Thinking outside the box

[Tnuscan]

This one's a winner, drank chilled the crispness of the pino grigio is softly accented dy the lovely taste of the coconut and outstanding summer wine.

Joe, your spot on.

Our son came in yesterday so He, the Wife and I, sipped on a little of this chilled and we were really enjoying it. I told them it was one of Joes tweeked kits and they were amazed, and continually bragged on how awesome they thought it was. I tasted it warm the other day and I wondered if I was going to like it as well as I had first thought. But after chilling it I was blown away!!!

I just want to say Thanks Again Joe for bringing so much more fun into my winemaking!

CHEERS !!!

 

[joeswine]

Apple fpac

really cool to use the summers early arrivals in our wines. A little goes a long way.

 

[jdwebb]

So here's my take on my first kit wines.
So far, I've completed:
Fontana Pinot Noir
WE Chardonnay
WE Shiraz

First my overall take...when they say "drinkable in 4 to 6 weeks", they must be joking. At best, if you can stomach the tartness and overall sourness, they are less than palatable.

That being said, everything I read here says age for at least 8 months to a year. I hope that's the case.

The Pinot Noir was started in February, completed and bottled in May with 14oz of blackberries and BM 4X4 yeast. Barely drinkable, no mouthfeel whatsoever, and tart.

The Chardonnay stopped at 1.000 and would not go any further despite temp changes to encourage it and a bit of yeast energizer. It has a distinct Chardonnay flavor, is sweet on the front of the tongue, and cleared nicely,. I added 2 oz of Hungarian Oak for the hell of it. It will sit in the carboy until I get damned ready to bottle it, perhaps sometime around Christmas.

The Shiraz, well, that's a different story. It's terrible, simply terrible. It's also the last one to complete it's journey, and is also siting idly by on 2 oz of French Oak. Started on May 25th with 14oz of blueberries, stabilized at .996, it's a tart-bomb exploding in the mouth. I'm hoping time, lots and lots of time will temper this one out.

All were fermented in stainless steel fermenters at 68ºF to 70ºF, all were degassed properly. all were treated better than most old folk's grandkids and pet dogs.

So here's my bottom line, I'm not giving up quite yet, I have a Mezza Luna currently in final stages of fermentation, and I ordered a Fontana Cab and am going to use Joe's tweaks on it verbatim. But, note to all the kit wine producers out there, stop teasing people with the "drinkable in 4 to 6 weeks" BS, I think that's just plain bull. Now, I fully intend to enjoy all my wines in about 8 to 12 months mind you, I just find that someone at these wine kit makers got tanked up one night and figured out a way to increase sales by telling them they can drink them in a month. Perhaps he thieved too many samples that night from the barrels.

PS: PH on all were between 3.5 and 3.8

 

[joeswine]

Jdwebb: go to cheap wine kits,posted something for you............nice set up

 

[Mismost]

So here's my take on my first kit wines.
So far, I've completed:
Fontana Pinot Noir
WE Chardonnay
WE Shiraz

First my overall take...when they say "drinkable in 4 to 6 weeks", they must be joking. At best, if you can stomach the tartness and overall sourness, they are less than palatable.

That being said, everything I read here says age for at least 8 months to a year. I hope that's the case.

The Pinot Noir was started in February, completed and bottled in May with 14oz of blackberries and BM 4X4 yeast. Barely drinkable, no mouthfeel whatsoever, and tart.

The Chardonnay stopped at 1.000 and would not go any further despite temp changes to encourage it and a bit of yeast energizer. It has a distinct Chardonnay flavor, is sweet on the front of the tongue, and cleared nicely,. I added 2 oz of Hungarian Oak for the hell of it. It will sit in the carboy until I get damned ready to bottle it, perhaps sometime around Christmas.

The Shiraz, well, that's a different story. It's terrible, simply terrible. It's also the last one to complete it's journey, and is also siting idly by on 2 oz of French Oak. Started on May 25th with 14oz of blueberries, stabilized at .996, it's a tart-bomb exploding in the mouth. I'm hoping time, lots and lots of time will temper this one out.

All were fermented in stainless steel fermenters at 68ºF to 70ºF, all were degassed properly. all were treated better than most old folk's grandkids and pet dogs.

So here's my bottom line, I'm not giving up quite yet, I have a Mezza Luna currently in final stages of fermentation, and I ordered a Fontana Cab and am going to use Joe's tweaks on it verbatim. But, note to all the kit wine producers out there, stop teasing people with the "drinkable in 4 to 6 weeks" BS, I think that's just plain bull. Now, I fully intend to enjoy all my wines in about 8 to 12 months mind you, I just find that someone at these wine kit makers got tanked up one night and figured out a way to increase sales by telling them they can drink them in a month. Perhaps he thieved too many samples that night from the barrels.

