WineXpert First winemaking attempt (and posting)

[SouthernChemist]

A friend and I just started our very first attempt at making wine the other day, and so far so good. My friend has been into wine for a long while now, but I've only gotten into it relatively recently in the past few months. We're both chemists, though, so the idea of making our own wine sounded pretty awesome. If it all works out, we'll definitely be doing more.

Because we're both fans of pinot noir wine, we ended up getting a WE Selection International New Zealand Pinot Noir kit. I have to admit, the smell and taste of the initial juice was pretty amazing. The starting S.G. was about 1.091 or so. Unfortunately (or not, depending on your perspective), my two cats are very interested in the must because of the smell, so the primary fermenter is secluded in my closet right now covered up with an airlock. Bubbles started slowly coming up the next night, and by this morning the rate of bubbling has become fairly steady (now about 2.5 days in). You can even hear the fizzing inside if you put your ear close enough to the bucket.

All in all, the yeast seem to be doing their job. My friend made the comment that she definitely feels like a real chemist now that we're making alcohol in a closet. Everyone we know is pretty skeptical that the wine we make will taste any good (one person went so far as to say that it can't be good because she's never heard of anyone making their own wine)...so we aim to prove them all wrong with our first batch!


John

 

[shoebiedoo]

The real hard part will be waiting as long as you SHOULD to prove them wrong. Patience is the key here. Regardless of what the instructions say, I wouldn't let any try for a year. or 6 months a the very minimum. After you add the clarifying junk (that's a technical term), let it sit in the carboy for 6 months before you bottle it. Also, make sure you ad some Potassium Metabisulphite after you've had it in the carboy for 3 months so you SO2's stay in line. There's lots of fun reading on that subject if you're bored one day and need something to do.

WELCOME TO THE FORUM!

 

[Rocky]

John, one of your friends never heard of "anyone making their own wine?!!" Has she been freeze-dried or does she live in a bubble? It is one of the fastest growing hobbies in the US and has been for about 25 years.

Welcome to the hobby and the forum. Nice choice for your first wine. A 15 L kit is a good place to start. You will find that you can make excellent wine at home.

 

[SouthernChemist]

It's funny how people easily accept that one can beer at home, but making wine is a completely different story. My family thinks I'm a bit crazy, but then again, they're not really into wine all that much.

We'll definitely be letting it age, though...and probably be making something else in the mean time to distract us!

 

[cpfan]

We'll definitely be letting it age, though...and probably be making something else in the mean time to distract us!

That's a great plan.

Welcome to a wonderful hobby.

Steve

 

[Runningwolf]

Welcome to the forum. I must admit there is a lot of bad home made wine out there. Simply because they didn't take the time to learn a few of the processes but mainly because they were passing it out way too soon. Take your time and enjoy the hobby. Home made wine is awesome and you can tweak it to you're liking's and you'll also soon stop buying commercial.

 

[PCharles]

Best of luck with your first kit

Welcome to wine making!

Here are two things I'd point out to a new kit maker.

1. Have a similar wine handy to top off with and don't use water. After you rack your wine, you'll fine the need to top off.

2. Investigate degassing - The instructions tell you to stir the wine with your spoon. I did that with my first kit and ended up bottling with too much gas. Kits seem particularly prone to gass retention. It's worth a bit of time looking into the subject.

Now it's time to get your bottles ready. Getting the nack of lable removal can, at times, be a real pain.

There are plenty of threads that discuss different techniques of lable removal. The truth is some wine lables come off easy and others don't. I soak overnight in a bit of dawn and oxyclean. Most seem to come off easy.

Best of luck and welcome to the site.

Cheers,
Paul

 

[jet]

...
Has she been freeze-dried or does she live in a bubble? It is one of the fastest growing hobbies in the US and has been for about 25 years.
...

Well, it is NC. . Sorry, couldn't help myself.


Just follow the directions and age it properly, and I think you'll be pleased.

 

[PCharles]

NASCAR and NC

Well, it is NC. . Sorry, couldn't help myself.


Just follow the directions and age it properly, and I think you'll be pleased.

That's right,

There's a reason NC is the home of NASCAR. Yep, brewing, fermenting, and distilling go way back. After all, there was a reason they were driving fast on those back country roads.

Now, NC is the home of many fine Vineyards and Wineries.
http://www.visitncwine.com/wineries

 

[Wade E]

Most bad wines that are home made are either juice buckets or from grapes and are terrible due to no knowledge of wine making!!! These kits if of the higher quality do produce a respectable and sometimes even awesome wine. The higher end kits like the RJS EP or Winery Series produce excellent kits that can compare to many good commercial wines and IMO usually better then your typical $15 -$20 bottle of commercial. With red wines I highly recommend getting the top kits and with whites they arent as important but still better to get the higher quality kits. The reason I mention reds being more important is that with reds, the smaller the kit the less total solids are in there resulting in a thinner wine thats not as noticeable in a white but still noticeable just to a lesser extent.

 

[MN-winer]

I've tasted this NZ Pinot and it is excellent after waiting a year after bottling. Good luck!!

 

[SouthernChemist]

As far as topping up is concerned, which from what I've read, correct me if I'm wrong, doesn't need to be done until after the secondary fermentation is complete, is there any favored criteria for a similar wine use or would any pinot noir wine work in this case? I would assume there is nothing too strict as the volume you're adding is relatively small compared to the total volume, but I was curious as to what people have found through experience.

 

[MN-winer]

I would top up with a lower priced similar wine. you won't notice any change so don't bother getting an expensive wine. You probably won't notice if its a different red either.

 

[Rocky]

For topping off, I find that the Trader Joe's "Coastal" series works very well and is reasonably priced. There are quite a few varieties so I can always find something similar and in our area the price is $4-5 per bottle.

 

[robie]

When first starting out, degassing seems to be one of the hardest things to get right. Don't get in too big a hurry to bottle the wine until it is gas (CO2) free. After it clears, taste it. If it tastes fizzy, degas it some more and try it again. If you bottle fizzy wine, it will stay that way.

 

[SouthernChemist]

We now have it in the secondary fermentation phase in the carboy. Not only does it smell more like wine as opposed to liquid jam, but it actually did not taste as bad as we thought it might at this stage. Specific gravity is down to at least 1.006 now.

Lot more eye catching in the glass carboy than the white bucket, too!

 

[Flem]

We now have it in the secondary fermentation phase in the carboy. Not only does it smell more like wine as opposed to liquid jam, but it actually did not taste as bad as we thought it might at this stage. Specific gravity is down to at least 1.006 now.

Lot more eye catching in the glass carboy than the white bucket, too!

And it only becomes more eye-catching once it starts clearing.

 

[rhoffart]

welcome to the froum, John. My only advice is to buy the best kits you can.

HERE is some great reading material.

 

[SouthernChemist]

Just an update...we've got our 6 gallon batch of pinot noir through the fermentation and racked off the sediment (per the instructions). It looks like it's cleared pretty well up to this point, and we're going to let it sit secure in the carboy until after the new year before we get into bottling it.