WineXpert Crushendo...what a mess!

[rexmor]

Time to rack my crushendo into secondary.First "hint" of a problem was when the little mesh screen for the end of the suction hose wouldn't fit, and split when I was trying to force it on. So, I thought I'd just run the hose into the "Chinese Hat" filter, but discovered for the first time that it doesn't fit into the neck of the carboy! I had to ask my wife to hold the filter while it drained. Of course, without the screen, I couldn't get the wine to start through the hose despite repeated attempts [and the wife was getting a little P.O'd by now, so I relieved her of duty]. I resorted to racking out of the spigot while holding the filter myself....however, the gunk from the crushendo pack clogged up the filter so frequently, that it took a seeming eternity, and the bottom of the cone filter kept leaking around the neck of the carboy so that I ended up with wine running off of the floor protector and staining the tile grout...[can't wait for my wife to notice that!] The gunk wouldn't drain past a certain point, and I couldn't hold the filter with one hand and pour out of the primary with the other, so I finally gave up with only about 4 3/4 gallons into secondary. Very frustrating...


I don't remember my friends who make wine from their own grapes having this kind of problem. Is it a lack of equipment, or technique?

 

[grapeman]

Rexmor


Was there only one mesh screen with the kit? I just did a Crushendo and it came with two filter meshes,one for each size tube. Mine used the smaller size, but I kept the bigger one in case I ever need one because I might get a larger tube. Sounds like a bad experience

. Hope things go better.

 

[geocorn]

Sorry to hear about your mess. It sounds like you tried to use the mesh tip on a 1/2" auto-siphon, which will not work. Per my online instructions:


"The tricky part of a Crushendo is the first racking, due to the grape skins. The kit contains a package with 2 different size filters for your racking cane or auto siphon. The small filter will work with a 3/8" racking cane, while the larger filter will work with each the 1/2" racking cane or the 3/8" auto siphon. A filter for the 1/2" auto-siphon is not included as test performed by Winexpert indicate the flow is too fast which causes the filter to plug up and stop the siphon. Their recommendation is the 3/8" auto-siphon. It is important that you only put the filter on far enough to hold it in place. You want as much filter exposed to the wine as possible."


Techniques for Making a Crushendo


It is very crucial to a crushendo to use the mesh tip on the correct size of siphon or auto-siphon.


You are short too much juice. Give me a call and we will see what we can do to make the most of your Crushendo.

 

[winesnob]

Rexmor, sorry about the mess.

I remember racking off my Crushendo from primary and I had a hard time starting the siphon alone. I had my wife keep the kids at bay in the basement. I did have two different size tip filters. I ended up using the spigot and one of those gold coffee filters. I had to empty it out many times.

 

[Angell Wine]

What if we used 5 gallon straining bags to put the grape skins in and loosely tided the bag ? would that work ?

 

[winesnob]

What if we used 5 gallon straining bags to put the grape skins in and loosely tided the bag ? would that work ?

And put marbles in the bag to hold it down and every day give it a good stir?? If that does work, I wonder about putting the oak in there as well.

 

[Angell Wine]

I've seen people who have put oak in straining bags, but I've never had trouble with it the oak in transferring the must to the carboy. Oak will usually settle to the bottom. The marbles is a good idea.

 

[djcoop]

On my Rosso that I'm making, the grapes went into a straining bag and I stirred 2 x day. Made racking a snap!

 

[geocorn]

The Crushendo's are different from the Cellar Craft, so the straining bag is not recommended for them. The reason is that while other brands, like cellar craft, just include grape skins, Winexpert processes the skins to bring out more flavor and tannins with fewer grapes. As a result, the Winexpert grape pack looks more like jam than grape skins. If you were to put the grape pack into the straining bag, all of the processed skins would lump into a ball; consequently, you would not get any circulation around the grapes. If this were to happen, adding the grape pack would provide very little benefit. For a Crushendo, just dump the pack into the must. Masta and I have spent considerable effort on this subject and it will be the featured article in next month's newsletter.


I say this to point out, once again, follow the instructions that come with your wine kit. All kits are not the same, so treat them accordingly.Edited by: geocorn

 

[masta]

I used the new FVW technique last night with my Supertuscan and it worked excellent and this article/tutorial will helpanyone who wants to make a Crushendo or has had trouble in the past with the transfer from primary to secondary.

 

[daveb50]

I've heard so much complaining about the hassles to rack the Crushendos, and the lost volume, thatI have no intrest in trying one. I have made other Wine Expert kits, and enjoy them very much. Maybe Wine Expertshould rethink their Crushendo process, to make it easier on their customers.After hearing all those horror racking stories, I purchased theCellar Craft Amarone with grape skinskit. It wasso easy to rack, becauseofthe skins containment in the supplied mesh bag. All I had to do when racking was take it out the bag, give it a squeeze, then pitch it. I racked therest as usual for a kit wine.

 

[geocorn]

I think we have solved the intial racking problem and our method will be the featured article in the newsletter going out Monday night.






As an aside, the Cellar Craft may be easier, but my customers that have tried both tell me the Crushendo is a better wine.

 

[daveb50]

I think we have solved the intial racking problem and our method will be the featured article in the newsletter going out Monday night.






As an aside, the Cellar Craft may be easier, but my customers that have tried both tell me the Crushendo is a better wine.

If that's true, then I'm looking forward to your solution.
Dave

 

[masta]

Here you go:


http://www.finevinewines.com/Wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1707