Rocky said:
Just an update on the vitals: SG is up to 1.110+, wine temp is 76 degrees F and ambient temp is 74 degrees F. Those raisins added some appreciable sugar to the wine.
Dancer, when you say "barely drinkable" could you elaborate on just what you mean? Is it, "Yuck, this is really (what?...fill in the blank)." Maybe I don't have the sophisticated discernment that others do, but I have made several wines since January this year and we have drunk a little of all of them. There is no danger of them making "Wine Spectator's" list, but they are certainly "drinkable."
Also, when I de-gas my wine, I move them to a primary fermenter and use the stirrer on my electric drill. In this way, there is no danger of the "wine volcano" and I feel I get a full de-gassing. Lastly, I get very little to no tart taste in my reds.
I am just complaining (pouting is a better word) because I recently discovered some of my first kits were still full of CO2 in the bottle. I thought I beat that CO2 to death until the battery in my drill ran down. Not so!
There is no sophisticated discernment here, just a personal preference concerning the drinkability of avery young red wine, that's all. Sophisticated?? Have you ever went to a wine tasting where you are supposed to guess the variety of the winethat comes fromseveral bottles, eachshielded in a paper bag? I had gotten where I thought I could "reasonably" tell what was what. I think I got 2 out of6 right!!! OneI got right was a Riesling. Well, that's because of the shape of the bottle. Not exactly a sophisticate, yet!!!
Drinkable to me means the tartness of a very young wine has gone.
Further, I guess "drinkable" would mean to me that if compared to a $12 commercial wine, which IMOthere are many that are not that bad, my wine would not have that tartness that most young red wines have for the first 18 months or so. Typically, a two year old commercial wine has smoothed out so you can get the full aroma and with the taste, youget all the subtle flavors, even if you can't name them. Of course in most cases those aromas and flavors will get even better with more time.
IMO, a two year old wine certainly may get much better over more time, but it no longer has that tartness. As an example, a $10 bottle of McManis Cab. Not a great wine, but drank side-by-side with a 2-month old cab would be much more fruity and very much less tart than the young wine.
If you are making some of the higher end kits, which I imagine you are (from this thread), I can't imaginethose reds, which you made since January,not beingpretty tart at this point in time. If you like them now, you are going to be pleasantly surprised if you keep some of them for a couple of years.
A good example IMO is the RJS Amarone you are making now. That is a very nice kit. Because of the raisins, right after clearing it is going totaste much more tart than a similar kit without raisins or grape pack, which comes in a smaller kit, likean eleven liter kit. The more total dissolved solids (TDS), the more tart the wine will be when young and the longer it will take for it to smooth out.
So, IMO, the less TDS, the sooner the tartness will go away. Such wines will peak sooner and not continue to get better and better with time.
In other words, most of the time, a high end red kit will require more aging to smooth out.
If you are going to drink your wines young, you would be better off buying the lower end reds, as they will get better sooner. They make some pretty good wine, too.
I am afraid thatyour RSJ Amarone kit will not fall into the early drinker category. My advice, once you bottle it, forget you have it for at least another18 months.
