What's in your glass tonight?

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Last nights "experiment". 2015 Mule Skinner Merlot. I normally don't drink wines for several years after they arrive but thought it would be interesting to see what this guy tasted like since it had such a high pH and low (typically) acid and they just left it alone. That seems to be what they do in as far as I can tell. Minimal manipulation, what Mother Nature gives you is it. I would have adjusted with some Tartaric to get the pH down and the TA up. So what did it taste like? At first, quite harsh. It is pretty young though and after about 30 -45 mins of air the tannins softened nicely and they wine was drinking well. You could not really tell/taste the low acid really until...... after another 45-60 mins of air I was sipping on it while watching the Sunday night football game and little by little as the tannins faded way back the wine while still tasty did seem to become pretty flat. Not a whole bunch of oak either to help it out. So this was a nice wine that if consumed in short order would be pleasing but I really saw the effects of low acid high pH in comparison to other wines with better numbers, acids and pH's (3.6 pH and TA 0.6 or so). Looks like they have not made this wine for sometime. Spring Valley is really known for their Bordeaux blends and they excel in those which is why I joined their list. They also ship 2 day air but only charge for ground shipping which is also nice.

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A barrel bottom, post racking vino nuevo Turán (aka Agria in North America) from my vineyard.

It is actually quite good, despite its not even adolescent age. Just being harvested 8 weeks ago. So expect very good results after aging a year.
 
Opened only the 2nd bottle of a now 26-month-old WE Eclipse Lodi Old Vine Zin. There is nothing wrong with this wine! I have been somewhat disappointed in my kit wines, but this one is every bit as good as a $15 or $18 bottle of Zin. We were very disappointed to reach the bottom of the bottle!
 
2015 Godello that I got on WTSO a while back. A lovely white wine that I had never heard of prior to that.
 
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After finishing the last glass(es) of the WE Eclipse OVZ detailed above, I opened a bottle of WE LE 2013 Washington Cabernet Merlot. This is now 3 years old. It was quite nice. A couple of years ago, I was disappointed in it because, with no skins, it was a little light and insubstantial. It is still light, but it is now much more pleasant than I recall. It is still a bit simple, a little sweet even, but tasty, with red fruit and a lingering finish.
 
Crushed cherry and blueberry nose, long deep sweet fruity palate, simply delicious. I don't say this often of a $10 wine from Safeway.
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Tonight I bottled my (last! : ( ) CC Showcase Red Mountain Cab, so that is in my glass! I had bulk aged it for about a year and a half. It is VERY dark, almost inky. It is mild and delicious, but with a pleasing amount of tannins. It is very soft, so I guess the bulk aging did its thing. Dark fruits, plums...

Tweaks were (from my notes):

Used D254 yeast. Added 8.1 g FT Rouge. Kit comes with 60g oak dust and 100 g (!) oak cubes. SG before grape pack = 1.089. Waited before pitching yeast to find SG = 1.102; added 4.0 g of Nutriferm Advance at SG=1.070. After clearing and degassing, added 3.0 g Tannin Riche Extra upon transferring to bulk aging.
 
We had a very nice 2015 Eclipise Pino Noir, but it wasn't quite enought. So I opened a 2009 Jack Keller Coffee Wine. AWESOME!!! Don't judge the wine by the sediment in the bottle, this stuff was Great!! 8 yrs old & perfect, Roy

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We had a very nice 2015 Eclipise Pino Noir, but it wasn't quite enought. So I opened a 2009 Jack Keller Coffee Wine. AWESOME!!! Don't judge the wine by the sediment in the bottle, this stuff was Great!! 8 yrs old & perfect, Roy

Roy,

Your pictures keep getting loaded upside down.
 

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