Search results

Bump, for anywhere besides the place in FL?

Anyone have a source besides Midwest? $200 ea. is bordering on ridiculous.

Use them on the grill to add smoke flavor.

If anyone is interested in purchasing a bottle washer similar to the one pictured, I recommend the stainless one from Morewine: Stainless Steel Bottle Washer | MoreWine

Use the bag, they're still floating in the same liquid, with just as much surface area contacting the liquid. Plus you can squeeze the bag occasionally to extract the juice from the skins. It may look as if you have 1 3/4" of lees on the bottom, but most of that is just sticking to the sides...

It depends on how often you rack, and also storage temperature. Six months is usually more than enough on kits without skins.

Ours is about 1.5 years. Opened a bottle the other day. It's ok at this point, nothing special.

https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/eclipse-stag-leap-merlot-extended-maceration.67876/page-4#post-757256

I've used all sorts of corks, none of them have ever caused an issue. Keep in mind I've only made kits, and haven't aged anything too far beyond 5 years.

#1 Aging, whether bulk or bottle. There is nothing more important. #2 EM for at least a month on kits with skins #3 Oak, glass carboys and plastic buckets don't replicate barrel aging. If you don't have barrels, over oak it, it will fade with time. #4 Short the water addition, especially on...

If this is one of those MM that come in the plastic bucket, you're all good. They just require a significant amount of aging compared to other kits. I was originally disappointed in a couple that I did years ago, at least for the first few years. Then eventually I stumbled across some bottles...

Mosti Meglioli Chilean Malbec, if you can find it, and have the patience to let it age at least 3 years. Next would be RJS En Primeur Chilean Malbec. This one is drinkable around 1.5 years, but gets much better with time.

I believe that's a personal preference. :h

This explains everything ^^^

I'd go with "time" as the primary clearing agent.

2372 comments and 119 pages of mostly word salad. We need to find Joe an editor and start a new thread with the "Cliff Notes" version of "Tweaking Cheap Kits".

Sounds like another decent plan. Make sure you give all these premium kits you're making proper time to age. I would recommend 2 years minimum for reds, 3 is better, 4-5 for bigger reds. The ole fossils (I'm not too far off) on here will make countless excuses as to why they can't age their...

Yes.

Sounds like a decent plan. I haven't looked at the instructions for years at this point, so I'm not sure how far my method sways from them. I shorted the water a bit. Added the included oak powder and chips to primary. Racked and added the included oak cubes, topped up with 3 bottles of...

Just racked ours out of a 30 day EM. Everything looked and tasted as expected.