I'm currently making a WineXpert Selection Estate Lodi Ranch 11 Cabernet Savignon. This is my 4th wine, but definitely the best, and want to run a few things by you, for the rest of this wine, and future batches. I have plenty of wine on hand and finishing up, so I'm not in a rush for this one; I want it to give it the time it needs to be good.
Primary: Since this kit doesn't have a grape pack, I added 1 lb of raisins, chopped, to a strainer bag and left that in the primary, squeezing daily. I also only used half the oak (1 each of the chips and powder) in the primary, following a tip frome joeswine on another thread that 'layering' the oak can be better. This also gave the oak more time on the wine. Fermentation was pretty quick, racked to 2ndary (leaving biggest lees) after 5 days (1.012 SG).
Raisins were removed during the rack to the secondary (after squeezing), and I added the other two packets of oak. Directions specified degassing and stabilizing after 10 days, but I did 15. I thought I've heard that slower is generally better once everything's under airlock. This was 2 days ago.
My next step will be racking off the lees. There's a decent amount in the carboy, probably much because of the extra oak in that stage. Instructions say 10 days after the previous step. I've heard that time on lees can be bad for a wine though. Given schedule issues - would it be better to rack it after 6 days (so the total time on the lees is about the same), or 14 days (or even more), to just give the wine time? After this racking, the plan is to add a bit more oak (depending on taste), and put it away till the new year, when I'd either rack once more for more bulk aging, or bottle (I'll probably want the carboy for another batch...)
-Andrew
Primary: Since this kit doesn't have a grape pack, I added 1 lb of raisins, chopped, to a strainer bag and left that in the primary, squeezing daily. I also only used half the oak (1 each of the chips and powder) in the primary, following a tip frome joeswine on another thread that 'layering' the oak can be better. This also gave the oak more time on the wine. Fermentation was pretty quick, racked to 2ndary (leaving biggest lees) after 5 days (1.012 SG).
Raisins were removed during the rack to the secondary (after squeezing), and I added the other two packets of oak. Directions specified degassing and stabilizing after 10 days, but I did 15. I thought I've heard that slower is generally better once everything's under airlock. This was 2 days ago.
My next step will be racking off the lees. There's a decent amount in the carboy, probably much because of the extra oak in that stage. Instructions say 10 days after the previous step. I've heard that time on lees can be bad for a wine though. Given schedule issues - would it be better to rack it after 6 days (so the total time on the lees is about the same), or 14 days (or even more), to just give the wine time? After this racking, the plan is to add a bit more oak (depending on taste), and put it away till the new year, when I'd either rack once more for more bulk aging, or bottle (I'll probably want the carboy for another batch...)
-Andrew
