Other Finer Wine Kits Experience Thus Far

[FredTheNuke]

This is translatable to most any high end wine kit.....

So I started 11 Finer Wine Kits about a month ago. 3 whites - 8 reds. I ran the 3 whites plus 3 reds first (only have six 7.9 gallon fermenters).

I filtered and bottled the whites yesterday with no problems. They were exactly at 2 weeks in secondary clearing - I used a Buon Vino Super Jet with #2 pads. No issues filtering all 3 on 1 set of pads - wine is crystal clear and aging in bottles in one of my wine coolers at about 55F.

The first 3 reds were also at 2 weeks in clearing (Merlot, Bordeaux and Petit Sryah). I filtered the Bordeaux first - barely made the six gallons before the #2 pads were at 22psi. Pads were Spent. Of course the filtered wine was plenty clear. I bottled the Bordeaux and went ahead and filtered the Merlot (been using it to top off the other kits so it had headspace as of yesterday). I racked the Petit Syrah for another few weeks in secondary.

When the second set of kits are ready I'll just rack for a few more weeks/months before filtering and bottling. Yes - you can do it at 2 weeks in secondary but the pad changeouts mid process are a pain and quite messy - was hoping to filter 15-20 gallons of red from 1 set. Plus you have losses for each round of filtering (hence why I didn't opt for no #1, then #2, etc). Waiting is more valuable than filtering in 6 gallon batches per pad set. Good Ole Time! LoL

I'm sure this is old news for the ultra experienced but I wanted to push the new Super Jet to see what it could do. It does a fantastic job but is not worth the product loss vs just waiting.

Shout out to Matteo and Team! Very very young reds but already the aroma and taste are amazing! Going to be epic when they are fully aged and ready!

 

[winemaker81]

I'm sure this is old news for the ultra experienced but I wanted to push the new Super Jet to see what it could do. It does a fantastic job but is not worth the product loss vs just waiting.

I filtered for a few years, but stopped for that reason. Bulk age the wines at least 3 months to see what you get.

 

[jgmann67]

I’m a six month bulk for reds and 3 month bulk for whites (at a minimum). I have a filter system for my AIO, but haven’t used it much.

 

[ratflinger]

I don't filter until the 3 month mark, as this is usually when the wine goes into my Better Bottles for bulk aging. By the time I filter, the wine has been racked twice and is more of a polish than filter. I use a 1 micron cartridge, zero loss, never had it stop up, but I only filter 2 6-gal batches at a time. I am finding that a 6 mo red can be good, but just waiting 1 more month really makes a tasteable difference.

 

[bstnh1]

Just did the third racking on a FWK Tavola Chardonnay that I started on Nov 16. The color is a strange reddish orange in the carboy but fairly normal looking in the racking tube. The ABV came out at 14.41%. I was only able to grab a very small sample and it tasted like a straight shot of 100 proof Vodka. I know it's way early to make a judgement on this, but wow was that taste like rough fire water!! Never tasted any wine that rough at any stage of the game!

 

[winemaker81]

Just did the third racking on a FWK Tavola Chardonnay that I started on Nov 16. The color is a strange reddish orange in the carboy but fairly normal looking in the racking tube.

That's what mine looks like. A bit dark in the glass, but within normal parameters.

14.41% is hot for a Chardonnay. Mine is coming in at 12.8%. Did you short the water?

The calculation I'm using is: Round((InitialGravity - FinalGravity) / 7.36 * 10, 3)

 

[bstnh1]

That's what mine looks like. A bit dark in the glass, but within normal parameters.

14.41% is hot for a Chardonnay. Mine is coming in at 12.8%. Did you short the water?

The calculation I'm using is: Round((InitialGravity - FinalGravity) / 7.36 * 10, 3)

No. didn't short the water - followed direction exactly. Starting SG was 1.103. Final was .996. I subtract the two readings and multiply by 131. I had an error in my calculations. The abv actually calculates out to 14.01, not 14.41as I mentioned before. Still pretty high! What is the "10,3" in your formula?

 

[winemaker81]

No. didn't short the water - followed direction exactly. Starting SG was 1.103. Final was .996. I subtract the two readings and multiply by 131. I had an error in my calculations. The abv actually calculates out to 14.01, not 14.41as I mentioned before. Still pretty high! What is the "10,3" in your formula?

The formula I use produces 14.5% for your values. In my haste I copied the formula I use in Excel -- I created a workbook to simplify things. The formula is:

(OG - FG) / 7.36 * 10

This produces a value resembling "0.145", and when the "%" format is applied in Excel it displays "14.5%".

I have researched ABV calculation for wine, and have yet to find an answer I fully trust. Every formula is an approximation, as the result is not a linear curve. Different formulas are needed for different ABV ranges, e.g., one formula is used when the ABV is 6%-10%, another is for 10%-14%, and yet another for 14%-18%.

It just occurred to me that the formula I used for your readings is not valid. ARGH!!!

 

[oppyland]

Just did the third racking on a FWK Tavola Chardonnay that I started on Nov 16. The color is a strange reddish orange in the carboy but fairly normal looking in the racking tube.

