Cellar Craft Cellar Craft French Colombard

[Rocky]

Okay Guys and Gals, I can't pass up a bargain! I bought the CC Fr. Colombard on a close out sale. Fact is, I like Colombard so it was a great buy for me.

I was a little concerned by the color of the jiuice but there is no off odor and the juice tastes great. I guess this is post purchase syndrome run amok. Anyway, I put it on yesterday and slow fermentation has started. Isg was 1.085 (corrected for temperature) and this morning it was 1.082.

It was a 16 liter kit for $60 so why not? It is a nice, easy drinking afternoon type wine and my Bride loves it.

 

[Wade E]

How old was the kit? Did you open the box is the store to check out the color? I would have but if the color wasnt too far off like you state yours wasnt I probably would buy it also. Im just saying this so hopefully people see kist like this with old expiration codes on the boxes and before purchasing ask the retailor if you can check out the color of the juice and also inspect the rest of the ingredients. I bought 1 kit like that wasnt even that old but where it was kept a mouse was able to crawl through the handle in the box and chew through the f-pac bag and must have been feeding on it for quite some time as it was pretty low with no signs of leakage anywhere in or on the box.

 

[Rocky]

Hi Wade,

Not sure of the age of the kit. The only code on the box was 108908, whatever that means. I bought this from George on one of his close out specials. I am not complaining. "You pays your money and you takes your chances." I did send George an email just to inform him. He still has this as a close out.

The wine looks good at this point, so we will see. By the way, did you make the wine from the kit with the mouse? Wasn't a "Mouselle" by any chance, was it?

 

[Wade E]

There should be some other numbers and letters on that box unless they have c hanged things again. It should start with letters. If you go to the Cellar Craft or any of the kit brands on the front page of this forum an d click on the brand youll see that the very first thread on each is a thread called Date codes and main link and it breaks down how to read each code and determine when this was made and also the link to this manufactures site. Here is the link to our Cellar Craft page. Its the sticky topic at the very top.
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=42

 

[Rocky]

Thanks for the lead, Wade.

Actually the wine is very fresh. Cleverly hidden in plain sight on the side (somethimes I wonder how I got this far) was the lot code: B16112SA, which using your info means February 11, 2011. I am glad that I still had the box. Re-cycle day is Tuesday in my area.

I feel much better about the wine. It still has a great aroma and taste. I am excited about this wine.

 

[Wade E]

Must be just a darker white then. I couldnt tell you though as Ive never had any ever. I wouldnt think George ever has old kits along with a few other retailers as they have very quick turnover and when they usually have a kit hang around he sells them at a cheaper price before the exp. is up just so he doesnt have to deal with any of those type of problems.

 

[Rocky]

Update here. I racked the Colombard (SG = 1.000) to a glass carboy and got about a 900ml under so I topped off with Chardonnay-Semillon, which I had going. The wine is looking real good and has a great flavor, even at this point. This white wine is on sale ($53.99 + shipping for a 16 l kit) this month at the Toy Store and I highly recommend it if you like a nice, crisp white.