WineXpert Australian Shiraz / Viognier

[roblloyd]

I bottled my shiraz/vognier yesterday. I had about a 1/2 bottle left over so that was my tester.

It looked very clear in the carboy after clearing and racking several times. I filtered and it looks awesome now.

Upon tasting it was really nice. It didn't have that young taste like my ports and others have had this year when bottling.

I think this will be a great wine with some aging.

 

[jwalker1140]

A 6-month tasting note.

Started in Mar-2011 and followed the Tim Vandergrift 5-20-40-90 schedule but otherwise didn't deviate from instructions. I also hit all the gravity and temp numbers. This past weekend was the 6 month mark counting from the instruction's bottling date (though it's actually only been in bottle for about 4.5 months) so I decided to open a 375ml bottle to try.

The wine was an attractive deep ruby red and perfectly clear with no sediment in the bottle (I didn't filter). The nose was very fruity but didn't have any noticeable syrah or viognier character. The taste left me with two strong impressions: oak and sweet. I couldn't find anything in the taste that suggested syrah or viognier, only sweet juicy wood. I've tasted plenty of $4 syrahs from Trader Joe's that have shown more varietal character and have been better balanced than this, so I have to say I was pretty disappointed. The body was low to medium.

A reason for hope: I poured the final two glasses through a Vinturi and my wife and I both agreed that this really helped to round out the flavors. This somehow reduced the pronounced artificial sweet candy taste to the point where it actually tasted like wine, as opposed to something kind of gross, to be honest. I'm not anti-oak guy but the heavy oak was still there and distracting, but perhaps that's just the Aussie style. Or maybe it still needs more time to integrate. I do think I was also able to pick up a slight exotic floral note on the nose that I attribute to the viognier.

So, there it is. Pretty disappointing at this stage but I remain optimistic. I'll try again in about six months and report back.

 

[roblloyd]

Oaky? I don't think my kit don't and with oak but I will check my notes. Mine is not sweet. Are we talking about the same kit?
Mine was fermented dry and no back sweetening.

 

[jwalker1140]

The kit I'm describing is the 2010 Selection Limited Edition Shiraz/Viognier.

I didn't keep notes as to the amount and type of oak, but I recall it came with quite a bit. I think it included both chips and sawdust, which were added to the primary and left behind when transferred to the secondary.

Mine finished at 0.994 so it's definitely dry but it still has a fake sweetness about it that I don't care for. Maybe it's just a young fruitiness that, in the absence of any yet-to-develop meaty syrah flavors, gives the impression of sweetness? Or maybe it's the oak or the sorbate? Don't get me wrong, you wouldn't confuse this for a semi dry, but it is sweet for a dry red.

I don't know, maybe I'm expecting too much, but I don't think so. I'm holding out hope that it's still just too young because as it's drinking now, I'd take the $4 Trader Joe's Syrah over this any day.

 

[soccer0ww]

A 6-month tasting note.

Started in Mar-2011 and followed the Tim Vandergrift 5-20-40-90 schedule but otherwise didn't deviate from instructions. I also hit all the gravity and temp numbers. This past weekend was the 6 month mark counting from the instruction's bottling date (though it's actually only been in bottle for about 4.5 months) so I decided to open a 375ml bottle to try.

The wine was an attractive deep ruby red and perfectly clear with no sediment in the bottle (I didn't filter). The nose was very fruity but didn't have any noticeable syrah or viognier character. The taste left me with two strong impressions: oak and sweet. I couldn't find anything in the taste that suggested syrah or viognier, only sweet juicy wood. I've tasted plenty of $4 syrahs from Trader Joe's that have shown more varietal character and have been better balanced than this, so I have to say I was pretty disappointed. The body was low to medium.

A reason for hope: I poured the final two glasses through a Vinturi and my wife and I both agreed that this really helped to round out the flavors. This somehow reduced the pronounced artificial sweet candy taste to the point where it actually tasted like wine, as opposed to something kind of gross, to be honest. I'm not anti-oak guy but the heavy oak was still there and distracting, but perhaps that's just the Aussie style. Or maybe it still needs more time to integrate. I do think I was also able to pick up a slight exotic floral note on the nose that I attribute to the viognier.

So, there it is. Pretty disappointing at this stage but I remain optimistic. I'll try again in about six months and report back.

Glad to see I am not the only one who feels this wine has too much oak, at least at this point. And I have to agree the wine does have an unusual "sweetness" to it. Thanks for your write up!

 

[roblloyd]

ok just popped open Brewtrax. I started this on 2/27/11. Same kit. I had 4 packs of oak chips. Fermented down to .994 on 3/11/11. Racked, degassed etc. Aged in the carboy until 11/6/11 when I bottled.

Even my wife liked it - lately she's been saying everything is sweet or too young.

I'd be willing to send a bottle to you if you want to swap and see how they compare?

 

[jwalker1140]

Rob, thanks for the offer. I may take you up on it eventually, but for now I think I'll give it another six months to see if it rounds out and gains some complexity. I'm hopeful it will with enough time.

 

[roblloyd]

I wonder if my bulk aging was different then your bottling to much earlier?
I followed the directions with the only changes being the SG readings and not the time elapsed. Then bulk aging instead of bottling.

I'm very curious to see how someone else's compares.

 

[soccer0ww]

Tried another bottle of the shiraz/viognier blend the other night. It still seems to have the somewhat oaky/sweet flavor. Really unusual, and just doesn't seem correct for this style of wine. According to my notes wine finished around .997 when I bottled. Measured the other night since I was curious and it measured 1.002, maybe a bit of temperature variation? Still where is that sweet flavor coming from? First kit I have done where the final product is not quite what I was expecting.