Thinking outside the box

[LoneStarLori]

Lori,
You're allowed to make wine in the kitchen??? Oh my!

Haha,, it's MY kitchen. He has a garage.

 

[sour_grapes]

Just curious: How much did the grape pack bump the SG? I.e., what was the highest SG you observed?

 

[geek]

as always, great documented process....
I wonder what the SG is now after it went dry to 0.995 and you put the currants back in carboy?

 

[LoneStarLori]

Just curious: How much did the grape pack bump the SG? I.e., what was the highest SG you observed?

Dang! I didn't think to measure after adding it. Too many people in the kitchen and too much wine. (In glasses).


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[LoneStarLori]

WE Brunello Selection Kit update

The currants have now been resting in the secondary for a little more than a week. They are starting to float which tells me they have given up most all they can.

Checking the SG it's at .994. I'd like to see if it will go a little lower so I'm going to remove the spent currants and return this back to the carboy again and let it sit another week or so before adding fining agents.

Floating baby raisins.

The sludge. Yep, they're done.

I usually rack down rather than to top off. I'll let these sit about a week before fining and adding the soak cubes that came with the kit.

 

[joeswine]

Brunello

looks deep dark and luscious

by keeping it in a tight space you have control ,not the environment ,good move.

 

[LoneStarLori]

WE Brunello Selection Kit update 8-30-14

As Joe stated above, this wine is a beautiful dark color. It has been sitting for in the secondary for 10 days and the SG has been steady at .993 for about a week. Time to add the fining agents.
There was a twist to this kit I had not seen before, which was to add the second batch of oak cubes at the time of clearing. Most likely to simulate a barrel. Not a bad idea.
I racked using my All-in-One wine pump to help degas. I also stirred for 2 mins after each addition of chems to be sure it was degassed. I did not add the sorb ate included in the kit because this is a very dry wine that I plan to age and not do any back sweetening. I am not worried about fermentation restarting. This kit contained Chitosan which I believe is a better clearing agent than Kieselsol that comes in many of the WE kits. The sediment wasn't as heavy as I thought it might be proper to racking so it did not all fit in a 5 gal carboy. So I added all of it back into the 6 gal. I suspect I will get much more sediment in about 10 days, at which time I will rack again. Hopefully it will all fit in one 5 gal. If it does not, I will keep it in the 6 gal and top up with a similar wine. I will also keep the oak cubes in the carboy for 3 months.

SG is perfect.

Vacuum racking

Fining chems and oak provided in kit

Added 2 bags of Hungarian oak.

Chitosan doing it's job nicely.

 

[Simpsini]

Lori

Thanks for taking the time to post this. It's very helpful

Dave

 

[eblasmn9]

Hi Lori,

I am drinking a 6 month old SI Brunello as I am typing this. I think you are going to like this wine. It definitely is an early drinker. Out of all the Selection International with skins kits I have done so far this is my favorite. I did not tweak it at all except for running it through my Hungarian barrel for 3 months. What a really nice smooth cherry flavor profile with a fairly long finish. Cheers.

 

[geek]

Hi Lori,

I am drinking a 6 month old SI Brunello as I am typing this. I think you are going to like this wine. It definitely is an early drinker. Out of all the Selection International with skins kits I have done so far this is my favorite. I did not tweak it at all except for running it through my Hungarian barrel for 3 months. What a really nice smooth cherry flavor profile with a fairly long finish. Cheers.

not sure if the barrel aging is making it better for you (I aged in glass carboy and bottled Feb. 17) but I tasted this very same wine and it was too fruit forward, I could taste the 'green' taste for an early wine. This was like 3 or 4 months ago though. I started it back in Sept. 11 2013.

I guess I should give it a try soon as it is approaching a year now...

 

[Brian55]

not sure if the barrel aging is making it better for you (I aged in glass carboy and bottled Feb. 17) but I tasted this very same wine and it was too fruit forward, I could taste the 'green' taste for an early wine. This was like 3 or 4 months ago though. I started it back in Sept. 11 2013.

I guess I should give it a try soon as it is approaching a year now...

Mine wasn't all that great until it hit 18 months, then it really started to shine.

 

[eblasmn9]

Hi Geek, You are very well possibly right about the barrel. I have found that the barrel really smooths out a wine and I think it does take away the fruit forwardness in a young wine that some consider kit taste. The underlying wine is quite good with the slightest sour cherry on the finish. It make take yours a bit longer to bring out its best quality but am sure that it will. As I have let it open up a bit tonight a slight licorice flavor is coming out on the finish.

