Cellar Craft Cellar Craft Showcase LR Carmenere-Cabernet

[ibglowin]

Started this guy finally last week and he is just about ready to move to secondary. This 2011 Limited Release kit has the larger grape pack included. 2.6L vs 2.0L or a full 30% more. Thats a big ol' grape pack for sure! Make sure to use one of the 7.9G buckets at least. Mine came to within 3 inches from the top so I was really maxed out on volume. Starting SG with the grape pack fully dissolved was 1.102 so should end up a little over 14% when finished.

This guy will get 3-4 months in a Vadai as well.

Has smelled awesome this week in the winery!

 

[patc]

Looking good Mike! should be a good one for sure

 

[RickC]

Mike, I definitely want to follow your journey with this one. I have it flagged as a "want to make" kit. Whichand how much oak came with this one? I realize using the barrel you may skip the kit oaks but just curious what it comes with.

 

[ibglowin]

Since its a LR kit when they are gone they are gone....

It isn't listed on the FVW web anymore so George may be out. If you want one, give him a call and see if he might possibly be able to order a few more still.

This kit came with a two stage oaking process of sawdust in Primary as well as 3 oz Hungarian Med+ toast beans/cubes. I will save these for later when the barrel goes neutral down the road!

 

[ibglowin]

Moved this guy over to glass last week and he is just about ready to stabilize and fine. SG is 0.994 using my now calibrated hydrometer!

One things for sure, a bigger grape pack sure made for bigger gross lees! Geez will you look at the sediment on the bottom of this guy after squeezing the crap out of the grape pack and transferring it all over to glass as well as a split (extra volume).

Gonna need a lot of topping up on this one for sure.......

 

[joeswine]

NICE LOOKING VINO....IM DOING THIS SAME COMBO OUT OF FRESH JUICE MAYBE WE CAN COMPAIR NOTES AND SWAP AT THE FINISH.MIND WILL TAKE A LEAST A YEAR TO COMPLETE.....BUT WE COULD COMPARE DOING THE SAME SYLE IN DIFFERENT MANNERS WHAT DO YOU SAY??????

 

[v1rotate]

That is a lot of sediment, Mike. This would be a good candidate for pouring the leftover sediment into a magnum or wine bottle to see how much more wine you can salvage. Are you putting this batch right into the barrel after you stabilize?

 

[ibglowin]

For sure lets compare notes. This will take 18mo before I will slowly put it into rotation but for sure lets keep in touch.

 
 
NICE LOOKING VINO....IM DOING THIS SAME COMBO OUT OF FRESH JUICE MAYBE WE CAN COMPAIR NOTES AND SWAP AT THE FINISH.MIND WILL TAKE A LEAST A YEAR TO COMPLETE.....BUT WE COULD COMPARE DOING THE SAME SYLE IN DIFFERENT MANNERS WHAT DO YOU SAY??????

 

[ibglowin]

I have a Caberlot that will go in next but this will be after that.

I always siphon off the gross lees into my sep funnel and let it settle out. I can get anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 bottle of wine!

That is a lot of sediment, Mike. This would be a good candidate for pouring the leftover sediment into a magnum or wine bottle to see how much more wine you can salvage. Are you putting this batch right into the barrel after you stabilize?

 

[ibglowin]

Bottling Day for 2011 CC Showcase LR Carmenere-Cabernet!

Finally got around to bottling this bad boy this weekend. I usually try and bottle around 8-9 months but procrastinated sufficiently enough that it ended up basically in the Carboy for 1 year minus the ~3.5 months in the Vadai barrel of course! Must say it turned out nicely. The Carmenere was pretty tannic for the first 10 months or so but little by little it has settled down and softened to the point of near perfection. Very balanced flavor profile between the two grapes. I bumped it up tannin wise as is my usual for any red kit. Oak is nice, not in your face but definitely in the background notes.

I have enough data now that I know that ~3months in the Vadai will drop the SO2 down to ~10ppm. I could almost eliminate the A/O SO2 test and just check pH and adjust (bump up) from 10ppm. It would be within a few ppm either way. Filtered with 5um whole house filter which will add a few ppm as well depending on if I rinse the filter after running Kmeta through it or not.

Labels turned out very nicely on this one. Love the color. Definitely looks like a Chilean wine to this winemaker.

This is another fantastic LR Showcase Red for sure!

 

[robie]

Looks great, Mike. At first glance I was surprised, because I thought you went into secondary on 6/23, then bottling now. Finally read the last post and realized you went to secondary a year ago in June of 2011. I was wondering,"How'd he do that"?

No doubt the barrel is going to make a huge difference.

 

[ibglowin]

Thanks!

I seem to be getting delayed as of late in my bottling routine. SWMBO been keeping me way too busy around the house with lots of remodel/ fixup work.....

I have a CC Showcase Yakima Valley Syrah that is next in line to bottle as well as a couple of Whites that are almost 4 months old and they could be corked as well.

 

[troutstix]

Beautifully done Mike! I tried my first split of this last weekend. Mine was started May 8 2011, and it spent 13 weeks in a barrel. My wife and I both loved it! I really don't want to open any more until the 18-24 month mark, but that may be difficult (I still have 3 splits to go!). Have a great 4th!!
ts

 

[ibglowin]

Good to hear! I made my usual 2 splits as well. I will try the first around 14mo and the next sound 16mo or so. Then ease them into rotation. I try and keep a couple of bottles all the way out to three years time as long as they are good!

 

[roger80465]

Beautiful product. If I didn't notice the differing bottle heights, I would think they were brand new bottles. GREAT labels. Well done.

 

[tonyt]

Looks great. Love the label / capsule combo. Wish I could wait a year to bottle but only have 6 carboys and a barrel. So I can only age 7 months if I start one kit every month.

 

[TomK-B]

Wow, great job, Mike! I'm wondering how much tannin you're adding to your reds.

 

[ibglowin]

I am adding about 4 grams per 23L. Definitely lengthens the finish but also takes longer to get to perfection in the bottle. Worth the wait IMHO!

 

[tonyt]

I am adding about 4 grams per 23L. Definitely lengthens the finish but also takes longer to get to perfection in the bottle. Worth the wait IMHO!

Mike are you adding tannin to reds e en if they have grape pack or raisins?

 

[ibglowin]

Yes, have been for over a year now. I have also gone back and opened entire bottled batches and added ~0.15 gms per bottle and recorked (new cork). It only needs a few months in the bottle to integrate well.

There just is not enough tannin even with a grape pack for this winemaker. When they crush the grapes and let them cold macerate this extracts the color to make a dark must but not much tannin at all.

This brings the wine much more in line tannin wise with what I like/look for in a commercial wine.