WineXpert WE says "Don't top up"

[JoyofWine]

Thanks for the link Gadawg.

 

[sdb8440]

I saw these glass marbles and thought it was a brilliant idea.

http://morewinemaking.com/products/glass-marbles-topping-3-lbs.html

I bought some from the dollar store for a lot less though, solves all the problems of topping up.

 

[garymc]

"A little trick I use it to pour the leas into another bottle with an airlock for a few days to settle and pour the clear back into the carboy. Very little wasted. __________________
Doug "

I've done this. When you put it in a narrow container like a gallon, half gallon, or bottle, the salvageable wine is a taller column of liquid and easier to get out separate from the sediment.

 

[716]

Do we know if they have changed their formulation in some way, such that topping off is not an issue if the wine is bottled according to their time-table? Or was it never an issue, as long as bottling was done "on-time".

I ask because I am doing my first batch with one of their kits. I had a lot of head space after racking from my 23 liter primary to my 6.5 gal Italian carboy (which I mistakenly took to be 23 liters also). I added 750ml wine and 1.5 liters water, I still need about 500 ml to get to the bung, but after having read through this forum, I won't add any more water. Do I need to go get another bottle of wine, or can I follow the new instructions with my old kit and just leave it as it is?

 

[dessertmaker]

Bah. I top up everything. I just make sure to use a similar wine with the ABV I'm shooting for in my final product.

 

[716]

Bah. I top up everything. I just make sure to use a similar wine with the ABV I'm shooting for in my final product.

Which I certainly respect.

But, if I follow suit, that means a) I buy new smaller carboys, b) buy several liters worth of marbles, or c) add ~3 bottles of wine to every kit (around $30 in Saskatchewan).

Since I got into this to primarily to save money (although its fun too), I'd prefer not to top-off if it doesn't noticeably change quality of the final product. And if I'm to believe WX about the quality of their trials, it doesn't. Is there any reason to believe WX would do a poor job of this?

 

[TommBomb]

I'm on the second "polishing" racking of the winexpert kit which has the instructions to not top up. I tasted it before racking the secund time it tasted very good... I was concerned to at first about not topping up but the directions clearly state several times not to so I'm going by that. Bottling on Friday ill let u guys know how it tastes then.

 

[Putterrr]

they just opened up a u-vint around here. they are only dealing in WE products so will not be topping up carboys as per new instructions. a worker there is not thrilled about the change after having made wine for 20+ years topping up but the company says no topping so thats what they'll do. WEx also doesn't recommend bulk aging which again goes against what they (u-vint people)have been telling people for many years. noone likes change. time will tell how customers like the new rules. i will do it as i have always done

cheers

 

[wineh]

It will be OK

I just got the limited edition Nebbiolo through the stabilization stage, and added no water.
The grapeskins kits give a little extra; that is there is some juice in the grapepack, and it completes a little above the 23 litre mark on the primary. by using a little extra dilligence at racking, my italian carboy (a little over 23l) was almost filled. When I racked before stabilizing, I did not use the sediment bowl, and as a result carried over more wine for stabilization. In fact, de-gassing was a challenge, and I had to get most of the gas out before adding the chitosan, and could not quite get all of the second pouch into the carboy! Upon racking off the sediment, I racked to a mexican carboy (exactly 23l) and had some headspace. I added 500ml of Barolo (that stuff is expensive) to the carboy to top it up for bulk aging.
By the way, there is a topping up instruction for bulk aging; it's hidden in the step 6 bottling instructions. Huh!

 

[bstnh1]

I think I'll just follow the new WE instructions on future kits. After all, they produce the kits and I assume they know a lot more about how to produce a decent wine from them than I do.

 

[Leanmach]

So I have just read that the topping up for bulk aging is in the bottling step. Does this mean my LE Malbec that has been in bulk age without top up is trash? Suggestions?

 

[GaDawg]

I suggest you sample it

 

[adambaum]

I topped up my LE Malbec because I did a few months of bulk aging. I've never tried bulk aging without topping up and didn't want to experiment on a pricey kit. Just bottled it Monday and I have to say that it was tasting pretty nice. Can't wait to see what a year in bottle does for it.

Adam

 

[Leanmach]

Response from WE- 2 months of bulk aging without topping up- no worries. Longer- top up or smaller carboy.

Bottling this weekend

 

[bstnh1]

Topping up a 23 liter kit with 2 liters of water would reduce the abv by about 1%. I don't see how topping up with a similar wine would affect it at all. I'll follow the new instructions up until the point where bulk ageing begins. At that point, I'll top up with a similar wine.

 

[Leanmach]

Bottled the LE Malbec today. Sample tastes excellent. Can't wait for the next sampling at the holidays.

 

[Leanmach]

Some follow up. Opened first bottle LE Malbec over the weekend after 5 months. Aging well, drinkable but not quite done yet. Back to the cellar until May. The no top up seems to not be an issue. As a second note, this year's LE Cab/Shiraz directions do a better job of calling out the "no top" directions. Pitching yeast on this one in a week.

 

[tonyportale]

Hello All,
It has been awhile since I've been on this site. Was out of the wine making loop for about a year. I just started two new Eclipse kits. I'm in step #2. When I read that "no topping off" in the instructions I thought my eyesight was off. I read all of these responses and sort of understand the new philosophy. I always bulk aged my previous kits. I just racked into smaller 3 gal, 2 gal, 1 gal. carboys to eliminate any topping off. It seemed to have worked for me.
Cheers,
Tony P.

 

[Elmer]

Response from WE- 2 months of bulk aging without topping up- no worries. Longer- top up or smaller carboy.

Bottling this weekend

I was recently told the same thing by the fine folks at WineXpert.
One of my LBHS people also told me the same thing, that there is no need to to top up these kits for a while.

However when planning to bulk age for many, many, many months. I just can not bring my self to leave that much airspace in a carboy!

if I was going to bottle early it would be a different story!

 

[Leanmach]

The new directions I just got with this year's LE indicate to top up with similar wine and put a solid bung in if bulk aging for more than one month.