Finer Wine Kit Finer Wine Kits

[Lukaswine]

@Lukaswine I had a thought about what you might try if you want. Read through the two sets of directions and align the steps between them. The basic processes are essentially the same with only minor differences. Mix the must and start fermentation, primary fermentation, secondary fermentation, clearing and stabilizing and aging and bottling. Followed by drinking of course. It took me a while to understand that there are different ways to do most of the steps but figuring out what your preferences are is part of the enjoyment.

I appreciate your tips. In an one hour my yeast starter will be at the 18th hour. Not sure if I should wait closer to 24 hrs (230pm PSt) to add it to the must.. I want to do it today because I am off.

 

[cmason1957]

18 is probably close enough. You should be fine.

 

[Lukaswine]

18 is probably close enough. You should be fine.

Awesome! Thanks.

 

[joeswine]

The processing isn't any different than other kit actually, your dealing with juice shipped to you cold, the instructions are a bit long and drawn out but that's there style, I think people are making more of this than it is.
The end product is good and the taste profiles are a little different than I would to expect actually, but still decent.
All kits are a direct product of there base, there are know wine manufacturers out there that dont tweak in one fashion or another in there process.
I could be misstaken but I think these are co op wineries
Still not bad .

 

[winemaker81]

In an one hour my yeast starter will be at the 18th hour. Not sure if I should wait closer to 24 hrs (230pm PSt) to add it to the must.

The intention is to give the yeast time to multiply in an environment more ideal for reproduction. 18 hours was plenty when I tried it, the fermentation took off like a rocket -- and thankfully not like most of the Space-X early attempts!

 

[Brucenator]

The processing isn't any different than other kit actually, your dealing with juice shipped to you cold, the instructions are a bit long and drawn out but that's there style, I think people are making more of this than it is.
The end product is good and the taste profiles are a little different than I would to expect actually, but still decent.
All kits are a direct product of there base, there are know wine manufacturers out there that dont tweak in one fashion or another in there process.
I could be misstaken but I think these are co op wineries
Still not bad .

Thanks Joe for your input! I am new to the forum and was interested in making a batch of FW plus hoping not to get that kit taste. I have made 7 batches so far using WE kits mostly Cab and 6-8 month timetable drinker. So I will still order a few FW but not to get my expectation too high. Still trying to find that balance of a Cab I like but just a little sweeter for my wife's liking. If i could find something close to "Austin Hope" from California I would be a happy camper.

 

[Lukaswine]

The intention is to give the yeast time to multiply in an environment more ideal for reproduction. 18 hours was plenty when I tried it, the fermentation took off like a rocket -- and thankfully not like most of the Space-X early attempts!

Wow! The day after the yeast starter was incredible! So much foam or bubbles, it’s a must to use the 7.9 gallon bucket. I had an small amount overflow on the Cab more so than the Tuscan once I punched down the grapes skins. I have to say it was beautiful to see! Lol

 

[Jovimaple]

Wow! The day after the yeast starter was incredible! So much foam or bubbles, it’s a must to use the 7.9 gallon bucket. I had an small amount overflow on the Cab more so than the Tuscan once I punched down the grapes skins. I have to say it was beautiful to see! Lol

I pitched the starter on 7/30 to my FWK Barbera which was at s.g. 1.097 (I had prepared the must and started the yeast starter per instructions on 7/29 - probably 18 hours before but I did not note the times to know for sure).

8/1 it was down to 1.060 and I added the nutrient pack. Temp was 8-10 degrees F warmer than the room (must temp around 80° F).

S.G. on 8/2 was down to 1.000! 8/4 I racked at .996.

Fastest ferment I have seen so far, and I think it was because of the robust yeast start. I usually just pitch it dry or rehydrate in 95° F water for 15 minutes.

Edited to fix typo in # of minutes for rehydration - 15 minutes, not 25.

 

[Brian55]

The processing isn't any different than other kit actually, your dealing with juice shipped to you cold, the instructions are a bit long and drawn out but that's there style, I think people are making more of this than it is.
The end product is good and the taste profiles are a little different than I would to expect actually, but still decent.
All kits are a direct product of there base, there are know wine manufacturers out there that dont tweak in one fashion or another in there process.
I could be misstaken but I think these are co op wineries
Still not bad .

Whuh? They're not pasteurized, making the processing significantly different than any other kit.

 

[Gilmango]

Whuh? They're not pasteurized, making the processing significantly different than any other kit.

