WineXpert Eclipse Stags Leap Merlot

[willj]

Just finished bottling and drank the leftovers. This is amazing wine, packs a real punch both in flavour and alcohol!

I'm going to run a charity wine tasting at my work probably in November. Will take 6 wines:
Eclipse SLM
World Vineyard Washington Merlot
Selection Vieux Chateau du Roi
Eclipse Marlborough SB
LE15 Pinot Grigio Verduzzo
Kenridge Showcase New Zealand SB

I think they will be impressed and hopefully a couple of them may take up the hobby. I think most people in the UK have no idea of the quality of wines kits nowadays and you can make really excellent wines without too much effort.

 

[jgmann67]

Tell me about your PG Verduzzo, please. I was tempted to get one, but I'm not a PG drinker usually. What's it like?

 

[willj]

The PG Verduzzo is really good, probably my favourite white I've made so far. The official description is accurate regarding the profile of this one. There is a nice hint of honey and pineapple along with nice citrus notes - I even detected the pear in there too. It's got good acidity balanced by a nice sweetness which I think comes from the Verduzzo.

It's only been 4.5 months since I pitched the yeast, and I think it needs a couple more months to mellow out. Shame it's a limited edition as I'd love to make it again!

 

[sour_grapes]

Update: I opened my first official bottle of this, and I find it awesome. It is now 18 mos. old. I think this has displaced my previous best wines; I would say this is the first one I have made that compares well to a $15-20 commercial bottle.

As far as tweaks, these are my notes from making and bottling:

Used ICV-D254, sprinkled on top. Added 7.7 g FT Tannin Rouge. 60 g oak dust (from kit) into muslin bag with grape pack. SG before Grape Pack was 1.082, and 1.098 after. Finished at 0.994 (~13.7% ABV). Added 2.5 g Tannin Riche Extra during bulk aging. Taste at bottling was very good, albeit a bit oakey/tanniny?

The oaks and tannins noted above have mellowed nicely.

 

[jgmann67]

Update: I opened my first official bottle of this, and I find it awesome. It is now 18 mos. old. I think this has displaced my previous best wines; I would say this is the first one I have made that compares well to a $15-20 commercial bottle.

The oaks and tannins noted above have mellowed nicely.

You show tremendous restraint. Ours wines are about the same age. But, I'm down to my last 5 bottles... it'll be another year or so till the next batch is ready for prime time. Wish I had the wallet to do kits two at a time.

Mrs Mann wanted to take one with her to dinner with her mom this weekend... I don't like telling her no, but suggested a Super Tuscan instead. She gets it. Once they're gone, they're gone.

 

[Steve_M]

Bulk aging in carboy at the 5 month mark. Sampled just now I can't believe how awesome it is right now! Still little bit on the hazy side, has been stored in cellar where temps have been around 60. May wrap brew belt on it to see if raising temp will clear it some?
At any rate, this is going to be one heck of a wine when it's time!

 

[willj]

On Monday a friend hosted a dinner party/red wine tasting evening. Everyone took their favourite bottle of red wine (around the £10 mark) and then we did blind tasting to rate them. I took a bottle of the Stag's Leap which has now aged for 12 months. I was expecting it to be popular and was thinking it should stand up ok to a £10 commercial bottle.

However people really weren't impressed by it. They said it lacked body and aroma. One person thought it tasted like sherbert (kit taste detected perhaps), whilst another person, who has done some wine tasting identified it as being a young wine and reckoned it still needed a lot more time.

I really like the wine, but have to admit when tasting it compared to the commercial bottles it was lacking in body and aroma.

So I'm thinking perhaps it does need a lot more time to open up and develop. Or I'm thinking I've done something wrong in the process. Sort of knocked my confidence, hope you are all having better results!

 

[jgmann67]

On Monday a friend hosted a dinner party/red wine tasting evening. Everyone took their favourite bottle of red wine (around the £10 mark) and then we did blind tasting to rate them. I took a bottle of the Stag's Leap which has now aged for 12 months. I was expecting it to be popular and was thinking it should stand up ok to a £10 commercial bottle.

However people really weren't impressed by it. They said it lacked body and aroma. One person thought it tasted like sherbert (kit taste detected perhaps), whilst another person, who has done some wine tasting identified it as being a young wine and reckoned it still needed a lot more time.

I really like the wine, but have to admit when tasting it compared to the commercial bottles it was lacking in body and aroma.

So I'm thinking perhaps it does need a lot more time to open up and develop. Or I'm thinking I've done something wrong in the process. Sort of knocked my confidence, hope you are all having better results!

