Cellar Craft Rosso Fortisimo

[dangerdave]

I'm very excited about this one! My first high(er) end kit!

Got the kit in on Friday, October 12th, and dumped it immediately into the primary, added Merlot skins (directly to must, no mesh bag), added premium oak, and sprinkled the yeast on top. I'm letting this one stay cool (~68F)---no brew belt---so it will ferment nice and slow. Stirring daily.

Fermentation started on Saturday! It's bubbling gently, and smells wonderful. The difference in body is amazing in comparison to the lower end kits. Wow!

I'm getting me some juice buckets this week! I'm stoked for better wine!

 

[roger80465]

Dave, you will love Rosso Fortissimo. I just bottled mine and it is amazing. I'm going to have a hard time staying out of it. As a peace offering to my impatience, I have bottled 5 splits and have a couple full bottles that I am keeping on my active wine rack. The other 24 bottles is removed from sight for at least a year.......I hope.

 

[don67]

Dave, you will love Rosso Fortissimo. I just bottled mine and it is amazing. I'm going to have a hard time staying out of it. As a peace offering to my impatience, I have bottled 5 splits and have a couple full bottles that I am keeping on my active wine rack. The other 24 bottles is removed from sight for at least a year.......I hope.

I was turned onto this wine early in my winemaking career, but made the mistake of drinking it too soon. You're better off drinking 4-week wine kits for the first 8-10 months while your Rosso ages. (The cheaper kits mature quickly and can be enjoyed for what they are.) Then enjoy the Rosso as it surpasses the 1-year mark and really starts to open up.

This is the advice I was given in my early days, and looking back I wish I had heeded it. When I tasted my first sip of year-old Rosso I nearly cried.

 

[ibglowin]

Ferment to dry in the bucket Dave. That will give it maximum time on the skins. Make sure to snap the lid and add the airlock when it slows down to ~1.03 or so.

I would also warm it up a bit so you get better extraction from the skins. Cooler is not better in this instance!

 

[Wade E]

IMO the juice buckets are not as good as a high quality kit. Frozen must or grapes is the better step above quality kits.

 

[dangerdave]

@ roger and don: Agreed. I'm putting in a new rack in a lockable space beneath my basement stairs for this wine and others that I will keep out of sight and mind until next fall. My wife likes her cheap kits, and the skeeter pees. She hates (hates!) dry reds, so she's not the problem. I am.

 

[dangerdave]

IMO the juice buckets are not as good as a high quality kit. Frozen must or grapes is the better step above quality kits.

I read a recent exchange you had regarding this same subject. There were those who said that white juice buckets are good. I have a handle on some white juice buckets, so I thought I'd give it a go. I might even risk a red. I'm only talking about two buckets either way, so it's worth a try.

Thanks for the advice, Wade!

 

[dangerdave]

Ferment to dry in the bucket Dave. That will give it maximum time on the skins. Make sure to snap the lid and add the airlock when it slows down to ~1.03 or so.

I would also warm it up a bit so you get better extraction from the skins. Cooler is not better in this instance!

Ok, Mike, I'll take your word for it. I'll put the belt on it tomorrow when I get home, and ferment to dry in the bucket.

I'm trusting you on this one...

I guess this is not really a diversion from the instructions. They say to rack to secondary after it falls below SG 0f 1.000, which they say is around day 10 (leave longer if temp is lower). Then add enzyme pack, bung & airlock, and wait 20 days. What is it you are suggesting I do different?

I'm a bit confused when you say I need to maximize the time on the skins, but warm it up---which would make it ferment faster---when fermenting slower would increase the time on the skins. Warmer = faster ferment = better extraction = less time on skins. Cooler = slower ferment = more time on skins = lesser extraction.

Where is the balance in this equation? <my brain hurts :< >

 

[ibglowin]

Trust me on this one....

I have some in my cellar that are starting to impress even me. I am my own worst enemy when it comes to tasting my own wines.

Just give it enough heat to let it go up into the mid 70's during the F-max then let it fall. Just keep it on the skins until its 1.000 or less then dirty rack it (rack it all) to carboy and let it finish out. try and get as much as you can out of that grape pack as that is what will help bring it closer to something commercial.

Get as much solids as you can into that wine!

 

[dangerdave]

Ok, got it. I called my lovely wife---who follows instructions admirably---and she affixed the brew belt. I'll check it in the morning when I get home from work.

Thanks, Mike. I'm hoping for the best out of this one, something that would impress "even you".

 

[ibglowin]

My Rosso Fortissimo is 2 years old now and it starting to impress even me. Your gonna like this wine Dave.

 

[RickC]

Dave, totally agree that this is a great wine. We recently did a family tasting of this vs a red mountain cab. Both 19 months old. The Rosso was everyone's favorite.

 

[dangerdave]

Day 4: SG is down to 1.025. I snapped down the lid and added the airlock. Will wait two day to check again. Then, will "dirty rack" to carboy and wait...wait...wait...20 days there on the oak and skins (as suggested by Mike).

 

[eblasmn9]

My Rosso Fortissimo is 2 years old now and it starting to impress even me. Your gonna like this wine Dave.

Mine is now 6 months old. Only 18 months more.

 

[ibglowin]

I would pop the lid once a day to punch the grape skins down and keep them wet.

Day 4: SG is down to 1.025. I snapped down the lid and added the airlock. Will wait two day to check again. Then, will "dirty rack" to carboy and wait...wait...wait...20 days there on the oak and skins (as suggested by Mike).

 

[dangerdave]

Right, Mike. Every morning.

 

[dangerdave]

The SG fell below 1.000 on Thursday (the 18th), so I dirty racked everything into a 6 1/2 gallon carboy and topped with some Merlot I had on hand. Note: Dirty racking is a dirty job! In my over-excitement, I over-filled the carboy, and as it bubbled up, it flooded out through the airlock. I regrouped, thiefed off some wine from the carboy to make extra space, cleaned out the airlock, refilled the airlock and replaced it. The next morning, I discovered I still had not made enough extra room in the carboy, with the same overflow result. Still a noob, huh, Dave! Finally, after extracting enough wine to make space for activity, it seems to have completed it's bubbling over the last few days.

Now I have a question. If I am going to follow 5-20-40-90 schedule like Doc suggested, do I just leave it like it is for the prescribed 20 days, skins, lees, oak, and all?

 

[ibglowin]

I would pull the skins out if you put them into the carboy. Was wondering why it was not all fitting! Dirty rack just means you transfer all the gross lees over to the carboy. You want to fill it up and let it finish out. Normally I put my grape packs in the supplied cheese cloth bag so I can squeeze the crap out it to get as much solids as possible into the bucket, then transfer it all over to the carboy. If you have a spigot this makes it fast. Just put a tube on it and carboy beneath it and crack it open. Then let it finish out per directions.

 

[dangerdave]

Well, that's usually what I do, use a mesh bag. But this time, for some reason, I decided to just dump the skins in the fermenter. The instructions said, "Some winemakers believe adding the skins directly into the fermenter aids in extraction." They got me! I guess I'm just "some winemaker". I just dumped them in. I'm going to regroup tomorrow and get back on schedule. I'll get it back in the bucket, strain out the skins and then return in to a fresh carboy for finishing. I'm just stumbling along with this one for some reason.

How embarassing!

<lol>

 

[ibglowin]

It will still turn out fantastic I'm sure!