Agreed, the biggest differences I see in order: (1) not pasteurized, (2) 100% varietal save for the two blends they sell, so no guesswork, (3) use a good yeast strain plus a yeast starter and yeast nutrients, and (4) allow the consumer to select no skins, single skins, or double skins, adding 2ndary oak to skin purchases, and encouraging extra aging commensurate with skin use.

Now alot of us on WMT effectively do all or most of (3) and (4) on our own, but (1) and (2) are not available in any other kits I know about.

Another difference (5) is that they are super concentrated at 1 liter per gallon, but they claim that reduction is done in a low heat manner using newer vacuum technology or something. It seems legitimate as you would not want to go to the trouble of not pasteurizing and keeping very cold to preserve flavors if you were going to heat the juice up to concentrate it. Besides the whole kit industry is moving to greater concentration, and some here on WMT have commented positively on the new WE more concentrated kits released last year.

 

[winemaker81]

S.G. on 8/2 was down to 1.000! 8/4 I racked at .996.

I got similar results -- fermented from 1.091 to 1.000 in 3 days.

Honestly, that's too fast, especially for fermenting reds. I'm going to experiment with this fall's grapes -- I will have four 4 lug batches, and am thinking I'll make starters at the same time, and pitch them at 3 hours intervals beginning 3 hours after creation of the starters. It will be interesting to see if the fermentation rates differ by much.

 

[joeswine]

The base comes to you in a different format true, using a starter yeast or using the yeast of your choice.
You can buy frozen must ,it's not pasturezized, you can add skins from at least 4 different places that I know of .
So???

 

[winemaker81]

You can buy frozen must ,it's not pasturezized, you can add skins from at least 4 different places that I know of. So???

In the very specific context of wine kits, FWK may be a game changer.

 

[bstnh1]

The base comes to you in a different format true, using a starter yeast or using the yeast of your choice.
You can buy frozen must ,it's not pasturezized, you can add skins from at least 4 different places that I know of .
So???

Yes, you can buy frozen must or fresh juice, skins and yeasts from numerous sources. But the FWK is unique in that no other kits that I'm aware of contain the same ingredients. You can assemble your own "kit" that's similar to FWK, but you cannot buy a kit that is similar.

 

[katmike57]

The "Forte" series (incl. double pack and seeds) is now showing on the LP website for Oct fulfillment.

 

[jgmann67]

The "Forte" series (incl. double pack and seeds) is now showing on the LP website for Oct fulfillment.

I saw that this morning... really killing me right now. I may do one of these and a white wine kit or two.

 

[ras2018]

Snagged the Forte Bordeaux pre-order. The 10% early adopter discount is a nice $13 bucks in your pocket on these!

 

[ratflinger]

So, the question is, are the new Forte kits only a Tavola kit that comes packaged with 2 skins packs & a seed pack? Or is the juice of a higher quality?

 

[Gilmango]

The "Forte" series (incl. double pack and seeds) is now showing on the LP website for Oct fulfillment.

I did a little comparing between the Tavola and Forte Bordeaux kits and found that Forte basically seems to include more concentrate plus the seed pack, but is otherwise the same as Tavola with double skins as far as I can tell. Forte makes a 13.5-14% abv wine. Tavola states 12-13%. Honestly that seems lower than before?

So maybe Forte has the same concentrate as the old kits and Tavola has a little less than before? I only say that as both my FW kits started around 1.100 and finished around 0.096, which is 13.65% abv. Well above the 12-13%. So I'm concerned that Tavola may not be exactly the same as before, if they are now targeting a 12-13%. I mean the lower abv makes some sense for a quick drinker but doesn't seem consistent with what we bought before. Also of note the prices of the skin packs went up a bit.

All of this means that price wise you are better off with the Forte, a Tavola Bordeaux with double skin pack (plus extra oak) costs about 40 cents more than the Forte Bordeaux which has the same double skin pack (and extra oak) but the Forte also includes the seed pack, plus extra concentrate to get a 1.25% abv boost (12.5% avg. vs. 13.75% avg). So you get more for just slightly less with Forte.

Based on this I do not think that the source of the concentrate is any different. Which is honestly what I was hoping for in the higher priced kit. But I'd be happy to be wrong about that, or about the Tavola now being lower abv than the old kits.

 

[katmike57]

I don't see a Barbera in either series. Hopefully not discontinued.