. I have a 1200 bottle wine cellar that has a lot of empty space in it, so I need to get busy.

Any suggestions?

--

Tim

 

[Julie]

Hi Tim,

Welcome to winemakingtalk. There are a handful of us who live in and near Pittsburgh. Have you thought of doing any juice buckets. Consumers and Premier on The Strip have juice buckets for sale. If you haven't tried a Malbec you should think about that one. My Cab took a good year before it was good enough to drink.

 

[tanddc]

Tim,

Welcome aboard. Sounds like you already have a lot more experience in wine making than I do so the only advise I have is don't pick the Steelers over the Bengals.

Cincinnati Tim

 

[heatherd]

Welcome Tim!

Some batches to consider:
Zinfandel
Super tuscan
Merlot

Heather


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Makin

 

[Runningwolf]

welcome aboard!

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome, Tim!

 

[Rocky]

Hi Tim and welcome aboard. You have been a very busy guy! I see you have made some wines that are 16 liter kits and some that are 10 liter kits (talking about the amount of concentrate in the kit). I believe what you are seeing in the tastes that you have taken so far is that reds of the 10 liter variety tend to be thin and somewhat disappointing. The Eclipse kit will not disappoint. You can get away with white kits of lesser amounts of concentrate but still I would recommend 16 liter kits for everything and reds with a grape pack.

What part of the 'Burgh? I live in Ohio but was born and raised in Forest Hills.

 

[peaches9324]

welcome tim

 

[bkisel]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[vernsgal]

Welcome to WMT Tim

 

[barbiek]

guess I should announce myself. Not that new to wine making or this forum. I really enjoy reading and learning from all the post here. What a GREAT community you have here! I am in the midst of constructing trellis of table grapes, wine grapes, blueberry and raspberry separate trellis systems of course. I'm located in northern ohio and am a true farm girl "always digging in the dirt" lol I think the dirt makes my nails grow!

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome to you, barbiek. Even though you posted this, there is no law against starting YOUR OWN intro thread! You may get a little more traffic that way....

 

[Pittsburgh127]

Hi Tim and welcome aboard. You have been a very busy guy! I see you have made some wines that are 16 liter kits and some that are 10 liter kits (talking about the amount of concentrate in the kit). I believe what you are seeing in the tastes that you have taken so far is that reds of the 10 liter variety tend to be thin and somewhat disappointing. The Eclipse kit will not disappoint. You can get away with white kits of lesser amounts of concentrate but still I would recommend 16 liter kits for everything and reds with a grape pack.

What part of the 'Burgh? I live in Ohio but was born and raised in Forest Hills.

Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head. I'll probably stick with the Vinter's Reserve for the Pinot Grigio, but something better for future reds.

I live on Mt Washington, overlooking downtown Pittsburgh. I moved back to the city from semi-rural suburbia a few years ago and I'm loving being back in the city.

 

[tiMcC]

welcome to the forum
I also live in mt. Washington just pass monteray bay
what area do you live in
tim

 

[Pittsburgh127]

welcome to the forum
I also live in mt. Washington just pass monteray bay
what area do you live in
tim

Right between McArdle road and the Le Mont.

 

[francois_du_nord]

Howdy Tim, Howdiy BarbieK,

We're glad to have you both aboard. Keep us in formed as to what you are up to.

Tim, sounds like you've been busy. I've just started my 8th kit since June. Only have 2 kits in bottles thus far however. Getting anxious to try some of the fruits of my labor. Like you I've got kits across a range of the quality spectrum. I've got a half dozen high end kits underway so that I've got some time to let them age and now starting to kick off some quicker ones.

Best Fran

 

[Pittsburgh127]

Welcome Tim!

Some batches to consider:
Zinfandel
Super tuscan
Merlot

Heather

Thanks for the suggestions, Heather. I just racked an Eclipse Old Vines Zinfandel into the carboy for secondary fermentation. And, thinking some sort of big fat Italian red should be the next one. Ever since watching Sideways, I can't drink merlot for some reason.

 

[heatherd]

Old vine zinfandel is a good one! For a big Italian red, there are a bunch: Amarone, Barolo, Primitivo, and Super Tuscan. Not Italian, but lots of folks on the forum like Petit Verdot.

 

[Jericurl]

Welcome!

You are in good hands here.

(also, we may NEED to see pictures of your wine cellar. Cellar porn is always appreciated around here)

 

[Pittsburgh127]

Tim,

Welcome aboard. Sounds like you already have a lot more experience in wine making than I do so the only advise I have is don't pick the Steelers over the Bengals.

Cincinnati Tim

Ahem! Yeah, well. Ah! LOL