RJ Spagnols Broken hydrometer

[Charlietuna]

Hello all,

Today was day 20 with my RJ Spangnols Grande Cru International Collection Australia Cabernet Sauvignon.

2 days ago I broke my hydrometer & ordered a new one. My instructions say the SG needs to be .998 or lower before continuing.

I just racked it into a new glass carboy & plan to wait the 2 days for the hydrometer to get here so I can verify the sg. then rack again & mix in the sorbate & clairifiers.

Am I going at this correctly?

Secondly, has anyone had this kit & could you give opinion on the taste / flavor?

Thanks

Brian

 

[ibglowin]

I think you will be just fine to wait on the new Hydrometer.

 

[Runningwolf]

Charlie you should have ordered two hydrometers. It seems like the only time you break them is when you don't have a spare around. It's the cheapest and most important tool in wine making.

 

[Charlietuna]

Charlie you should have ordered two hydrometers. It seems like the only time you break them is when you don't have a spare around. It's the cheapest and most important tool in wine making.

Good point, I hope to be at the wine shop this week, I'll pick up another.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[PCharles]

Hey Charlie

CT, This was the first kit I made. I enjoyed the taste, but there were several mistakes that I made. First, I was too fast to bottle. It appeared that I had achived the target SG. I really should have let it age longer. My second mistake was toping off with water. This diulted the wine and gave it a weaker taste. I've never done that again. Thirdly, I did not adequately degas. I followed the instructions and stured the living bleep out of it, but the wine was defineltly full of gas. Since then, I've purchased a drill mounted mixer. That worked ok, but gas was still present. I've now gone to using a vacume system to remove excess gas. That seems to do the trick. Oh, one other thing I did was drink it early. I didn't have a stock of wine built up so I used up the wine without fully aging it.

If you avoid the mistakes I made, this kit should give you a very nice wine. When I made this wine I was not a member of this site. Perhaps the best lessons are the ones we learn by our own mistakes.

Best of luck with your wines,
Paul

 

[Repsolal]

I have this kit sitting here ready to be started when I have time / equipment free. This will be the fourth batch for this particular kit as its my favorite red in this price range ($60) and excellent value. Don,t be in a rush, I leave it fermenting for at least the full 14 days, then leave it to clear for at least 28 days before bottling as it will drop sediment in the bottle if you are too quick.
I find it a good "early drinker" and it certainly ages well too.......... I would say
that this has become my "house red" while my cru select and winery series kits
are aging.

 

[Runningwolf]

CT, This was the first kit I made. I enjoyed the taste, but there were several mistakes that I made. First, I was too fast to bottle. It appeared that I had achived the target SG. I really should have let it age longer. My second mistake was toping off with water. This diulted the wine and gave it a weaker taste. I've never done that again. Thirdly, I did not adequately degas. I followed the instructions and stured the living bleep out of it, but the wine was defineltly full of gas. Since then, I've purchased a drill mounted mixer. That worked ok, but gas was still present. I've now gone to using a vacume system to remove excess gas. That seems to do the trick. Oh, one other thing I did was drink it early. I didn't have a stock of wine built up so I used up the wine without fully aging it.

If you avoid the mistakes I made, this kit should give you a very nice wine. When I made this wine I was not a member of this site. Perhaps the best lessons are the ones we learn by our own mistakes.

Best of luck with your wines,
Paul

Paul, I could have written exactly what you did. I made the very same mistakes on my first wine (island mist Blackberry cab). The wine was very good and convinced me to make more. Little did I know at the time I could make it even better.

 

[joea132]

For sh!ts and giggles test the hygrometer on some distilled water. Mine read .998.

 

[Charlietuna]

Thanks for the advice & tips.

I feel very fortunate to have found this forum early in my wine making hobby. Each day I look back farther through the forums & search for more information. I believe this is the best resorce for the beginner wine maker.

The mistakes you all say you've made seem to be very typical & are covered here quite often, so I was able to avoid some of them.

Because I am just starting out, I'm sure I will be dipping into the my wine way too early. I already am with a Merlot kit. even at 2 months old, it's amazingly better than the cheaper stuff ($8-10 on sale) bottles / I was buying for bedtime glass. I've always been frugal with my wine purchases, to splurge was to buy a Kendall Jackson Merlot at $24. So, after tasting how good these kits are early really gets my hopes up for having quality wine in larger quanities.

Thanks again,

Brian