Bottled first wine 04/30/13

[FatPete]

Final S.G. .995...tasted like a cross of a Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio...I am not disappointed. I look forward to opening a bottle in September. Made my second batch last night, a Cabernet Sauvignon using Alexander's Grape Concentrate.

 

[Abrnth3]

Sounds good Pete, I perfer reds myself.

 

[FatPete]

Sounds good Pete, I perfer reds myself.

Me too, this one was for the Mrs!

 

[Arne]

Congrats, one down and many more to go. Question: Am I seeing foam on top of a couple of those bottles? If so, keep an eye on them. If they still happen to be fermenting or having a referment, things happen. Most of them you really don't want to happen. Anway, if you open one and it is bubbly or a cork starts pushing out, give us a shout and we will try and help. Been there on this, where mine are stored, it doesn't make much difference. If you have them in a nice spot, it can make quite the mess. Arne.

 

[FatPete]

Congrats, one down and many more to go. Question: Am I seeing foam on top of a couple of those bottles? If so, keep an eye on them. If they still happen to be fermenting or having a referment, things happen. Most of them you really don't want to happen. Anway, if you open one and it is bubbly or a cork starts pushing out, give us a shout and we will try and help. Been there on this, where mine are stored, it doesn't make much difference. If you have them in a nice spot, it can make quite the mess. Arne.

Thanks Arne. The foam is Star San. There is no foam now.

Also, I did mix campden tabs and potassium sorbate into the must prior to bottling.

 

[GreginND]

You should be proud of your accomplishment! I remember my first bottles fondly.

Just a couple of comments. First, did you sweeten it up? No reason to add sorbate if it is dry with SG 0.995. Second, to me it looks a little bit cloudy yet. Don't be surprised if it drops some sediment in the bottle. It should still taste great. Just tip your bottles upright a day or two before serving and carefully decant. In the future you may want to give it more time in the carboy to clear before bottling. Not sure how long you bulk aged it.

Most of all, ENJOY IT!

 

[manibd04]

Congrats FatPete

Final S.G. .995...tasted like a cross of a Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio...I am not disappointed. I look forward to opening a bottle in September. Made my second batch last night, a Cabernet Sauvignon using Alexander's Grape Concentrate.

I'm ready to bottle my first one too, anytime now- pineapple!
Question for you: What recipe did u use for your grapes wine? Can you share it?
Any user out there, growing my own grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon-VA) and will try to make my first batch in the summer- looking for a good recipe!
thank you,
mani

 

[Swediepie]

I'm new as well, and won't be opening our first bottles until early July. It seems like forever, but it will be worth the wait!

 

[jswordy]

I am glad you took a picture of your first batch! Yay! From here, the adventure begins, and you can always look back as a touchstone to this time. If I may offer advice in winemaking, it's to never quit daring to try something new. The journey unfolds before you...

 

[bakervinyard]

FatPete, I remember my first wine It was 1 gallon kit from a home goods type store. Made 5 bottles, didn't taste that good. That was about 8 years ago. Now friends and family request my wines. Congrats. on your first bottling. Bakervinyard

 

[wpt-me]

I just bottled my first wines. A gal of Welches and a gal of skeeter, plus 6 bottles of a white zin kit. The rest is still in aging process.

bill

 

[GreginND]

I still have a bottle of my first real attempt at winemaking. It was a rhubarb wine. It has a nice coating of dust in the bottom of it. Some day I'll do a rhubarb vertical tasting of my many vintages.

IF you can stand it, hide a couple bottles away for discovery later. You will be happy you did. And the experience of tasting your wine with some age will be interesting.

 

[FatPete]

I'm ready to bottle my first one too, anytime now- pineapple!
Question for you: What recipe did u use for your grapes wine? Can you share it?
Any user out there, growing my own grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon-VA) and will try to make my first batch in the summer- looking for a good recipe!
thank you,
mani

Hi Mani,

Here is the recipe I used...

1 liter Winexpert White grape concentrate
2.25 Lbs sugar
4 tsp acid blend
2 tsp pectic enzyme
2 tsp yeast nutrient
H2O to 2.5 Gallons

Lalvin EC-1118

Good luck!

F.P.

 

[FatPete]

You should be proud of your accomplishment! I remember my first bottles fondly.

Just a couple of comments. First, did you sweeten it up? No reason to add sorbate if it is dry with SG 0.995. Second, to me it looks a little bit cloudy yet. Don't be surprised if it drops some sediment in the bottle. It should still taste great. Just tip your bottles upright a day or two before serving and carefully decant. In the future you may want to give it more time in the carboy to clear before bottling. Not sure how long you bulk aged it.

Most of all, ENJOY IT!

Hi Greg, Thank you for your comments. I have been home brewing ale for 3 years, this was my first foray into wine. I certainly appreciate your input. I will definitely use your insight. Thanks...FP...

 

[FatPete]

I'm new as well, and won't be opening our first bottles until early July. It seems like forever, but it will be worth the wait!

Hi ya, Ms pie...see you have a Malbec in the works...please post your progress...love me a good Malbec, on my list o'wines to make!

 

[manibd04]

Thxs FP

Hi Mani,

Here is the recipe I used...

1 liter Winexpert White grape concentrate
2.25 Lbs sugar
4 tsp acid blend
2 tsp pectic enzyme
2 tsp yeast nutrient
H2O to 2.5 Gallons

Lalvin EC-1118

Good luck!

F.P.

Thank you F.P- This formula is for 3gl batch? If so, to make a 6gl batch just multiply the amounts by 6?

 

[FatPete]

Thank you F.P- This formula is for 3gl batch? If so, to make a 6gl batch just multiply the amounts by 6?

Actually, this was a 2.5 gallon batch.

Multiplying by 2 would give you a 5 gallon batch.

 

[sili]

That is how you start. Good job. I too just bottled my Amador, California Barbera yesterday. It's nice to live in an area where fresh grapes are easy to come by. 530 pounds at picking resulted in 171 bottles of what looks to be a nice wine, will see in another year of aging.

 

[FatPete]

Opened first bottle...VERY PLEASED...light, slightly tart, I'd say crisp, very refreshing...and it only gets better from here...

 

[Stressbaby]

That's great!

My first batch, guava, was awesome. It was balanced, fruit forward, just a really enjoyable wine. With some excitement last weekend we opened a bottle from my second batch, starfruit...what a disaster. After one year it was flabby, too little fruit (Jack Keller recipe), unbalanced, just awful. We choked it down and the next day I uncorked all the remaining bottles and dumped them back into a carboy, made some adjustments, and rebottled. We'll try it again in a couple of months.

The winemaking learning curve is really something!