Other Tweaking High End Kits for long aging

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AZMDTed

Just a guy
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Hi all,

Joeswine has a great thread on tweaking cheap kits, and some of that may well apply here. Hopefully in this thread we can share our tweaks for High End Kits that we are specifically planning on aging 18 months and longer. I believe that kit makers start with a great product and then provide instructions and ingredients for making a compromise between early drinkability and good aged wine. I'd like to break out of that and see what the proven ideas are for preparing wine where we're not constrained by wanting it drinkable in a few months.

Obviously aging itself is a good start to a better wine. In an April 2016 blog post Tim Vandergrift talks about how kit makers have you put oak chips in primary because that will add some oak but also the yeast will help make it an early drinker. But it does so at the loss of some phenols. He recommends waiting till secondary to add the chips which will then interact with the alcohol more than the remaining yeast and create a more robust wine. This at the expense of longer aging to allow it to meld more. These are the types of tweaks I'm thinking of, those that will modify a high end kit that we are already planning on long term aging.

Another suggestion of his in another article is finishing tannins, like Scotts Tannin Riche Extra for more mouth feel.

Many of us already know and try to go by his extended times rather than the instruction times to help.

Any other tweaks for getting the most out of high end kits that we plan on aging for a while? I'm sure oak is a big player here, be it barrels or spirals. I'd like to gather those specific suggestions here. Hopefully this will help everyone.

Ted
 
Vry few of my kits get less than 18 months, I have some going past 4 years. Never deviated except for adding tannins and sitting in ye carboy for more than 6 months.

Not sure what you mean, just let it sit with good corks.
 
I don't use any of the additives, bulk age for a year, rack every three months with new spirals. Bottle at 1 year. Try to keep my hands off. Decant for a while before drinking. I don't know enough about tannins,but would like to learn more
 
How about buying some grapes in the fall and putting them in a freezer bag . Keep it in the freezer until you ready to use them as your grape pack .
Last fall I bought some juice buckets and added a pound of frozen berries to each .
I like my results but I have nothing to compare to .:b

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Tannin, acid, alcohol, SO2 all serve to protect the wine. 18 months is not asking a lot for a well made wine. Now if you were looking for opportunities to improve a kit wine, knowing you would be aging it, I'd focus on adding oak. In addition to flavor and tannin, barrel will also give you micro oxidation and flavor concentration. Staves in a carboy will give you the flavor and tannin. The oak flavor integrates over time and the tannins smooth out and I thinks takes a big red wine to the next level, if you can lay it down for a few years.
 
tweaking high end kits

I have done many a high end kit and probably the best advice is place close attention to your sanitation process, key, a good kit with the proper tweaks will always pay off in aging in the bottle, this way you can taste as time moves along and experience the differences that time makes Or not,. Tweaking depends on the type of kit your doing and the additives you've planned on using. In the beginning or in the secondary that's were the work takes place and use filtered water.:db

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tweaking high end kits

There is not much difference in tweaking a low end kit or a high end kit, first you need to know the wines profile then formulate a plan of attack ,always use filtered water and pay very close attention to your sanitation process this will keep your wine healthy, let time in the carboy translate to time in a bottle so that you can taste the aging process as you go along .If you follow the basic wine rules you'll do just fine and can create a wine at the high end of the spectrum to your special taste.:HB..always be creative and THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX.
 
This year at the Hammonton wine contest 23 pro judges this is my results. there's always next year
 

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