WineXpert Eclipse Forza

[Kiwisholland]

Johnd, what size barrel?

 

[Kiwisholland]

CE, sure. Where'd you get your corks?

 

[Johnd]

6 gallon / 23 liter, Hungarian oak, medium toast.

 

[Kiwisholland]

Thanks, John. I hope to get a Vidai soon. My kits usually end up 5 1/2 gallons. Did you top off with commercial wine for the 23 L?

 

[Kiwisholland]

I know I'm getting off topic, but I was wondering if anyone soaked their Nomacorcs in sanitizer before bottling?

 

[Johnd]

Thanks, John. I hope to get a Vidai soon. My kits usually end up 5 1/2 gallons. Did you top off with commercial wine for the 23 L?

I had a full 23 l carboy, filled the barrel and had nearly a full 750 ml bottle left over to top up the barrel with. I think the carboys hold a bit more than 23 l when topped up. The carboy was previously topped up with a commercial wine.

 

[ceeaton]

I'm not a cork soaker, never was, never will be. I have put a pinch of Kmeta powder in the bag with the corks and sealed it. Then I got an accidental wiff and now use them as is from the bag.

 

[Kiwisholland]

Thanks, CE. I think of manufactured goods from other industries. I eat steak (natural) from the butcher directly from the grill. But I wash underwear (manufactured) before wearing.

I'll post some pics when I open the sealed pack of corks

 

[Kiwisholland]

Thanks John. I rack down to 5 gallons after leaving the gross and fine lees, and end up with 5.5 or so. Forza was more, maybe due to the BM4X4 I used? The 1118 in other kits left me more lees

 

[jumby]

I know I'm getting off topic, but I was wondering if anyone soaked their Nomacorcs in sanitizer before bottling?

I do. I soak them in 1 step then in clean water before inserting them. Never had a problem!

 

[jgmann67]

I'm not a cork soaker, never was, never will be. I have put a pinch of Kmeta powder in the bag with the corks and sealed it. Then I got an accidental wiff and now use them as is from the bag.

Dirty rotten, no good, cork soaking, icehole....

To expand on this just a little - what if you put some kmeta in a small clothe bag (think tiny beanbag); sealed it up; and then put that in the plastic bag with your corks?? Same effect, less mess. I may try it and see how it works.

 

[ibglowin]

Totally unnecessary to soak a synthetic cork as it is completely resistant to TCA. If you soak a regular cork (agglomerated etc.) in KMETA you are asking for trouble down the road. Once the water evaporates it will leave a nice residue of KMETA that has glued your cork tight to the bottle making it almost impossible to remove. I learned this the hard way from soaking corks my first year.

Sanitize them using a corkador and KMETA fumes only.

 

[jumby]

Totally unnecessary to soak a synthetic cork as it is completely resistant to TCA. If you soak a regular cork (agglomerated etc.) in KMETA you are asking for trouble down the road. Once the water evaporates it will leave a nice residue of KMETA that has glued your cork tight to the bottle making it almost impossible to remove. I learned this the hard way from soaking corks my first year.

Sanitize them using a corkador and KMETA fumes only.

For me soaking my synthetic corks works best. Not going to take any chances contaminating my wine at the point of bottling. Like I said I have been doing it that way for years and never had a problem.

 

[ericcif]

I guess to each his own. I soak my corks and have for years without issue.

 

[Kiwisholland]

Here's the corks. I like them! 1.75" long. Corked two-plus cases today

 

[Kiwisholland]

And I did soak in Sanitizer

 

[Johnd]

Forza's been in the Vadai for a couple of weeks now. Having read here that sulfite levels drop in a barrel, started worrying about KMS, so I decided to play with my Vinmetrica toy and ran some tests.

Ph = 3.54
TA = 7.2 g/l or .72%
Free SO2 = 38 ppm

Decent numbers, kit chemists did their part, but the winemaker's a little low on SO2. I put this wine in the barrel at 80 ppm and can't believe how quickly it has dropped in two weeks. Boosted it back up to 100 ppm for the last two weeks of the ride, topped up about 150 ml of reserved Forza, and sealed it back up.

 

[Boatboy24]

I don't recall the chart, but 100ppm is probably about double what you need at that pH. Should be enough to get you through the next two weeks and into the bottle.

 

[ceeaton]

Forza's been in the Vadai for a couple of weeks now. Having read here that sulfite levels drop in a barrel, started worrying about KMS, so I decided to play with my Vinmetrica toy and ran some tests.

Ph = 3.54
TA = 7.2 g/l or .72%
Free SO2 = 38 ppm

Decent numbers, kit chemists did their part, but the winemaker's a little low on SO2. I put this wine in the barrel at 80 ppm and can't believe how quickly it has dropped in two weeks. Boosted it back up to 100 ppm for the last two weeks of the ride, topped up about 150 ml of reserved Forza, and sealed it back up.

You have all the fun tools. I keep dodging the SO2 question by adding ~50 ppm at bottling time, but at some point that is going to come back and bite me in the arse when I open a nice expensive bottle of red wine vinegar. Thinking (and drinking) of doing my taxes soon, maybe I should hold back on a few kits and by a SC-300 with some of our return. I have a feeling it will pay for itself rather quickly.

I found two 375ml bottles that wandered away from the sanctuary, one of the Merlot blend I did last spring (it's already decanted and the last in my glass) and a Forza. Not too sure how they got where they did, but they strayed from the safe zone so they'll both pay today.

Edit: Forza is yummy. Decanted for about 1 hour before pouring a glass. Hope I can navigate well enough to pull off dinner.

 

[Johnd]

I don't recall the chart, but 100ppm is probably about double what you need at that pH. Should be enough to get you through the next two weeks and into the bottle.

The target for Ph 3.55 is 45 ppm, and as you said, 100 ppm should hold me over just fine for the next couple weeks, it'll go back in glass after that.

I'm working really hard to not bottle any wine.

BTW, I'm really liking having wine in barrels, filled the second of three this morning. Really appreciate the barrel tips from you and Mike, thanks guys!