I had a couple thoughts reading your post. I wondered if you used the sorbate. I never use it because of the off-taste it creates in young wines. Also, I think your friend is right, and the wine will likely improve over the next year. There are a number of tweaks that you can do to achieve bigger body and more nose. End of day, winemaking is more practice than perfect.

 

[willj]

I had a couple thoughts reading your post. I wondered if you used the sorbate. I never use it because of the off-taste it creates in young wines. Also, I think your friend is right, and the wine will likely improve over the next year. There are a number of tweaks that you can do to achieve bigger body and more nose. End of day, winemaking is more practice than perfect.

I checked my notes and, although I can't tell for sure, am pretty sure I didn't add the sorbate. I still have 29 bottles so can see how it changes over the next year.

What would you suggest to improve the nose and body on future premium kits? I've started adding a tsp of tannin pre-fermentation which I'm hoping will improve the body.

 

[jgmann67]

I checked my notes and, although I can't tell for sure, am pretty sure I didn't add the sorbate. I still have 29 bottles so can see how it changes over the next year.

What would you suggest to improve the nose and body on future premium kits? I've started adding a tsp of tannin pre-fermentation which I'm hoping will improve the body.

ahh, there's tons of tweakery to be done. Think raisins, currents, blackberries... different oak, different yeast... fresh skins on top of the grape skin pack. Search the site, talk to Joeswine.

 

[Boatboy24]

In my experience, kit wines are sorely lacking in nose and I haven't found anything to fix that. For body, your addition of tannin will help. I've found that I like more than most for my kits. I usually do a teaspoon or two during fermentation, and often another 1-2 during bulk aging.

 

[willj]

ahh, there's tons of tweakery to be done. Think raisins, currents, blackberries... different oak, different yeast... fresh skins on top of the grape skin pack. Search the site, talk to Joeswine.

Thanks for the tips. Decent oak, decent yeasts and fresh skins are hard/impossible to source here in the UK.

Out of interest, does adding raisins give your wine a raisiny taste, or does it just boost the body and tannin level? I once had a big Spanish wine that tasted of raisins and wasn't keen so am reluctant to add any in to my reds but perhaps I'm misguided?

 

[jgmann67]

Thanks for the tips. Decent oak, decent yeasts and fresh skins are hard/impossible to source here in the UK.

Out of interest, does adding raisins give your wine a raisiny taste, or does it just boost the body and tannin level? I once had a big Spanish wine that tasted of raisins and wasn't keen so am reluctant to add any in to my reds but perhaps I'm misguided?

I added raisins to a Malbec and an Amarone so far. Slight raisin taste, but not incompatible with the varietal. So, it was fine. I'm not sure how it would taste in a cab or merlot. You might be better served with another red or black fruit.

 

[ceeaton]

Out of interest, does adding raisins give your wine a raisiny taste, or does it just boost the body and tannin level? I once had a big Spanish wine that tasted of raisins and wasn't keen so am reluctant to add any in to my reds but perhaps I'm misguided?

If you are worried about the raisin taste, see if you can get some dried elderberries. They add tannin and nice red color, plus an earthy berry taste that matches well with red wine, in my opinion. The WE SE Valpolicella kit I made about a year ago had a packet of those, and I'm really starting to like that wine. I've seen people on this site add anywhere from 4 to 8 oz for a 5 to 6 gallon batch.

 

[jgmann67]

I racked the Merlot and dosed w kmeta today. Got a little more co2 out of it in the process. Will let it settle down a while before tasting. So far, there have been no real tweaks to this kit... maybe a little extra tannin or American med+ oak. We'll see.

 

[Steve_M]

Bottled the SLM tonight along with Forza, the AIO makes this such a breeze!
Filtered it through a 5 micron filter as well.

 

[jgmann67]

Batch #2 is in the bottle. Got a little co2 at the last racking. Surprising after sitting so long.

 

[cmason1957]

Batch #2 is in the bottle. Got a little co2 at the last racking. Surprising after sitting so long.

I just bottled my first batch of this two weekends ago, it did seem to hang on to CO2 longer than I expected. I didn't have a good explanation for it, but an extra AllInOneWinePump racking under vacuum seemed to help it out a lot.

 

[wineforfun]

Just racked my first WESLM into bulk carboys. Will let sit for 3-6 mos. before bottling. Hopefully it will degas itself along with the manual degassing I gave it after racking to secondary.

 

[scram]

Don't be in a rush. Let it bulk age for a year. Racking every 3 months. This kit throws a lot of sediment.