WineXpert Bravado Super Tuscan

[dcbrown73]

For mine, I just choose another Super Tuscan wine to top up with.

 

[tweak]

For mine, I just choose another Super Tuscan wine to top up with.

I have a hard time topping up with a $40+ bottle of wine... if I could find a Super Tuscan at a more reasonable price then I could go that route. Plenty of good wines in the $15-$20 range that should blend well.

 

[dcbrown73]

I have a hard time topping up with a $40+ bottle of wine... if I could find a Super Tuscan at a more reasonable price then I could go that route. Plenty of good wines in the $15-$20 range that should blend well.

I don't spend that much on mine. Usually around $20 for the Tuscan. (less for most others wines except my Amarone)

Are you sure you aren't thinking of an Amarone? Those are usually quite expensive due to the process used to make it. They half drying the grapes which makes them use more grapes for the same volume of wine. Not to mention they usually age them quite a bit longer.

 

[Johnd]

Thanks for the thoughts! I was thinking about using a Sangiovese, but also have some nice Cab's that I could use that I think might blend well. I think I'll only need one bottle as I'll be adding some oak as well for bulk aging, and that should bring up the headspace to an acceptable level.

I tried to keep as much as I could when racking this kit, but the lee's are super loose as everyone has noted.

You should be just fine with either of those choices, after all, you're only talking about 1/30th of the wine volume. You'd have to put something really horrible in there to have a profound impact upon the wine. By the same token, putting a 100 point cab that costs $200 / bottle isn't going to make any substantial improvements either............

 

[tweak]

I haven't been able to find a Super Tuscan at any of my local wine retailers for $20 a bottle.... but maybe I need to look harder!

 

[Inverted]

Super Tuscan are blends of cab and sangiovese so blend with either and you are in the ballpark.

 

[Brian55]

Top with any of the bigger reds. As has been covered in earlier posts, your addition for topping is ~ 3% of total volume.

 

[Ajmassa]

Wish I'd seen this thread sooner. Might not have made Bravado as my first kit ever. The oak chips, fluffy lees, and siphoning issues are all there. As is SG finished after 7 days.
I'm 3 days into secondary. I was planning on rackingand adding agents early since the SG was good. But with the amount of lees discussed I nixed that plan. I'm already at 1 1/4". Figure another week to let more lees drop will be beneficial.

 

[Inverted]

Lots of fluffy lees for sure. I ended up losing almost a half gallon when I racked.

 

[wineh]

I'll be racking to bulk aging this next week and will need to top up as I've got a little bit of headspace. Any recommendations on something to top off this Super Tuscan with? I don't really have any "reasonable priced" super tuscan's that I've been able to find locally.

I topped mine with a bottle of Eclipse Lodi Ranch 11 Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

[Ajmassa]

Used Banfi Belnero Super Tuscan 08' to top off. $26. And delicious.
Should I be worried about my pH and TA levels at this point 3 weeks in and cleared and stabilized this past weekend?
Ph 4.5-4.9 (dip strips)
TA .55%-.60% (acid testing solution kit)
I Will check again when I rack I 3 weeks. Hoping pH mellows naturally. I'm not too concerned right now. Unless i should be.

 

[jgmann67]

Used Banfi Belnero Super Tuscan 08' to top off. $26. And delicious.
Should I be worried about my pH and TA levels at this point 3 weeks in and cleared and stabilized this past weekend?
Ph 4.5-4.9 (dip strips)
TA .55%-.60% (acid testing solution kit)
I Will check again when I rack I 3 weeks. Hoping pH mellows naturally. I'm not too concerned right now. Unless i should be.

I never do. You'll be fine. I topped my Bravado with some Lodi Cab.

 

[Johnd]

Used Banfi Belnero Super Tuscan 08' to top off. $26. And delicious.
Should I be worried about my pH and TA levels at this point 3 weeks in and cleared and stabilized this past weekend?
Ph 4.5-4.9 (dip strips)
TA .55%-.60% (acid testing solution kit)
I Will check again when I rack I 3 weeks. Hoping pH mellows naturally. I'm not too concerned right now. Unless i should be.

PH and TA in kits are supposed to be balanced, so you shouldn't need to worry about it. If your pH really was 4.5-4.9, you would have a problem, but my bet is that accurately reading pH strip in red wine is the real culprit here. Test pH with a decent meter if you're concerned.

 

[Ajmassa]

I figured as much. I'll cross that bridge later if it comes to it. Just wanted to put that out there. Thanks

 

[nwwoods]

I have this kit sitting on the oak cubes as a final stage before bottling rather than when the fermentation is shut down, so I basically have the finished wine on the oak and can leave it as long as I like.

One concern with this kit is the low starting gravity. I measured 1.074. It finished at 0.993 for ~ 11% ABV. It's fine, I just expected a starting gravity in the mid-upper 80's.

What OSG did others get?

 

[jgmann67]

I have this kit sitting on the oak cubes as a final stage before bottling rather than when the fermentation is shut down, so I basically have the finished wine on the oak and can leave it as long as I like.

One concern with this kit is the low starting gravity. I measured 1.074. It finished at 0.993 for ~ 11% ABV. It's fine, I just expected a starting gravity in the mid-upper 80's.

What OSG did others get?

I don't recall exactly, but I measured my SG after letting the skins on the juice for half a day, and boosting with simple syrup until I got it to a potential ABV of 14%.

If you measured before allowing the sugars and solids from the skins time, you're actual ABV will be a bit higher (closer to 13%).

 

[dcbrown73]

I have this kit sitting on the oak cubes as a final stage before bottling rather than when the fermentation is shut down, so I basically have the finished wine on the oak and can leave it as long as I like.

One concern with this kit is the low starting gravity. I measured 1.074. It finished at 0.993 for ~ 11% ABV. It's fine, I just expected a starting gravity in the mid-upper 80's.

What OSG did others get?

After letting it sit with the skins thoroughly stirred, I believe mine ended up at 1.098 (about 14.5% ABV) when I pitched the yeast the following day and fermented to dry (0.992).

 

[nwwoods]

Thank you, I measured the juice before adding the skins, so with the skins it must have been higher. It sure looked beautiful going into the bucket with the oak. Will sample at bottling time in 1-2 months and follow up.

 

[dcbrown73]

Thank you, I measured the juice before adding the skins, so with the skins it must have been higher. It sure looked beautiful going into the bucket with the oak. Will sample at bottling time in 1-2 months and follow up.

You might consider leaving it in the carboy for at least six or more months with racking and dosing with k-meta every three months. It will allow you extra time to make any changes and you're less likely to get sediment dropping in the bottle the longer and more times you rack it.

Good luck!

 

[sour_grapes]

I have found that the skins cause an increase of about 0.016 - 0.018 SG points.