WineXpert "Contre Le Vent" CabSauv First Batch Journal

[CabSauv]

UPDATE 6:
I cut secondary fermentation short, no bubbling in the air lock and the SG was dead at 0.990 for the past few days. Looks like I'll have a 13% wine. I skipped the sorbate and added the sulphite, degassed, added Chitosan, and then degassed again per the kit instructions. 14 day timer starts now, then I plan on topping off and moving the carboy to the dark basement for 6-9 months. I have a glass for a taste test sitting next to me but I have a feeling there will be much to be desired unless the wine changes from the aging process. Not that it's a bad batch or anything went wrong, but it's not what I expect from a cab (yet??)

We'll see, maybe the aging process will work some magic or maybe I need to add more tannin. I can't put my finger on it or maybe I'm just a wine snob . Any opinions or comments? Did I have my hopes set too high with a kit or should I expect a lot of changes from aging and natural degassing.

 

[CabSauv]

John and I have been exchanging PMs and I think I'm expecting too much of my first batch too soon. I need to be patient and let the aging process, flavors, and fining agents all marry together and natural degassing will take it's course. I will likely add a little more tannin and maybe an oak stick during the aging process but 6-9 months before bottling and then another handful of months in the bottle should render a nice first batch. I forgot my typical update pictures too...

P.S. I only volcanoed a little bit of froth with the degassing wand...just enough to ruin a kitchen towel (luckily my wife came to the rescue).

 

[CabSauv]

Shoot, I did it again and forgot pictures. Sorry for the triple post.

 

[Ajmassa]

Lol yea. Your probably correct that expecting your Cab Sauv to be tasting great after 12 days being a tad optimistic.
Consider yourself a lucky man to have JohnD messaging back and forth. He's as legit as it gets as far as I can tell. Do yourself a favor if you need to kill some time and check out the thread in "wine cellar & storage forum" showing the entire process of his winemaking room project start to finish. It's pretty amazing.

 

[CabSauv]

Lol yea. Your probably correct that expecting your Cab Sauv to be tasting great after 12 days being a tad optimistic.
Consider yourself a lucky man to have JohnD messaging back and forth. He's as legit as it gets as far as I can tell. Do yourself a favor if you need to kill some time and check out the thread in "wine cellar & storage forum" showing the entire process of his winemaking room project start to finish. It's pretty amazing.

I knew I was being impatient, but I just didn't think it would taste so far off from what I know wine to be this late in the overall process. The amount of acidity and CO2 still in the wine makes for a very tart and carbonated wine. I just didn't expect it to still be like that after adding the sulphite and using the degassing wand. According to my instructions it says to bottle after 14 days of fining and settling, which I am opting to age for 6-9 months rather than bottling. So the biggest transformation apart from fermentation is clearly these 14 days, otherwise I'm going to begin wondering.

Yes, John has been a tremendous help as have the others who commented, and I really appreciate it. I will check it out, I am finishing my basement and need some ideas.

 

[Ajmassa]

So your kit is a "4 week" to bottle kit? I feel like the timeframes given don't do anything aside from give unrealistic expectations. And they don't state that the wine would then be too young and need to age in the bottle, likely dropping sediment.
You've basically skipped secondary. And even though your SG was good, jumping right into stabilizing and clearing doesn't speed the process up. Even if you were dry at the start of secondary, those 10 days still help.
Not that clearing early is bad, it just doesn't help it become goodnwine quicker I think.
I started a kit 3/13 (2 weeks before your Cab Sauv) and I'm at day 7 of clearing. And this last week has really allowed that "young kit freshly fermented" taste to mellow out big time. And just yesterday was the first time when tasting I thought "ok. Now we're getting somewhere".
Time is your friend. And that's one of the hardest things to accept when your into it and excited to make some wine!

 

[mainshipfred]

I'm new since Christmas and although I feel kits are key to beginning wine making and that's all I made so far, I also believe the expectations are unrealistic. Perhaps they do it because if they said it would take a year before drinking people wouldn't find it as appealing of a hobby. As much as I would like to drink my wine I'm not really having a hard time letting it age. It tastes fine and I would share it with my friends but it's just not where I'm hoping it will be. Because it was a gift my first batch was a cheap 1 gallon Cab Sauv. I'm using it to top off my other wines as well as 5 bottles of Malbec I got from aging a 6 gallon kit in a 5 gallon carboy.

 

[CabSauv]

So your kit is a "4 week" to bottle kit? I feel like the timeframes given don't do anything aside from give unrealistic expectations. And they don't state that the wine would then be too young and need to age in the bottle, likely dropping sediment.
You've basically skipped secondary. And even though your SG was good, jumping right into stabilizing and clearing doesn't speed the process up. Even if you were dry at the start of secondary, those 10 days still help.
Not that clearing early is bad, it just doesn't help it become goodnwine quicker I think.
I started a kit 3/13 (2 weeks before your Cab Sauv) and I'm at day 7 of clearing. And this last week has really allowed that "young kit freshly fermented" taste to mellow out big time. And just yesterday was the first time when tasting I thought "ok. Now we're getting somewhere".
Time is your friend. And that's one of the hardest things to accept when your into it and excited to make some wine!

Right. It's not that I'm impatient, I just didn't know what to expect. Reading the process online, watching videos, reading kit instructions are all great, but until you actually see, smell, and taste the wine throughout the process first hand - none of what is read or watched really gives you a sense of expectation at each stage. I wasn't expecting the wine to be done lol, but it just goes to show how important time and aging really is to make a proper wine. I'm fine with the waiting, I have plenty of wine and cheese to consume while I wait.

