Finer Wine Kit Finer Wine Kits

[Brant]

FWK question...

I've been looking at FWK. For the people who are purchasing multiple kits, are you starting them right away or refrig/freezing like the website mentions? I'd like to order but not sure if my schedule will allow me to start immediately. Anyone have experience with holding these kits for a while in cold storage and then starting later? Last thing I want to do is spend money on a nice kit and then ruin it by having to store it.

 

[Jovimaple]

I kept mine in the fridge for about a week and they were fine. The instructions say to keep skin packs in the freezer and the concentrate in the fridge or freezer. I don't know how comfortable I would be freezing the concentrate for months, though. That's partly why I didn't take advantage of the free shipping on FWKs at Label Peelers - I wouldn't be able to make them for a few months.

 

[Jim Welch]

FWK question...

I've been looking at FWK. For the people who are purchasing multiple kits, are you starting them right away or refrig/freezing like the website mentions? I'd like to order but not sure if my schedule will allow me to start immediately. Anyone have experience with holding these kits for a while in cold storage and then starting later? Last thing I want to do is spend money on a nice kit and then ruin it by having to store it.

My understanding is the juice and skins are kept frozen before you buy them. The FW kits I bought last spring and summer were 2020 vintage juice and skins so the kits apparently freeze well and can be stored for a long time. If one had a deep freezer, i.e. not frost free, they should keep for a very long time, a few months shouldn't hurt them.

 

[winemaker81]

Regarding storage space, the bag can be removed from the cooler, and that takes up a lot less space in the fridge or freezer

 

[heatherd]

Ordered the Forte Pinot Noir and the Bordeaux Style with free shipping.

 

[She’sgonnakillme]

Bottled my first FWK yesterday (Cab Sauv). Ended up with 29 1/2 bottles….wait no…..after it was all said and done, I ended up with 28 bottles lol! Enjoyed it so much we opened a bottle back up and drank it ….moved all of my cellared RJS EP bottles into boxes and they are now officially my “donate” wines!!!

 

[Bmd2k1]

Bottled my first FWK yesterday (Cab Sauv). Ended up with 29 1/2 bottles….wait no…..after it was all said and done, I ended up with 28 bottles lol! Enjoyed it so much we opened a bottle back up and drank it ….moved all of my cellared RJS EP bottles into boxes and they are now officially my “donate” wines!!!

# grape skin paks?
How long bulk aged? On oak?

Cheers!

 

[She’sgonnakillme]

# grape skin paks?
How long bulk aged? On oak?

Cheers!

Forte Cab double skins, supplied oak, 4 week EM is all.

 

[jgmann67]

My Forte Pinot Noir will be delivered today. Going to get it ready to go tonight, and kick it off in the morning. This one is my curiosity wine. I say that because Pinots are typically more delicate and Forte - with skins AND seeds - seems a little counter-intuitive. Still, all of the reports so far say this one is fantastic. So, away we go.

On another note, I racked my Barbera off the finer lees and oak a few weeks ago. Yesterday, the bung in the carboy let me know that the wine was not done degassing. Ooops. No foul though. The wine didn't geyser, the CO2 just put enough pressure on the bung to go "pop." I replaced it with an airlock for the time being. I'll rack it again in a few months and consider bottling.

 

[Bmd2k1]

Forte Cab double skins, supplied oak, 4 week EM is all.

Bravo! Great to hear it's awesome in such a "short" time. Based on feedbacks I've seen...I was expecting a double skin Forte to require multiple months of bulk and then further bottle aging before being ready.

Cheers!

 

[She’sgonnakillme]

Bravo! Great to hear it's awesome in such a "short" time. Based on feedbacks I've seen...I was expecting a double skin Forte to require multiple months of bulk and then further bottle aging before being ready.

Cheers!

Oh don’t get me wrong, it was still a very young tasting wine….BUT, I had no problem drinking it, whereas a traditional kit at that same point would be a rough swallow and have a strong kit taste to me

 

[joeswine]

At Finer Wine Kits, we believe in making an honest living profit from honest thoughtful work. A few prices did change over the past few days. Label Peelers also reduced the sale price to 25% and the savings from shipping easily eclipses that difference. Furthermore we have no intention of raising prices to place our product in the same "price class" as other wine kit makers. Our prices are solely based off material, juice, labor and other cost to bring this product to the home winemaker. No changes are planned going forward. Future price changes may occur as costs vary but our prices will never be based on anything beyond real numbers and the cost of doing business.

Finer Wine Kits

I forgot to order the Boudreaux labels how can I order them now?

 

[Lynx rufus]

I moved my FWK Forte Zinfandel into secondary today. I let it idle on the skins for almost 5 weeks. Sour cherry taste with some astringent tannins. It’s young & exuberant!
I added the oak cubes and put it under the AIO headspace eliminator.
Here’s where the confusion starts…
My starting specific gravity was 1.109, the final specific gravity was .998. I used two online ABV calculators, one said 14.57%, the other came up with 15.08%.
Doesn’t this seem high?
I’ve never had a kit top out above 12-13%.

 

[jgmann67]

I moved my FWK Forte Zinfandel into secondary today. I let it idle on the skins for almost 5 weeks. Sour cherry taste with some astringent tannins. It’s young & exuberant!
I added the oak cubes and put it under the AIO headspace eliminator.
Here’s where the confusion starts…
My starting specific gravity was 1.109, the final specific gravity was .998. I used two online ABV calculators, one said 14.57%, the other came up with 15.08%.
Doesn’t this seem high?
I’ve never had a kit top out above 12-13%.
View attachment 84410

It’s higher than a lot of other kits, but my Forte kit results are similar. They typically start at 1.105 and finish at 0.995.

 

[Brian55]

It’s higher than a lot of other kits, but my Forte kit results are similar. They typically start at 1.105 and finish at 0.995.

Same here.

 

[winemaker81]

Doesn’t this seem high?
I’ve never had a kit top out above 12-13%.

The Forte kits are heavy hitters, higher ABV to provide more oomph. Your numbers are correct.

Regarding ABV calculations -- All ABV calculators provide an approximation. There are numerous formulas of varying accuracy. Also, the formula changes depending on the ABV itself, e.g., a different calculation is made if the ABV is 10-14% vs 15-18%.

 

[She’sgonnakillme]

I always use starting gravity - final gravity x 131.25.. so it would be 14.568%

 

[sour_grapes]

I have deleted one of the meanings of forte that I do not think fits here, but look at the rest:

Sense 1
for·te

/ˈfôrˌtā,fôrt/

2.
FENCING
the stronger part of a sword blade, from the hilt to the middle.


Origin

mid 17th century (in forte1 (sense 2); originally as fort ): from French fort (masculine), forte (feminine) ‘strong’, from Latin fortis .




Sense 2
for·te
/ˈfôrˌtā,fôrt/

MUSIC
adverb
adverb: forte

1. (especially as a direction) loudly.
   "the figure in this bar should be played forte"
   

adjective
adjective: forte

1. played loudly.
   "the pianissimo lightness in the upper strings against the forte melody is perfectly weighted"
   

noun
noun: forte; plural noun: fortes

1. a passage performed or marked to be performed loudly.
   

Origin

Italian, literally ‘strong, loud’, from Latin fortis .

 

[Lynx rufus]

Thanks for the responses.
I thought, perhaps, I was making a mistake by using a wrong ABV calculator.
But if this seems normal, I’ll just go with it!
My current thinking is to let this sit a minimum of 18 months In the cellar.

 

[Matteo_Lahm]

I forgot to order the Boudreaux labels how can I order them now?

Contact Label Peelers. I would call.