Harford Winery Fall 2016 Harvest

[ceeaton]

Definitely darker than your typical WZ. But looks pretty.

I was hoping someone else has bought one of those buckets before. I did add some opti-white and Fermaid O, but don't remember the juice being that dark. The sample tastes really good for being a little less than a month old, so I don't think I did anything catastrophic to it. GRE yeast tends to not extract too much color from whole grapes, so I'm wondering where the color came from, especially since it was a pressed juice bucket?

I will see my older brother this weekend at some point so I'll have to check how his white zin bucket turned out, color wise. Guess I shouldn't complain since I'm now interested in a wine I figured I'd have only a passing interest in.

 

[ceeaton]

Racked the White Zin this evening. Still a nice dark purple/rosé color. Added some sorbate as I plan on backsweetening it enough that my wife likes it. Did take a taste and it has a really nice strawberry/raspberry aroma and flavor. I was somewhat blown away by the intensity of the berry flavors. I'm not a white zin lover, but if it tasted like this I'd reconsider drinking it. So I guess the bonus of the dark color is some added flavor; I'll take that trade-off any day.

 

[heatherd]

I was hoping someone else has bought one of those buckets before. I did add some opti-white and Fermaid O, but don't remember the juice being that dark. The sample tastes really good for being a little less than a month old, so I don't think I did anything catastrophic to it. GRE yeast tends to not extract too much color from whole grapes, so I'm wondering where the color came from, especially since it was a pressed juice bucket?

I will see my older brother this weekend at some point so I'll have to check how his white zin bucket turned out, color wise. Guess I shouldn't complain since I'm now interested in a wine I figured I'd have only a passing interest in.

The strange thing is that I, too, have a very dark White Zin batch from my SIL as a Christmas gift from last year. Must have been a strange WZ harvest this year.

 

[ceeaton]

The strange thing is that I, too, have a very dark White Zin batch from my SIL as a Christmas gift from last year. Must have been a strange WZ harvest this year.

I just double AIO racked it tonight, added some more back sweetening sugar (I inch up the SG scale until my wife almost likes it, knowing the sweetness will increase with aging -- think I'm around 1.003 right now). Nice berry flavor is coming out with the added sweetness, more dark berry than the strawberry that is in most light white zins. Should turn out to be an interesting wine (though it is for my wife to give away as gifts, if I can get it to stop dropping sediment, I talk to the carboy everytime I walk by it, the kids love it (they know I have a few bolts coming loose)).

 

[heatherd]

I just double AIO racked it tonight, added some more back sweetening sugar (I inch up the SG scale until my wife almost likes it, knowing the sweetness will increase with aging -- think I'm around 1.003 right now). Nice berry flavor is coming out with the added sweetness, more dark berry than the strawberry that is in most light white zins. Should turn out to be an interesting wine (though it is for my wife to give away as gifts, if I can get it to stop dropping sediment, I talk to the carboy everytime I walk by it, the kids love it (they know I have a few bolts coming loose)).

I like dry roses, so I am going to give this one a try dry. If it isn't tasty enough I will back-sweeten.

 

[ceeaton]

Racked and added some more sweetener to this one. Ended up at 1.007, which is high for me, but this juice bucket was for my wife to give to friends. A bit dark for a White Zin, but while I was racking I just was enamored with the color. Took a sample and cooled it down, and my wife drank every last drop and was happy with the outcome. Will let it sit and bottle it in the near future. Hoping (for my sake) that the sweetness doesn't come out more as it ages. Right now, with the added body this one has, it is a very nice wine, especially for 3 months old. Wish I had saved a gallon out for a dry rosé.

 

[ceeaton]

Did an impromptu carboy raiding tonight. Had texted my brother and I'm proud of him, his wines are still in the carboy! Since I liked the sample the other night, I stole two 1.5L bottles from the carboy, hand degassed and added the cork. Here's an image to show just how dark this White Zin really is, but like I've said on other threads, there is just an amazing strawberry and other red berry quality to this one, nice aroma already too! Doesn't act or taste like a 3 month old wine, for sure. Have two gatherings in the next two days, so these should do to cover entrance fees.

