WineXpert WE Vintners Reserve Cabernet - Help Needed

[funjoh]

I have this wine in the bulk aging step. It has been progressing nicely, however, after a taste test last night my wife and I have noticed there is a tartness and lack of boldness. The wine has a nice fruit forward smell and taste. Since I am so new to wine making I am not sure what to expect from aging versus when I need to help the wine along. The batch was started Sept 1 with OSG=1.097, current SG=.990, calculated ABV=14.5%. The wine is very clear and I have degassed with power wand many times. The aging cellar is 63 degrees with 50% humidity.

Tartness - Do I try to bring the acidity down?

Smoothness/Boldness - Do I add finishing tannin? Do I add oak chips?

Or, do I just be patient and let time do the work? Any help is greatly appreciated.

John

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

As the moment I would say wait. you can check the pH with either a meter or strips ( meter works better with red wines) and see where you are. Most kits ( if not all) are corrected to the proper pH, the only thing that could throw it off is if you have high acid water that you used to mix with it, but if its its that high I don't think I would want to drink the water.
Let it age some and mellow out.
Good Luck!

 

[ramsis23]

I noticed the same problem with my vintners reserve cab too. I ended up adding oak cubes and tannin but I like mine pretty oakey. Haven't done anything with the acidity.

 

[sour_grapes]

I am no expert. However, I think that:

tart = young. This should improve with time.

not bold = what you get from Vintner's Reserve. I would indeed be tempted to tweak with tannins and/or oak. (You could wait to do this to see how it develops on its own.)

 

[mdtroyer]

I completed the VR Cab in April and noticed a thinness and tartness as well. Just opened a bottle last week and it tastes much better. Feels fuller, tastes rounder. Very pronounced oak flavor, but I feel like it may temper a bit after another 6 mos.

 

[tanddc]

funjoh,

I started the same kit mid July and the flavors are just now developing. I would not had acid or oak or anything else other than time. Also, do not continue to degas if it isn't gassy. That will only make the wine more flabby.

 

[olusteebus]

If you plan on drinking it soon, you may wish to consider Gum Arabic to soften the taste. From what I understand, finishing tannin would help with the body. I have not used any of these yet but I am going to.

I further understand that wine with finishing tannin needs to age a little.

I think you wine will be good six months, maybe better with a little tweaking. Hopefully some of our experts will comment on my suggestions.

 

[funjoh]

Great replies...it helps to advance along the learning curve. Thanks

 

[tonyt]

You canadd a few ounces of simple syrup to smoothe out the tartness. Search the forum for suggestions on adding sweetner wnd be sure you have added the provided Sorbate.

 

[ramsis23]

I just bottled my WE vintners reserve cab after 3 months of bulk aging. The tartness definitely went away from when it was first made.

 

[byathread]

I agree with sour_grapes. Young wines taste more acidic/tart. This is further accentuated by still having CO2 in solution, which I found very challenging/time-consuming to degas with a drill-mounted stirring wand (though bulk aging for a few months is an easy/effective way). I bought an All-In-One Wine pump and never looked back. It may cost as much a decent kit, but pays for itself after just a few uses (and its effective at much more than degassing).

Back to your Cab: I would also consider finishing tannins and/or oak. This will fill out your wine and add complexity. I typically add both to inexpensive kits (plus a pound of Zante currants in primary). That said, higher-end kits are worth the price. Cheers.

 

[scram]

Not to go off topic but now that you've mentioned the all in one wine pump I've got a question/concern concerning the pump.

I'd really like to get one but I'm scared to death of imploding my carboy while racking and degassing. That, as you know, would be a disastrous mess. Is this a real concern or am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?? Thanks

 

[sour_grapes]

Not to go off topic but now that you've mentioned the all in one wine pump I've got a question/concern concerning the pump.

I'd really like to get one but I'm scared to death of imploding my carboy while racking and degassing. That, as you know, would be a disastrous mess. Is this a real concern or am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?? Thanks

All I personally can tell you is that I routinely pump down my Italian carboys to a vacuum level more severe than the All-in-one pump is capable of. (Although, honestly, it does not make a lot of difference, as the AIO already gets about 75% of the air out, IIRC.)

I am not aware of anyone on this site who has suffered an imploded carboy. (Please jump in and correct me, if anyone knows differently.) We have had reports of cracked or otherwise flawed carboys, particularly the Chinese ones. I do not know of any implosions, however.

 

[byathread]

No worries of imploding your carboy. This pump is designed for just this purpose and doesn't pull that kind of pressure. However, if you have large demijohns you better check with Steve as I believe they are made of thinner glass. The owner provides great customer service and can be reached via the website: http://allinonewinepump.com/

 

[richmke]

I'd really like to get one but I'm scared to death of imploding my carboy while racking and degassing.

Not a problem with 5 and 6 gallon GLASS carboys, and smaller bottles.

However, it will do a number on plastic carboys. I tested it once.

 

[scram]

Thank you for the replies... I'll have to break down and get one of them... Thanks again

 

[funjoh]

We taste tested again last night. My wife raved about it! It is smoothing out very nice and has a very good oak flavor (it has been aging with oak for the past two months). Yes, the fruity tartness has gone away. If I can keep away from drinking it, I plan to bottle in two months.

 

[scram]

Racking my batch tomorrow. Was going to drop in an oak spiral for a couple months. How much oak did you add after the primary that was in addition to the kit ingredients??

 

[funjoh]

scram, I added 4 ounces of French medium roast chips. I had to go pull another glass for my wife tonight. Hope there is some left to bottle!

 

[heatherd]

Glad it has improved - it will be much better in six months, and better yet at a year. The challenge is to make enough wine to drink while your kits are aging. That's why folks make early drinkers like "dragon's blood" and "skeeter pee."
Heather