WineXpert Winexpert LE Fortitude

[diggerdan17]

I bottled my fortitude today after 1 year bulk aging. This is very tart and not very fruity, no nose and a bitter finish. I hope another year in the bottles makes it better.

Anybody else taste theirs recently?

 

[Brian55]

I bottled my fortitude today after 1 year bulk aging. This is very tart and not very fruity, no nose and a bitter finish. I hope another year in the bottles makes it better.

Anybody else taste theirs recently?

Ours is almost a year old, but still bulk aging. Should be going into bottles sometime next month. I'll report back at that time.

 

[jgmann67]

Mine is about 18 - 20 months... very happy.

 

[diggerdan17]

Mine is about 18 - 20 months... very happy.

Good to hear, I'll wait another 12 months

 

[jgmann67]

We had our second to last bottle of this wine tonight. Exceptional. Not much kittishness to it at all. Leaving the last one for a special occasion.

 

[Putterrr]

Ours is a few months past the 2 year mark and is the best wine we have on our racks at the moment

Of course I'm easy to please so your mileage may vary

cheers

 

[Frosty]

Ours is 2 plus years. It is one of our favourites.

 

[Daroowala]

Recommend aging for Fortitude, I purchased this kit 1-2 years ago, cannot remember and just got around to brewing. Completed fermentation now in a carboy with oak cubes. Post fermentation the juice was very fragrant and shows promise.

 

[Daroowala]

Bottled Fortitude today, after 10 months bulk aging in carboy. According with Winexpert "Australian Fortitude – Blackcurrent, plum, cherry and spice with a dry finish." My first impressions, taste like a young dry red wine. Fruit forward, not much oak, has a dry finish. So far I have been underwhelmed by Limited Edition release. The wine needs more body.

 

[Brian55]

Bottled Fortitude today, after 10 months bulk aging in carboy. According with Winexpert "Australian Fortitude – Blackcurrent, plum, cherry and spice with a dry finish." My first impressions, taste like a young dry red wine. Fruit forward, not much oak, has a dry finish. So far I have been underwhelmed by Limited Edition release. The wine needs more body.

It's less than a year old. Hopefully it was fully degassed prior to bottling, otherwise it won't improve beyond where it's at. If so, let it sit for at least a year before you start opening bottles.

 

[Daroowala]

It's less than a year old. Hopefully it was fully degassed prior to bottling, otherwise it won't improve beyond where it's at. If so, let it sit for at least a year before you start opening bottles.

Fully degassed. Will take your advise and let it age, I have 27 bottles uncork a bottle in 3 months and check on its progress.

 

[pillswoj]

Fortitude never impressed me, it was light in body and aging did not really help. It along with the LE Super Tuscan were the 2 kits that convinced me to stop doing the Winexpert LEs every year. Last year I did none of them, this year I will be doing the South African Cape Blend but if it is light in body it will be the last WE kit I do.

 

[jgmann67]

Fortitude never impressed me, it was light in body and aging did not really help. It along with the LE Super Tuscan were the 2 kits that convinced me to stop doing the Winexpert LEs every year. Last year I did none of them, this year I will be doing the South African Cape Blend but if it is light in body it will be the last WE kit I do.

Totally agree about the LE Super Tuscan. But, my Fourtitide came out medium bodied and with the additional oak (I recall adding some Fr Med+ cubes) and finishing tannin, it was a beauty. I would have preferred a bigger wine, but I can say that for just about every kit I’ve made.

Like you, I’m off of the LE’s from WE for good. But, the Eclipse kits offered on a limited basis have come out pretty well so far.

 

[Rocky]

I was similarly underwhelmed by the Fortitude so here is what I did with it.

I made a triple batch of the Fortitude, starting in June '16. By May '17 it was about as good as it was going to get and ready to bottle but I did not like it so I left it in 3 each 5 gallon carboys for more than a year.

I was making a "Super Tuscan" of my own design using two California juices, 12 gallons of Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend and 6 gallons of Sangiovese. This was started in September '17 and I had added a 96 oz. can of Blackberries and a 3 lb. can of Blackberry puree to primary. It was okay after about a year, but not spectacular. I had also made a 3 gallon batch of blackberry wine about a year earlier and it was aging well, tasted great but a little on the thin side.

By June '18 I had three wines which, while each had some great attributes, none was outstanding on its own. I decided to do some blending so I created a wine which I call "Debutante" (after my daughter) which is 50% Super Tuscan, 41.7% Fortitude and 8.3% Blackberry. I put this all in two demijohns plus a 6 gallon carboy, with oak, currants and raisins and let it age for more than a year. In August '19 I bottled 160 bottles of the new wine which had turned out great.

It was a long road which I would not want to travel again but worked out well.

 

[Brian55]

The WE LE's have been hit and miss over the years, but the hits definitely outnumber the misses. Agree with jgmann67 regarding the Fourtitude, ours was quite good. The LE13 South African Shiraz/Cab was great. The LE13 Oregon Pinot Noir was the best "kit" pinot we've ever tasted. The LE13 Washington cab/mer was decent as well. The LE13 Pacific Quartet was ok, but too sweet for our tastes (adding half the f-pac into primary would have solved this, live and learn). We skipped LE14 due to WE's brilliant idea to start price MAP. Thankfully Label Peelers found a way around that nonsense by 2015. The LE15 Barbera was underwhelming, but the Fourtitude and Mosaic Red were both excellent. The LE16 Vermentino was ok, while the LE16 Grenache Cabernet was quite good. The LE17 Chard/Chennin Blanc is nice. The LE17 Negramaro is excellent so far. The LE18 Black cab is unimpressive so far. The LE18 Fume Blanc is ok. The LE18 Corazon just went into the bottle and was quite good at that point. The LE18 Barbaresco and the LE18 Gewurzt are up next for bottling. For LE19 we went with the South African Cape Blend and the Pecorino Pinot Grigio.
We've had slightly better results with RJS RQ's, but still happy enough with the WE LE's to keep doing at least a couple per year, for now.
Definitely miss having the CC Passports as another option. Hopefully someone will pick up where George left off.

 

[sour_grapes]

The LE13 Oregon Pinot Noir was the best "kit" pinot we've ever tasted.

Still holding on to my one last bottle of that! Trying to find the right occasion.

 

[Brian55]

Still holding on to my one last bottle of that! Trying to find the right occasion.

Jealous... We killed our last bottle years ago.

 

[Daroowala]

A good aeration of WE Fortitude 1 hour prior to serving significantly improved the wine.