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Started last night. Will make by the book with the exception of some additional oak. Planning to trunk age most of it, but will put back a few bottles for the year mark. Anybody done this one? Jbo

Lots of folks say it will degas naturally in a carboy if you wait. That hasn’t been my experience. I’ve had wine in carboy as long as two years not fully degas. Now I always vacuum for insurance. I think a barrel would take care of degassing naturally due to the slight vacuum being...

I vacuum transfer and use a kink in the transfer line to create an expansion valve to decarb. Ive had multiple wines fail to decarb over time so I always use the vacuum to ensure no retained CO2. To frustrating to pop a cork on fizzy wine. Jbo

I’m my opinion, whites are much more representative of their respective grapes/styles than reds when talking kits(even in the smaller format kits). I think it has something to do with the extraction of the reds. And they also (generally) need less aging, so you get to enjoy your efforts...

I complain about a kit taste, but it has nothing to do with aging. Call it a house taste if you will, but there is a common flavor in all I’ve ever had that was from a kit - some more than others, but always there. But I like the hobby so I try to look past it or maybe around it. I’ve...

I’m with mason. I’ve done both and I’m not sure I could tell you the difference in a “fresh bucket” and a midrange kit. I will say that I’ve found all of the En Primeur skins kits to be superior to the (admittedly few) buckets I’ve done. Jbo

I always filter with #2 pads in my buon vino, even if my wine has been sitting for months. A well known wine guru has likened the relationship between anthocyanins and typical home filtration media as a string of spaghetti navigating a city street. You just aren’t going to filter out anything...

If you can find one, an RJS meritage. See recent posts. :) Jbo

I just leave mine. You’ll see little to no air lock activity. If the temperature or barometric pressure change, you may see some little activity again for a short time, but that’s just some natural degassing. Jbo

I’ve also been impressed with the 12L w/skins kits. The last one I did compared very favorably with an En Primeur I started at the same time when I took a small “barrel tasting.”” I’m thinking my next round might be a Cru international and a Cru Select of the same varietal so I can make a...

True Kuz about the backsweetening. I know that, but when RJS has “off-dry” in their lexicon, I would think they would not use ‘dry’ when it is totally inaccurate. Their wine should be true to style as packaged. So I decided after much deliberation that there must be something in the f-pack...

I haven’t checked sg. That’s a good idea, but I know it has residual sugar from the f-pack. My plan is to pour it onto the grapes from an active ferment after a first racking. I’m hoping the already active yeast will ferment out the little remaining sugar. Jbo

OK. Closing in on a year and I’ve made my decision on this one. It is distinctly sweet - no matter that the RJS description is “dry”. I noted above that I thought the sweetness might become a perception of fruit, but it has gotten even sweeter. I tasted with my homebrew perveyor and he...

I started this same kit last March. I left it on the skins for 5 weeks. Added an ounce of medium French oak chips. Bottled 4 weeks ago. It’s very tasty. No idea what the ‘extended maceration’ may or may not have done to it. I will say that this is not at all the big wine I was expecting...

I agree. I like the bags and think they’ll easily last a year and more if you make sure to get all the air out. The only real problem with bags is: it ain’t gonna last. Too easy to sample. If it’s going to have a chance of aging for me, it’s gotta be in a bottle. Jbo

I just bottled a Cru Select zin that’s pretty tasty, if very simple at 9 months. Also(and this makes no sense) I also bottled an En Primeur Nebbiolo that’s very light and tasty at 9 months. Why a nebbiolo would be light or tasty that early is beyond me. In fact, it tastes like no Nebbiolo...

Best part about winemaking: wine loves neglect once it’s in storage. I should neglect mine more. I bottled 89 bottles yesterday and moved them to the cellar. Hope I can neglect them until at least this time next year. :) Jbo

I didn’t say before chugging. :) I said tasting. Plus, my theory on wine is if I like it, I should drink it. After all, that’s why I made it. LOL I’ll make sure some ages to three years or so, but I’ve never had a kit I thought improved significantly after two years, so that’s plenty in...

Did a little ‘barrel tasting’ this evening. These were started in March, so not expecting fireworks. Just wanted to see where we were. En Primeur Nebbiolo - dry, lighter than I expected, negligible fruit, but still very nice En Primeur Cabernet - nice body, much more than the Nebbiolo...

Emailed them some time ago and never got a response, but thanks for reminding me of it. I’ll try again. I’m only 20 minutes from Buford. That would be really handy. Jbo