WineXpert "Contre Le Vent" CabSauv First Batch Journal

[CabSauv]

Hey Doug,

I started last summer the same way way you are now, so I'll throw in my experience.

I did a WE World Vineyard Trinity Red first to learn on. It had a weird smell to me, like salami, even in the juice before fermenting, but it was a good one to make mistakes on. Next, I tried a 10L with skins kit, CC Sterling Malbec, and it was a step up from the Trinity, but still meh, like a discount house wine. Similar to you, they were missing something, but in order to understand the hobby, I needed to know how the different levels tasted. Last summer, I also started a premium kit, RJS En Primeur Super Tuscan, 16L with skins. It was magnitudes better than the 10L kits throughout the entire process - it smelled better, it tasted better, and the only thing it was missing to me was a bit of tannin, but that's a personal taste thing.

So where I'm going with this: if you're a wine snob, jump up to the 16L/18L with skins kits. They are absolutely worth it, and if you watch for sale prices, they're $30 more for significantly better taste. I didn't think of myself as a wine snob until I was underwhelmed by the Trinity and Malbec wines. In Jan, I started a WE Eclipse Lodi Cab and CC Showcase Carmenere; they're bulk aging right now, and they're great! I'd even be so bold to say that they're currently comparable to the $10-15 commercial bottles we drink. I think the Cab still has a little gas, which I'll need to deal with before bottling, but the Carmenere is absolutely fantastic. The CC Showcase instructions say 10 days in primary on skins, and I think it made a huge difference in the flavor and degassing, so I'll continue that method on future kits.

The Trinity and Malbec are about 10 months old now, and I don't think they're any better than they were at 4 months old. But I told hubby we're not allowed to put the premium kits into rotation until we finish them off, otherwise we'll never go back to them. So if you're looking to satiate your inner snob, I recommend the premium skins kits with a 10-day primary. It's worth it.

I look forward to hearing how your second kit with fruit turns out. Keep us posted!

That's excellent information, it sounds like we are in the same boat and so is mainshipfred who also posted above. That's the route I was leaning towards going, specifically an RJS kit. Like the name says, I'm really a big fan of cabernet and the dry reds so I'll look at my options and try something bigger for my next batch. I just wish I could find a place that sells them so I can see the kits in person. Not that I wouldn't buy online but considering the price and shipping, a wine kit isn't the same as a widget from Amazon and I just like to see the product. Anyone have any recommendations for best places to buy online if that's the route I end up taking?

 

[mainshipfred]

Not that I'm an expert but Fine Vine Wines have reasonable shipping costs, great selection and a nice description. Home Brew has really good prices but no real description (you have to go to FVW site for kit information). The only thing I don't like about Home Brew is you have to put the item in your cart before you get a price. You can cancel it but a needless step. I'm sure there are a lot of other places although I think I will stick with grapes and juices.

 

[lilvixen]

No one local to me sells wine kits, so I've purchased all of mine online. I prefer FineVineWines for their descriptions and selection, but I've also purchased from LabelPeelers and HomeBrewSupply. I'm happy with all three of them.

 

[CabSauv]

So I did a little research and I came across a site that discussed adding food grade Glycerine to a finished/clear wine to add body and increase the mouth-feel. Is this a common additive and has anyone used it before? If so, was it successful? It seems like that could help improve exactly what I'm trying to fix.

 

[mainshipfred]

I already bought some but somewhere I think I read it should be added just before bottling. Not sure why or if it's even true.

 

[CabSauv]

There aren't too many threads about it but the few that I managed to find seems to be a 50/50 split on it. Half of the comments said it added body, increased the mouth-feel and added a little sweetness which helped smooth a wine that was lacking. The other half said it either worked for the short term but then ruined the wine, or ruined the wine from the start. Maybe that had something to do with the amount added? Not sure. I'm not a fan of adding a bunch of additives but one comment in favor of it said that it helped their homemade wine win high marks for mouth-feel in a wine competition. So it's a mixed bag, hopefully someone with experience can comment.

 

[CabSauv]

Batch #2 looks and smells amazing, maybe even better than batch 1 did, especially with the added plum and blackberries. SG is 1.060 after 3 days in primary. I'll do 20 days for secondary to really let things marry nicely.

 

[CabSauv]

BATCH 2 UPDATE:
Hydrometer read 0.990 so I added KMS and chitosan, tossed the sorbate in the trash again. After a good whip and stir I tasted and wow...I have a sneaking suspicion that this batch is going to be amazing. It tasted twice as good as batch #1 at this stage. The difference between batch #1 and batch #2 is the added plum and blackberries to primary fermentation and an additional 9 days in secondary fermentation than what the instructions called for in batch #2. In a few weeks I'll top and put her in the dark next to batch #1.

I figure I'll bottle batch #1 around Christmas and I may have figured out what I need to tweak. I had my dad taste it and together we were able to determine that it had a zing to it, it wasn't alcohol and it wasn't tannin, more of an acidity to it. I may have to figure out the tartaric acid levels and pH to see if adjustment is needed. Another option is, I was gifted two 5 gallon glass carboys (I'm up to 4 carboys now ) so I might rack 5 gallons of batch #2 and take the other gallon and add it to 5 gallons of batch #1 and see if it softens things up in batch #1. We'll see how things turn out, time is on my side. Again, I do want to emphasize, adding some cut up plum and crushed blackberry to primary and doing an additional week in secondary from what the instructions called for WAS A TOTAL WIN.