If anything, the color looks slightly lighter than the Luna Bianca I have bulk aging. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[winemaker81]

If anything, the color looks slightly lighter than the Luna Bianca I have bulk aging. I wouldn't worry about it.

I have none left to compare, but my last Luna Bianca was darker in the glass than the current FWK. This is the FWK Chardonnay:

 

[oppyland]

Here's the Luna Bianca. Different lighting, etc. I'm sure, so compare with a grain of salt, but it appears to be at least as dark as the FWK version to me.

 

[Swedeman]

Here's the Luna Bianca. Different lighting, etc. I'm sure, so compare with a grain of salt, but it appears to be at least as dark as the FWK version to me.

Well, one can argue (at least I can ) that Luna Bianca is on the darker side of the spectrum and not in the middle of Chardonnay's color range. My Luna was pale brown, but not as an old white wine, rather than having the gold color as in Brian's pic above. I thought my juice bag was oxidized because of the dark color but WE said it was a normal color for this kit. IIRC my kit contained 90 g of oak and that made the Luna Bianca wine even darker. @winemaker81 Is your FWK Chard oaked?

Admittedly, when I buy Chardonnay, I normally buy Chablis which is very pale in color compared to Chardonnay from California and that has "colored" my view.

 

[winemaker81]

@winemaker81 Is your FWK Chard oaked?

The kit included fermentation chips, but I did not add anything for aging.

My normal winemaking notes are here:
https://wine.bkfazekas.com/2021-chardonnay/
And my Chardonnay In Detail post is here:
https://wine.bkfazekas.com/2021-finer-wine-kits-chardonnay-in-detail/#L2022-01-10
The "in detail" post has pictures along the way.

Admittedly, when I buy Chardonnay, I normally buy Chablis which is very pale in color compared to Chardonnay from California and that has "colored" my view.

 

[Bmd2k1]

The kit included fermentation chips, but I did not add anything for aging.

My normal winemaking notes are here:
https://wine.bkfazekas.com/2021-chardonnay/
And my Chardonnay In Detail post is here:
https://wine.bkfazekas.com/2021-finer-wine-kits-chardonnay-in-detail/#L2022-01-10
The "in detail" post has pictures along the way.

How long ya planning on bulk aging ur Chard b4 bottling?

Cheers!

 

[winemaker81]

How long ya planning on bulk aging ur Chard b4 bottling?

Possibly this weekend I'm going to move it from 23 liter to 19 liter carboy, and sparkle the extra 4 liters. Bottling the main part will probably be at the 6 month mark, roughly 2 months from now.

 

[Larsen Cottrell]

Just did the third racking on a FWK Tavola Chardonnay that I started on Nov 16. The color is a strange reddish orange in the carboy but fairly normal looking in the racking tube. The ABV came out at 14.41%. I was only able to grab a very small sample and it tasted like a straight shot of 100 proof Vodka. I know it's way early to make a judgement on this, but wow was that taste like rough fire water!! Never tasted any wine that rough at any stage of the game!

View attachment 84417

I've found all of the whites I have made (Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Moscato) come out darker than 'store bought' versions, some more than others

 

[Mekpdue]

I've found all of the whites I have made (Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Moscato) come out darker than 'store bought' versions, some more than others

Thank you for that comment. I have just put a WE Moscato in the carboy for bulk aging and said to myself that this wine sure looks darker than almost all store bought Moscato's. But does taste good. Today, I am going to start a FWK Riesling batch and already the juice concentrate looks dark to me and it will be interesting to see how it clears up. Especially with the *new* bentonite step added-in.

 

[cmason1957]

All wines look darker in the carboy/bulk than they will once bottled. I always look at the color as I am racking, in the racking tube to get a better idea of what it will look like in the glass. As well as taking out a small amount to sample, inspect.

 

[jgmann67]

I was only able to grab a very small sample and it tasted like a straight shot of 100 proof Vodka. I know it's way early to make a judgement on this, but wow was that taste like rough fire water!! Never tasted any wine that rough at any stage of the game!

The issue about FWK White wine color has been talked about extensively. I'm interested to talk about what caused your taste issue. My first impulse was to see if the wine is properly degassed (i.e. run a "poof" taste to see), but that would be too easy an answer. Usually the most you get in a gassy wine is a zippy or acid taste that masks the wine's flavor profile, not "rough fire water."

 

[bstnh1]

Just did the third racking on a FWK Tavola Chardonnay that I started on Nov 16. The color is a strange reddish orange in the carboy but fairly normal looking in the racking tube. The ABV came out at 14.41%. I was only able to grab a very small sample and it tasted like a straight shot of 100 proof Vodka. I know it's way early to make a judgement on this, but wow was that taste like rough fire water!! Never tasted any wine that rough at any stage of the game!

View attachment 84417

Update on the rough tasting FWK Chardonnay. At bottling time (2/22) this was really rough tasting. Opened a bottle yesterday and wow, what a difference! It's really mellowed out and it's very drinkable now. Really amazing difference in just 9 months.