Tweaking Sauvignon Blanc

[rhattin]

I currently have 4 SB ready to go: 2 from the new Eclipse line from Vineco, a Cru Select from RJSpagnols and a full juice from Magnotta Winery in Montreal.
A read of the literature suggest a variety of yeasts will tweak the floral front end and give the wine a bit more complexity See Shea Comforts article onwine yeast pairing. I am trying to come close to the 2010 Kim Crawford SB from New Zealand.
The V3 Laffort wine is recommended and I notice that the Eclipse comes with 2 yeast packs- the old reliable EC 1118 and a new one KV-1116 both from Lalvin.
Does anyone have any experience with these yeasts? Are there any other better ones out there?
And while we are on the topic, what have others done to tweak the SB kits?

 

[ibglowin]

I have an Eclipse Pinot Gris going right now. I decided to only go with the V1116. It will bring much more to the party flavor profile wise and is almost as as much a "problem free" yeast as EC1118 is.

If you want to experiment/tweak a bit more you may wish to add some Booster Blanc into the mix.

 

[Boatboy24]

I have the Eclipse SB clearing now and actually had a sample last night, as I was racking. I used both packets of kit yeast, but pitched the V1116 about an hour before the EC1118. I have no idea if that had any impact at all, but I thought giving it a head start might help. I like Mike's idea of ditching the EC1118 altogether. Maybe just hold that in reserve to finish out if the ferment gets stuck. The Eclipse SB is very good already.

 

[ibglowin]

First time using V1116. Man it is day and night different than EC1118 the way it ferments. Just when you have seen it all. LOL It was a soft gentle fizzy coke fermentor for the first 2-3 days then yesterday morning I cracked it open to give it a gentle stir and it had a head of white foam on it like a beer. It was only 1/4' thick but it is still there again this AM. EC1118 you get this crazy uncontrolled fermentation after a day or so that last for a couple of days with a huge heat spike making the wine so warm you can remove any heat needed in a cold winery for days on end then it just finishes out quietly after that. Also no big heat spike either with V1116

 

[Rocky]

rhattin, I don't know how adventurous you are but Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc has a citrus backgroiund taste (grapefruit, actually) to me. Since you have 4 kits there, you might want to experiment with the addition of some pure grapefruit juice in one of them.

 

[Dugger]

One of our stores has the Eclipse Sauv Blanc on for $110 so I plan to pick one up today - I may try just the 1116 as well. I've used it in the past for fruit wine but never a kit.
rhattin - where did you get the juice bucket? Locally?

 

[TomK-B]

I have thought for some time that the benchmark for New Zealand SB is that grapefruit note that Rocky mentions above. But I think if I wanted to enhance that I might try a grapefruit zest rather than the juice. Joeswine has promoted that sort of tweak (using a zest) in some of his replies and I'm for sure going to try it one of these days.

 

[ibglowin]

Yep, most noted for grapefruit, mellon, passion fruit, and lemongrass. We had one of my EP Aussie Sauv Blanc's this weekend with fish taco's. OMG that was a killer pairing.

 

[rhattin]

Dugger in Windsor Junction:::
How's the snow out there? I got the full juice kit from Noble Grape at Lacewood, the same place that has the sale on the Eclipse for $110 till Saturday. I would surprised if there are any left. Sort of a loss leader for them to get market acceptance of the Eclipse packaging.
They only bring in juice at certain times of the year. Talk to Carol - she knows what she is talking about most of the time.
Or you can call me at 902 823-2530 to discuss more.
Ric

 

[Dugger]

rhattin - I missed your post yesterday and just noticed it now. I didn't realize Noble brought in juice buckets; I knew they got apple juice for cider, but not the grape juice. I did get the Sauv Blanc at the Sackville store yesterday; I'll ask them about the juice buckets next time I'm in. Thanks for the heads up.
Snow's pretty well gone now but it looks like Thursday was our one nice day for a while!