Cellar Craft 2010 Limited Release Tannat...

[Darryl]

Ok gang... My very first Cellar Craft kit!! Just came in today... I will start this one very soon...
I have a couple of question for the peeps...
1. do all of yall put the grape pack in the mesh bag or can you add it in the must...


2. I have never had a kit with oak cubes before... do yall like them better/worse than chips or dust...


3.How long in the primary... do yall let it finish or do yall pull the grape pack and go to secondary in 5-6 days...


Just a few questions, and I knew yall could help!!!!!
Thanks,
Darryl

 

[vcasey]

I am patiently (not really) waiting for my CC Tannat to arrive. The grape pack will go into the must, not in a mesh bag. I'll be putting this in a barrel, but in the past have used whatever oak was provided in the kits with great results. The must will remain in the primary until its dry, so it can sit on the skins for as long as possible, and I find for me it makes degassing much easier.

 

[ibglowin]

Grape pack in the mesh bag (much easier to remove)!
Let it go in primary all the way to dry. (7-9 days)
Punch down the grape pack daily and squeeze it with your spoon to help extract all the good stuff.
Cubes are stronger than chips, more surface area so cubes are for big hearty reds.

Secondary for ~ 12 days. Transfer the oak cubes if they were put in primary.

Should be a good one, let us know how it turns out.

 

[Dean]

I'm a little different. Grape pack in the bag, but after the must is mixed up, I sanitize my hands and squeeze and rinse the skins in the bag until they are nothing but skins and seeds. All the jam goes into the must. After that, it only needs alcohol (which is created by fermentation) to extract the colors, phenols, and tannins from the skins. In the bag or loose, makes no difference, but cleanup sure is easy when in the bag. Tie the knot as close as possible to the top, but not so much that it can come undone.

Oak cubes in both primary and secondary (rinsed after primary). Keep the oak cubes in contact as long as you can.

I use a 14 day primary routine, like RJS uses. But I don't stir or "punch down" the bag of skins. I use a cut nylon spoon to push the bag to bottom to keep it submerged. Others have used marbles in the bag, and others still have used shot glasses in the bag to keep it down. If I didn't have a modified spoon, I'd probably use the shot glass method.

Best of luck! Tannat is a great wine!

 

[Darryl]

Thanks guys,
I'm going to go all the way to dry in the primary and leave the oak infor a while... I will bulk it for 6 months... I will post photos when I start it!!!!
Thanks,
Darryl