Cellar Craft Chateau de pays!

[markb1983]

Ok! I acquired a new kit! I'm starting out a new one. This will be my 5. I think I may add tannin to the primary. 2 tablespoons ( right joeswine)

Secondary rack with more tannin and maybe raisins?????

Tweak thoughts?

 

[SouthernChemist]

Any particular reason you want to add tannins and raisins to this kit? I assume this is the Showcase kit with grape skins.

 

[markb1983]

Well, I always want to add my touch to it something different. Bingo, this is the showcase kit..

Kit making is fun, but I want to do more. My resources don't allow me to acquire grapes. So this is the best thing I can do

 

[roger80465]

Mark, personally, I would not add raisins to this kit, since a 'raisin' flavor would not really fit the profile of the wine, IMHO. I might consider dried elderberries or maybe zante currants. I might consider tannins, but only during a bulk age time, after the kit instructions have run their course. Tannins can be added late if needed for your taste. Time is on your side with wine so you might as well take advantage of it. Don't overdo the tweaks now and regret it later. Proceed with caution and you will be able to tweak this to your personal perfection.

 

[markb1983]

Thank you for the considerations! I will prob make it as follows!

 

[SouthernChemist]

I only ask because that is a high quality kit that has received good reviews without any tweaking. I personally wouldn't think you need to add any raisins to it. Tannins can always be added later on in bulk aging depending on your own tastes. I don't think this kit comes with any oak (southern Rhone-style reds usually don't have much oak...though supposedly some of the top producers buck that trend), so that is something else you could add to it. There's also always changing the yeast to one that is known to do well with Grenache/Syrah blends like SYR and ICV-GRE. You may have to add additional nutrients and watch the fermentation more carefully, however.

Otherwise, I would wait and see how the wine develops before deciding what to add to it as this is a higher quality kit.

 

[ibglowin]

Maybe a yeast sub but no raisins for sure. I would add a little tannin but certainly not 2TBS! I have made this kit and it produces a very nice wine but it is not what I would call an early drinker. Mine did not get really good until the 2 year mark.

 

[markb1983]

Brilliant! Thank you everyone! I followed joeswine amarone. Omg it's amazing!

Exchange yeast from ec-1118 to ec-212? Med toast French oak?

 

[SouthernChemist]

Maybe a yeast sub but no raisins for sure. I would add a little tannin but certainly not 2TBS! I have made this kit and it produces a very nice wine but it is not what I would call an early drinker. Mine did not get really good until the 2 year mark.

I agree...everything I've read about this kit seems to say it will need a good 18-24 months to really start shining.

 

[SouthernChemist]

Brilliant! Thank you everyone! I followed joeswine amarone. Omg it's amazing!

Exchange yeast from ec-1118 to ec-212? Med toast French oak?

RC-212 will work. It has a high nutrient requirement, though, so you'll probably want to supplement the nutrients already added in the kit. Medium toasted French oak would fit the profile, but I'd go light on it to start out (preferably cubes or something more than chips) and only add it after the fermentation is complete.

 

[markb1983]

Ill add the French oak cubes about 2 weeks before I rack and bulk age? Any good yeast nutrient you recommend?

 

[Boatboy24]

Fermaid K.

 

[LoneStarLori]

I've done several of Joe's tweaks and if this kit has grapes, I say leave out the raisins for sure. If you're going to add tannin, I would do it in the secondary and maybe the oak at that time too. I added some med toast hungarian oak cubes in my Sangiovese in the 2ndary and they were really good, strong but good. I only used 1/2 cup.

 

[SouthernChemist]

Ill add the French oak cubes about 2 weeks before I rack and bulk age? Any good yeast nutrient you recommend?

Fermaid-K is a nice one as Boatboy24 suggested. If you really wanted to cover your bases, you could do the Go Ferm/Fermaid combo, but that wouldn't be strictly necessary. The kit already has nutrients included, so you're looking to just supplement that as the fermentation progresses.

Probably the most practical time to add the oak is after you've stabilized/clarified the wine. If you're using cubes, the extraction time is on the order of weeks, which will give you plenty of time to taste and see how it goes.

 

[ibglowin]

Remember this wine is NOT a big oak monster of a wine so If you add french oak cubes you had better be pulling out some of the supplied oak. If you sub the yeast why go with RC212, order some SYR or GRE.

 

[markb1983]

Interesting! I have not seen the yeast types like that before! Thanks all for the tips! I would maybe add a 1/4 cup of oak.