 

[pillswoj]

The zing you mention in batch 1 - Could it still have Carbon Dioxide in it?

 

[Tetrarch]

What quantities of sugar, plum and blackberries did you use and why did you select these additions and amounts?

 

[CabSauv]

The zing you mention in batch 1 - Could it still have Carbon Dioxide in it?

I guess it's completely possible but I used the power drill and stirred well beyond what the instructions called for and it's been bulk aging for just shy of 2 months now.

 

[CabSauv]

What quantities of sugar, plum and blackberries did you use and why did you select these additions and amounts?

The juice for this batch started off a little low upon first SG reading, I think the potential ABV was at or below 11%. After adding the plum and blackberry and waiting a while, to get the SG reading where I wanted (and ultimately the potential ABV I wanted - which I was targeting to get as close to 13%-13.5%) I ended up adding about 8 ounces of sugar.

Different wines have different profiles and are typically separated into red fruit profiles and dark fruit profiles. I chose plum and blackberry because they are some of the other dark fruit profiles you get from a cabernet sauvignon, another sometimes being raspberry for cabs made from grapes grown in cooler climates and the most common being black currant. I didn't want raspberry notes and black currants aren't in season, at least not here just yet. So I settled with plum and blackberry just because I wanted to tweak the kit a bit, but kept it appropriate for what cabernet sauvignon should taste like.

 

[CabSauv]

I wanted to share this here for those who are following as well as the other thread where I discussed my concerns and asked for advice in the "Unbalanced Finished Wine" thread. Concerns no more!!

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=655324&postcount=24

 

[CabSauv]

Small . I'll be racking in the next week or two and then it will be the home stretch to December. I plan to bottle while taking some vacation days from work for Christmas when my dad is in town to help. I'm sure dad and I will drink a few bottles over Christmas vacation and I'll stash away a case from each batch to age in the bottle for a few years. I also have 2-3 bottles to gift for critiquing and as a "thank you" to a family friend who gave me a few quality lightly used glass carboys.

Note to self: Get your labels going, Doug. Where the heck are you going to store all these bottles of wine, Doug?

 

[CabSauv]

Both batches were racked, tasted, and another 1/4 tsp of KMS added for the home stretch. Batch #2 got 3/4 tbs of tannin as well.

Notes from my look, smell, taste test:

Batch 1: Crystal clear, no sediment, legs all over, and looks exactly what a finished cab should look like. The nose was fresh and firm. You know what it's going to taste like by the smell, very expressive. The taste is full bodied and beautifully dry as a balanced cab should be. The finish was fresh and left a sense of "I want more". The experience improved greatly after it sat in the glass for about 10 minutes. I can't wait to do a blind taste test side by side with a medium priced store bought wine.

Batch 2: Crystal clear, no sediment, not as many legs as batch 1 but still there. The nose was fruity but not overpowering. The taste was more medium bodied due to the jammy fruit forward taste, hence why I added tannin - it needed just a bit more. The finish was fresh and still a hint of acidity which continues to dissipate compared to the last racking in July so it's moving in the right direction. The finish isn't there yet, not as dry as I'd like it, but we're on the right track. The added tannin and a few more months will solve it all. I'll probably let this one age in the bottle for a year before popping many corks, maybe one or two the first year just to see where it's at.

 

[CabSauv]

Today was the day, I bottled my first batch! I ended up with 30 bottles and one half bottle that I drank tonight. I'm pretty happy with it, a nice dry cab, bold and 13% ABV - can't go wrong. My only side note is that I think I need to do a better job of stirring in the k-meta when racking. What seemed to have been more clear a few months ago, the wine seemed slightly cloudy, but maybe it was just the half bottle because it was the wine from the bottom. Maybe I added too much k-meta (I did about 1/6 teaspoon every 3 months after racking) or didn't stir it up enough, can anyone comment on that? My though is that it was more cloudy because it was the wine from the bottom of the carboy and I was fighting with the siphon and bubbles trying to get as much as possible. I'm not too worried about it, it was minimal anyway.

I haven't gotten around to getting the floor corker but my hand corker was surprisingly easy and worked well. I didn't have any corks sticking out like I feared. I have my labels printed and for a professional finishing touch I bought some shrink caps. I'm going to let the bottle sit for a few days, then top the corks with shrink caps, then put on the labels. Santa is getting me a 48 bottle wine rack for Christmas so I'll have a place to store them. I will take a picture once it's stocked and then I'll close this chapter of my wine making and move onto another batch in the spring. I'm going to look for a bold kit with grape skins and step it up a notch. Thanks for following along and all the advice, I really learned a ton - I appreciate everyone getting me through my first batch! I tip my glass to you!

 

[sour_grapes]

Congrats, Doug! Your pop would be proud!

 

[CabSauv]

Congrats, Doug! Your pop would be proud!

He will be proud in a few days when he comes to town and we're tipping glasses back. I'm thinking we'll go through 3-4 bottles over the holidays, and I'll give him 5 or 6 to take home, and then I'll have 10-15 for soon to be consumed, and the rest will be squirreled away. One thing though, I need a [bleep] ton more bottles before I can get around to bottling batch 2. Hell, I might even wait another 3-4 months when I start my next batch before bottling batch 2.

 

[sour_grapes]

Heh heh heh -- you might need to start acquiring more empty bottles. I wonder how you will ever manage....

 

[Putterrr]

You mentioned a possible cloudy bottle due to it being the bottom of the carboy. Due you rack your wine before bottling or just try to be very careful not to disturb it while filling.

cheers