 

[sour_grapes]

I agree -- it is a little hard to know what to expect the first time. I, too, was fairly disappointed in the beginning. My wines are still not great, but they have improved a lot!

 

[CabSauv]

I wouldn't consider this an "update" worthy post but my wine appears to be degassing and settling nicely. Visually my wine looks darker and there's no bubbles at the top. It will be nice to see after 14 days when I top off and add an oak stick to move it to the basement for aging. Should I be concerned with the water in the airlock evaporating at all? I'm just wondering how much I should fill it up with and how often I should check it, weekly, monthly? My basement is in the 62*-65* range, 3/4 underground.

 

[Boatboy24]

I'm just wondering how much I should fill it up with and how often I should check it, weekly, monthly?

This being your first wine, you'll probably be down there daily.

Every couple weeks is probably fine, unless you're in a very dry environment.

 

[mainshipfred]

I use a K-meta solution and like to change it every 2 months but I never had a problem with evaporation

 

[Johnd]

I wouldn't consider this an "update" worthy post but my wine appears to be degassing and settling nicely. Visually my wine looks darker and there's no bubbles at the top. It will be nice to see after 14 days when I top off and add an oak stick to move it to the basement for aging. Should I be concerned with the water in the airlock evaporating at all? I'm just wondering how much I should fill it up with and how often I should check it, weekly, monthly? My basement is in the 62*-65* range, 3/4 underground.

Just fill it up to the marks, and top up when it looks low, you know you'll be down there a lot to look at it!!!

 

[CabSauv]

Just fill it up to the marks, and top up when it looks low, you know you'll be down there a lot to look at it!!!

I'm a technology engineer and run Email for a fortune 50 company, so I'll have a web cam and auto generated Emails...KIDDING...or am I??

 

[Johnd]

I'm a technology engineer and run Email for a fortune 50 company, so I'll have a web cam and auto generated Emails...KIDDING...or am I??

I wouldn't be surprised if you did, but I'd still bet that when you're home, you'll have a path worn into the basement stairs! I say that out of recognition for your eagerness, excitement and anticipation of what may come to be with your winemaking future......

 

[CabSauv]

I wouldn't be surprised if you did, but I'd still bet that when you're home, you'll have a path worn into the basement stairs! I say that out of recognition for your eagerness, excitement and anticipation of what may come to be with your winemaking future......

So about that...I don't have a proper wine rack. For as long as I've been drinking wine and sharing bottles when my dad visits I am lacking in having a place to store and drink wine. I have your typical wire rack that sits on top of the fridge, an atrocious counterpart that doesn't match my enthusiasm for wine. We buy a bottle as needed and never have more than a few bottles on hand because of it. Obviously with this hobby that will have to change.

My basement finishing project has been a SLOOOOW moving project that I have been putting off because of work, the kids, and all the things my wife puts on the calendar for us to do. Now that I have some wine in the making, I am eager to get back to working on my basement because I need to have a place to store the wine, whether that is a nice wood wine rack or small room. Since I already plan on being down in the basement to start working on finishing it again, I will undoubtedly have a path worn and checking it frequently.

 

[sour_grapes]

Here is my effort. Best of luck with yours!

 

[CabSauv]

UPDATE 7:
Degassing, settling, and fining is coming right along. No bubbles at all and I have about 3/4" - 1" of sediment on the bottom. Another 10 days and I'll do a taste test to get an idea of the potential tannin, fruit, and body before putting her to sleep in the basement for aging. I have tannin and an oak stave on hand if I decide it needs it.

 

[BigSell]

Doug,
Looking good, a few words on equipment. I like to use a self draining wine Theif as my hudrometer jar, slip the hydrometer in the Theif, take a sample, take a reading and drain back into the carboy. I always float the hydrometer in the primary bucket, so easy.

Now for secondary fermentation and aging most of us prefer the ventalating silicon bungs, they vent SO2 and no worries with atmospheric changes and no O2 gets in. I have wine aging over two years with no problems, and no maintaince filling air locks, most On Line retailers have them.

Next step you will be ready for PH meters ans SO2 analyzes, it's addictive!

Clark

 

[CabSauv]

Doug,
Looking good, a few words on equipment. I like to use a self draining wine Theif as my hudrometer jar, slip the hydrometer in the Theif, take a sample, take a reading and drain back into the carboy. I always float the hydrometer in the primary bucket, so easy.

Now for secondary fermentation and aging most of us prefer the ventalating silicon bungs, they vent SO2 and no worries with atmospheric changes and no O2 gets in. I have wine aging over two years with no problems, and no maintaince filling air locks, most On Line retailers have them.

Next step you will be ready for PH meters ans SO2 analyzes, it's addictive!

Clark

Thanks Clark. I'm still looking for that type of wine thief - I know exactly the type you mentioned. I haven't been able to track one down yet and the only ones I see are the ones with the thumb hole so I'm using a turkey baster for a wine thief at the moment and purchased a standing test tube in the meantime. I am already into the PH testing and SO2 analysis, this kit is about to go into bulk aging and PH is 3.6 currently.

Kit #2 will be started in the next few days when the store gets more cabernet sauvignon juice in and I'll be experimenting a bit this round. I am going to add some pressed blackberries, dried plums, zante black currants, and some black cherry flavoring to the kit. I had a blend recently and I managed to track down the percentages used for each of the ingredients so I'm going to imitate it the best I can and this will be my first tweaked kit.