 

[LoneStarLori]

You guys sure have me excited for this one. I haven't done any decent big reds before so I'm really looking forward to it. I know the cubes are no replacement for a barrel, but I plan to leave them in after the initial racking since adding the clearing agents. Maybe I should start talking to Santa about a barrel.

 

[Brian55]

Opened an Eclipse Barolo this evening. It's worth every penny of the additional cost. Our Brunello is starting to really shine at 18 months, but the Barolo absolutely stomps it at this point, and it's a month younger...

 

[Simpsini]

All

I'm ordering a WE Cab Sauv from Chile and thought about doing something different. I've done this kit before, but this time I'm going to bump up the SG to 1.100 by adding simple syrup, 1 TBSP of tanning and putting 1 lb of raisins in the primary..... Are there any thoughts or different recommendations anyone has? This is the first kit that I'm going to modify.

 

[LoneStarLori]

If I'm using raisins, i usually rack the wine at about 1.02 then add the raisins and tannins in the secondary. Then let it sit for about 10 days. If I'm using a fruit f-pac, I add that to the primary.
Bumping up the SG to 1.10 is a good idea.
If you want to use fruit, you should choose one that is close to the profile of the variety and pick which flavor you want to enhance. The profile of a cab is described as: "The flavor profile includes plum, cherry, blackberry, blueberry, warm spice, vanilla, tobacco and sometimes leather aromas and or flavors."
If it were me, i would probably go with blackberries or cherries since I like them more than plums.
Joeswine has recently posted how to make a blackberry fpac on his thread, when good wine goes bad,. Heres a link to that thread. Blackberry pinot noir

Either way you choose to go, I know you will see a big difference verses the kit yo didn't tweak.

 

[Simpsini]

Lori -- Thanks for the input. I plan on doing what you proposed. I'm planning to bump up the SG to 1.10 and then add an F-Pac to the primary. I'm basing this on Joe's comments on F-pacs. "An F-pack doesn’t always have to go at the end of the wine, you can add them to the beginning. An F-pack in the beginning will blend well with the wine but will not usually over-power the taste of the wine. If you add it at the end, the predominant taste of your wine will be the F-pak".
I'll probaly make the F-Pac out of blackberries or maybe a a grape F-Pac. Either way I'm looking forward to the wine. Like the rest of us, winemakers all my family & friends enjoy the fuits of my labor, and I'm pleased to share with them..... I'll let you know how things turn out....... Life is good!

 

[LoneStarLori]

I call Joe my Sensai. I have been following his ideas and suggestions for a year now and haven't regretted one. Like you, my friends and family are my best customers. I just wish I could get them to pay

 

[LoneStarLori]

Christmas wine 2014- IM, Merlot Ho Ho is here

It's mid September and before you know it, Christmas will be here. Wine Expert has released a Island Mist Merlot this year called Merlot Ho Ho. Ok, I admit, I am not a big Merlot drinker, but I liked the name so much, I bought it. I have plenty of friends and relatives who will be very glad to get this as a gift this Christmas. Last December I made a WE Chocolate Orange port fortified with brandy. It is also going to be handed out. But only to the relatives I truly like.

I don't think there is anyone on here that doesn't tweak a Island Mist kit in one way or another. Since this wine will have added flavors/spices, I have to keep that in mind. The description from WE is: "Round, fruit forward Merlot with notes of orange, cranberry, spice and cloves." I like all of those flavors and they definitely say CHRISTMAS, but I don't want it to be so overpowering that I wouldn't want to drink it in March. So here's my plan.

In order to up the ABV I am adding enough corn sugar to get to 1.095 or so. I will also add this bottle of black cherry concentrate. Why? 1: This is a 10 liter juice kit and I want more flavor and body. 2: Because cherry is one of the stronger notes of a true Merlot and I want to bring that out. I have not tried corn sugar in wine before, but i have it on and will give it a try. This is a $70. kit. If it turns out I don't like the taste of the corn sugar, I'd rather find out on this than a $150 kit. I will also add about 1/2 the fpac included in the kit about midway during primary fermentation. This will help keep those spices under control as well as up the ABV a little more.

I will start this kit early next week and will post pictures of the tweaks as I go.

 

[geek]

You meant a 7.5L kit.....


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