 

[Boatboy24]

How sweet is this?

Need to rack my Viognier and give it a tad more pectic. The last dose was a little low, but cleared most of the haze. AFter that, I'll decide if I want to add any sweetness. Some of the ones I've enjoyed have been dry, but some are around 0.5% RS.

 

[ceeaton]

How sweet is this?

Need to rack my Viognier and give it a tad more pectic. The last dose was a little low, but cleared most of the haze. AFter that, I'll decide if I want to add any sweetness. Some of the ones I've enjoyed have been dry, but some are around 0.5% RS.

SG 1.007, so I think that is considered semi-sweet.

This wine is meant for others, but I still am fond of it though I like a dry wine the best. I made it just sweet enough that my wife considered it sweet in hopes that I could still drink some of it without rolling up into a ball from excess residual sugar. Luckily she is starting to come to the "dry side" of life and doesn't enjoy really sweet wines anymore.

 

[Boatboy24]

SG 1.007, so I think that is considered semi-sweet.

This wine is meant for others, but I still am fond of it though I like a dry wine the best. I made it just sweet enough that my wife considered it sweet in hopes that I could still drink some of it without rolling up into a ball from excess residual sugar. Luckily she is starting to come to the "dry side" of life and doesn't enjoy really sweet wines anymore.

I think my Sauv Blanc Rose came in @ 1.002, and its just a tad sweeter than I'd like. Need to retest the cucumber/melon Sauv Blanc. It is sweet, but has nice acid. Really enjoyed it last night.

 

[ceeaton]

I think my Sauv Blanc Rose came in @ 1.002, and its just a tad sweeter than I'd like. Need to retest the cucumber/melon Sauv Blanc. It is sweet, but has nice acid. Really enjoyed it last night.

If I am going to sweeten it, I prefer 1.000 to 1.003. This WZ has enough other things going on that the 1.007 isn't offensive, yet. We'll see how it ages (if the sweetness comes out more I probably won't like it too much). If I get another WZ bucket next Fall and it's that dark I'll make it into a 1.000 Rosé.

 

[ceeaton]

The WZ was a success. The sweet toothed ones liked it, which surprised me. I thought they'd need it bumped up a few notches (my SIL normally drinks a Pink Muscato that is rather sweet, but tasty).

 

[Boatboy24]

Just jumped onto Harford's website to see if they had Rose buckets last spring and noticed that I've been quoted. Can't recall if I left this on Yelp or on their website, but nice to see it was read.

 

[ceeaton]

Just jumped onto Harford's website to see if they had Rose buckets last spring and noticed that I've been quoted. Can't recall if I left this on Yelp or on their website, but nice to see it was read.

I saw that a while back and mentioned it on another thread, I figured they'd give you some free grapes to be able to use such a good recommendation. But that's me, I'm nice like that...you also have to figure that you and Heather lured me and jgmann in, that should be worth at least a free juice bucket, don't you think? (Hey Kevin and Teresa, if your reading this, hint..hint...)

 

[heatherd]

Just jumped onto Harford's website to see if they had Rose buckets last spring and noticed that I've been quoted. Can't recall if I left this on Yelp or on their website, but nice to see it was read.

That's funny! I wondered if that was you.

 

[heatherd]

I saw that a while back and mentioned it on another thread, I figured they'd give you some free grapes to be able to use such a good recommendation. But that's me, I'm nice like that...you also have to figure that you and Heather lured me and jgmann in, that should be worth at least a free juice bucket, don't you think? (Hey Kevin and Teresa, if your reading this, hint..hint...)

I agree! Perhaps some nice free Maryland Traminette!

 

[ceeaton]

Tasted the Lanza Zin (and the local Cab Franc) tonight. Without looking at my notes I'm guessing I threw some Xoaker balls in there. Really nice oak flavor, was worried that I had over oaked it, but I had a beer prior to tasting these. Once I swished a few sips around my mouth and it "normalized", I started noticing a nice berry flavor popping through the oak. Not over oaked at all, very nice for an eight month old sample.