WineXpert Winexpert Pinot noir issues.

[Elmer]

Recently started a wine expert selection Pinot noir 16L kit.
1st issue I had was nowhere on the box or in directions did it indicate what region this is from. I know from their web page that they have Chilean, Sonoma & New Zealand. So I have no clue what I am making!

Second issue I had was I followed the directions to a T. Added the the 5 liters (1 and a 1/4 gallon) of water and I was still under 6 gallons(23l).
Now in finishing fermentation in a carboy and i am still shy of 6 gallon.

Now once I racked during fermentation to a carboy (secondary) I have a ton of muck at the bottom, which is going to cause further volume problems.

I know I have measured my carboys and buckets time and time again.
Therefore I did not want to add more water prior to fermentation.
However given I started under 6 gallon and will lose more volume to all the lees do I bother topping up to 6 when done, or just go down to 5.

I had such high hopes that this would be a great tasting kit!

 

[jamesngalveston]

i would go down to 5 and save the leftover for topping that off after you rack it.

 

[cpfan]

Recently started a wine expert selection Pinot noir 16L kit.
1st issue I had was nowhere on the box or in directions did it indicate what region this is from. I know from their web page that they have Chilean, Sonoma & New Zealand. So I have no clue what I am making!

Second issue I had was I followed the directions to a T. Added the the 5 liters (1 and a 1/4 gallon) of water and I was still under 6 gallons(23l).
Now in finishing fermentation in a carboy and i am still shy of 6 gallon.

1) You are making a generic Pinot Noir. if you wanted to know the country of origin you needed to buy a different kit. I just checked WE's website, and of the three Selection Pinot Noirs, the Selection Original one is generic, and there are two in the Selection International line from New Zealand and Chile. The Sonoma Valley Pinot Noir is in the Eclipse line.

2) To make a 16 litre kit into 23 litres, you needed 7 litres of water (ie 1.85 US gallons). So it appears that you started out 2 litres short. When I make up a kit, I don't add a specific amount of water, I fill the primary to my 23 litre mark.

Good luck with this kit, it should be quite nice in a year.

Steve

 

[Elmer]

Thanks for info.

I was wrong in my initial post.
The kit calls for 1/2 gallon (2L) warm water. Follow with 1/2 gallon (2L) and then top to 23l, which took another 1/2 gallon.
So I actually added 6 liters and was up to my line on my bucket. Actually it was about 1/8 of inch shy, but close enough.
But I am still short in the carboy. 1/2 inch shirt of 6 gallon line.

 

[SouthernChemist]

Thanks for info.

I was wrong in my initial post.
The kit calls for 1/2 gallon (2L) warm water. Follow with 1/2 gallon (2L) and then top to 23l, which took another 1/2 gallon.
So I actually added 6 liters and was up to my line on my bucket. Actually it was about 1/8 of inch shy, but close enough.
But I am still short in the carboy. 1/2 inch shirt of 6 gallon line.

This is the Selection Original kit, so there is probably no single source of origin. Not to say it won't be good after a year or so, though. Just give it time to develop.

Not all the '6 gallon' carboys they sell these days are actually 6 gallons. Many of them or closer to 6.5 gallons. If you have a 5 gallon carboy, you could definitely rack into that and use the remaining one for topping up over time by storing it in gallon or half gallon jug. That would probably be the easiest thing to do. If you keep it in a 6ish gallon carboy, you will have to top up with a similar wine.

 

[johnl]

I'm a newbie and chose to make the Eclipse Sonoma PN kit. I started primary fermentation on Jan 12th. I used bottled FIJI spring water. My starting sg was 1.105. Temp range in primary fermentation area was 72 degrees f. I tested sg after six days and found it to be 1.005 and racked to a six gallon carboy.
I moved the carboy to a slightly warmer temperature area that maintains 73-75 degrees constantly. I tested the sg of the primary fermentation process at day 7, was 1.002; tested at day 11 and sg was at 1.001; and tested yesterday, day 15, and found sg at 1.000.


My questions is, with starting sg at 1.105 (five thousandths above the referenced starting range in my kit directions of 1.080-1.100), will my ending sg be .005 higher
than the directions in the kit reflect I should be at the end of the secondary fermentation process (.996 or less), so I should only expect sg of 1.001 or less??

or....

Do I need to just continue to wait and be patient and it will eventually hit the .996?
Thanks for any help!

 

[knockabout]

I'm a newbie and chose to make the Eclipse Sonoma PN kit. I started primary fermentation on Jan 12th. I used bottled FIJI spring water. My starting sg was 1.105. Temp range in primary fermentation area was 72 degrees f. I tested sg after six days and found it to be 1.005 and racked to a six gallon carboy.
I moved the carboy to a slightly warmer temperature area that maintains 73-75 degrees constantly. I tested the sg of the primary fermentation process at day 7, was 1.002; tested at day 11 and sg was at 1.001; and tested yesterday, day 15, and found sg at 1.000.


My questions is, with starting sg at 1.105 (five thousandths above the referenced starting range in my kit directions of 1.080-1.100), will my ending sg be .005 higher
than the directions in the kit reflect I should be at the end of the secondary fermentation process (.996 or less), so I should only expect sg of 1.001 or less??

or....

Do I need to just continue to wait and be patient and it will eventually hit the .996?
Thanks for any help!View attachment 13498

Yes just be patient and you should eventually hit the mark. You have a potentially higher ABV that's all

 

[SouthernChemist]

My questions is, with starting sg at 1.105 (five thousandths above the referenced starting range in my kit directions of 1.080-1.100), will my ending sg be .005 higher
than the directions in the kit reflect I should be at the end of the secondary fermentation process (.996 or less), so I should only expect sg of 1.001 or less??

or....

Do I need to just continue to wait and be patient and it will eventually hit the .996?
Thanks for any help!View attachment 13498

Kit instructions are written to be general. Your wine ended up with a starting gravity of 1.105 (assuming its corrected for temperature), and fermentation will bring it down to >0.996. It very well could be lower than than 0.996, but that is dependent on several factors. It will not automatically end up higher because your starting gravity was higher in this case.

In short, just let the fermentation do its thing.

 

[johnl]

Thanks Southern! Much appreciated.