Cellar Craft Cellar Craft 2011 LR Marsanne-Viognier-Roussanne

[ibglowin]

Our first cool front of Fall is moving through this morning and I thought what better time to pitch the yeast on a limited release white that I picked up back in the springtime and have been holding on to till I got an opening for it. These LR kits are all sold out now. This kit came with 18L of juice so the box was full to the top almost with just the juice bag alone. This is basically a white French Rhone style of wine. The juice is mostly from Washington state as well as a small amount from California.No wood whatsoever in this kit.

From the CC LR Release notes for this kit:

Co-fermentation of these varietals creates a wine that shows pear, melon, white peach, subtle tropical notes, a hint of citrus, delicate spice and an over-riding floral impression. All of this is wrapped within a lush, almost creamy texture with just enough acidity to vividly define the lengthy finish.

Starting SG was 1.090 Should come out to 12.5% ABV when finished. No suisse reserve pack so it will be completely dry when bottled.

First kit through my new 30L primary fermenter I picked up awhile back. Interesting design. I can't seem to snap the lid, it appears to only "rest" on top even though it has an airlock hole in the lid. Lots of room for larger grape pack kits in this guy.

Will update this thread as things progress.

 

[rhoffart]

Very nice ... great colors

I have that primary bucket and it snaps shut. It looks just like mine. It takes some force but mine closes.

 

[ibglowin]

Good to know, man I pushed down hard yesterday and got no snap. Did you notice the poor design on the valve. At least on mine, the valve is so low to the bottom that the opening actually rest on the counter top. When the primary is full the weight of the juice pushes down to the point that the valve is actually pushed up just enough and its starts to leak!

I found this out when I used the bucket for the first time to fortify my (2) La Bodega Port kits. Turned around and had an ounce of wine already leaked out in just a few minutes.

Notice in the pic I now have the valve turned so it is not resting on the counter.

 

[rhoffart]

I don't use it anymore since I vac rack everything ... yea, don't like the spout. It makes a good car wash bucket

 

[ibglowin]

Moved this guy over to glass this weekend. SG was 1.010. Had to use the heating pad on low to get the temps up in the carboy as they had fallen to 67. We had a morning low of 45 on Saturday! Temp is now ~70 in the carboy.

 

[PeterZ]

Made this one a couple of years ago (Synergy 2 LR) and really enjoyed it. I think I have 1 1500ml bottle left. This year's is on deck. Might start it this weekend.

 

[ibglowin]

We had off work yesterday for a "snow day" so I took advantage and bottled this guy! Almost 4 months old now. pH was high for a kit white. Usually they run pretty darn low (3.1-3.2 range) but this one checked in at 3.46 so he needed a pretty good dose of sulfite before bottling. Brought him up to snuff and used the V2 Auto Bottle Filler and got it done. The left over glass was a little green but still pretty darn good. I had a commercial blend that I used as top off wine that was a lot higher on the Roussanne. I think given some decent bottle time this will actually be a better blend as it had more Viognier and Marsanne.

 

[ibglowin]

Forgot to mention that this one is called "Tercet".
In poetry, a Tercet is a group of three lines of verse that often rhyme and form a complete thought.
This "Tercet" is comprised of Marsanne, Viognier and Rousanne.

 

[rhoffart]

Damn ... your a bottling dude. Way to go

 

[ibglowin]

Gotta make room for those 7 Carboys of Cali wine on the bench top!

 

[rhoffart]

Be careful your going to soon have enough wine to open for business.

 

[ibglowin]

Christmas is coming and the stocks will be hit hard as gifts.

 

[Scott B]

Very Nice!


Hope you have a Merry Christmas!

 

[ibglowin]

Thanks Scott, same to you and your family. Ours will be a white one for sure. Another storm is headed our way tomorrow night. Getting some use out of that snow blower I bought last Winter!

 

[grapeman]

Those turned out great. Keep the snow over there Mike!

 

[ibglowin]

We need the moisture (always do it seems). They had I40 E closed from ABQ to the Texas border for 24 hours as well as I25 N from Santa Fe to CO as well. Lots of FedEx and UPS stuff was stuck that was headed East. All is back to normal as of yesterday. Our oldest is flying in on Friday from LA and looks like we will be between storms. Good thing as its 210 miles RT to pick her up!

 

[pioneergirl]

I am looking at this kit right now. How does yours go at this point? Carolyn

 

[ibglowin]

I just opened my first split about 2 weeks ago. The wine is now ~6 months old. In short it is fantastic! Its still a little young and will improve for another 6 months or so but its very drinkable right now. This white wine is very different from most any others. The mouthfeel is incredible.

 

[SouthernChemist]

I've never had a Rhone-style wine (yet), but I would have never expected the must would have that orange color to it. Looks like that changed overtime, but the I bet the final product is delicious!

 

[ibglowin]

The color is off a bit due to the flash. My winery has no natural light so its pretty dark in there and I need flash to get a decent pic. The wine after fining is a very normal pale (straw) yellow color.