PS: PH on all were between 3.5 and 3.8

yep, more time is more better. Bet you like that Mezza Luna....while maybe not sensational, it is a nice early drinker.

 

[joeswine]

green apple Riesling

lets move this one forward ,review and proceed....phase one the FPAC

 

[joeswine]

Green Apple Riesling continue

follow the flow.......................

 

[joeswine]

Torrents spanish white

TORRENTS IS A EXCELLENT WHITE TO HAVE IN YOUR CELLAR FOLLOW THE FLOW....

 

[joeswine]

Basic wine chemistry

Basic Wine Chemistry ​

Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape developed by the French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal, for whom it was named. Contrary to popular belief, this process does not make the wine sweeter but only artificially inflates the alcohol content. Additionally, the sugar in chaptalized wine cannot be tasted.
Potassium Metabisulfite is a common wine or must additive, where it forms sulfur dioxide gas (SO2). This both prevents most wild microorganisms from growing, and it acts as potent antioxidant, protecting both the color, and delicate flavors of wine.
Typical dosage is ¼ tsp potassium metabisulfite, per 6 gallon bucket of must (yielding roughly 75ppm of SO2) prior to fermentation, and ½ tsp per 6 gallon bucket (150 ppm of SO2) at bottling.
Winemaking equipment is sanitized by spraying with a 1% SO2 (2 tsp potassium metabisulfite per L) solution.
Potassium Sorbate is used to inhibit molds, and yeasts in wine. Also known affectionately as “wine stabilizer”, potassium sorbate produces sorbic acid when added to wine. It serves two purposes. When active fermentation has ceased and the wine is racked for the final time after clearing, potassium sorbate will continue fermenting any residual sugar into CO2 and alcohol, but when they die no new yeast will be present to cause future fermentation. When a wine is sweetened before bottling, potassium sorbate is used to prevent refermentation when used in conjunction with potassium metabisulfite. It is primarily used with sweet wines, sparkling wines and some hard cider but may be added to table wines which exhibits difficulty in maintaining clarity after fining.

 

[Johnd]

@joeswine

Looks like something out of whack with this explanation of K sorbate:

"When active fermentation has ceased and the wine is racked for the final time after clearing, potassium sorbate will continue fermenting any residual sugar into CO2 and alcohol, but when they die no new yeast will be present to cause future fermentation."

 

[jgmann67]

Something like this?


Even though active fermentation has ceased and the wine is racked for the final time after clearing, the wine will continue fermenting any residual sugar into CO2 and alcohol. But when the potassium sorbate is added, the remaining yeast dies and no new yeast will be present to cause future fermentation.

 

[joeswine]

That was a cut and paste from Wikipedia,many years ago I believe the info is correct.have used it for years now.

 

[Johnd]

That was a cut and paste from Wikipedia,many years ago I believe the info is correct.have used it for years now.

So you believe that "potassium sorbate will continue fermenting any residual sugar into CO2 and alcohol" ?

I'll just have to respectfully disagree. K Sorbate will not ferment sugar into alcohol.

This is the clip I found on Wikipedia:

"Also known as "wine stabilizer", potassium sorbate produces sorbic acid when added to wine. It serves two purposes. When active fermentation has ceased and the wine is racked for the final time after clearing, potassium sorbate renders any surviving yeast incapable of multiplying. Yeast living at that moment can continue fermenting any residual sugar into CO2 and alcohol, but when they die, no new yeast will be present to cause future fermentation."

This is a correct statement, looks like your clip has somehow been truncated to exclude the wording in red.

 

[joeswine]

Basic wine chemistry

Thanks johnd will look into it.

 

[joeswine]

Tools in the tool box

Have you checked your supplies for the wine season???

 

[joeswine]

Tools in the tool box

better to have to many tools then not enough at least that's my thinking.

 

[joeswine]

Black current desert wine

outstanding when finished and allow to let sit,really.LETS PAUSE AND REFLECT. Before we continue.

 

[joeswine]

Neibiolo a cousin to sangiovese

EXCELLENT WINE FOR ALL YOU RED WINE LOVERS FOLLOW THE FLOW..

 

[geek]

Last year I made that cheap Barolo/Nebbiolo and for the price it is a very good wine.

 

[joeswine]

Ya,not bad for the price,Im letting it sit a little while before I start tasting hopefully it's not to thin ,we'll see have a great day geek,coffee port did well at cellar masters..