I have a box of Redvolution Bota Box wine, and I was thinking about topping off with it for my Australian Shiraz when I transfer in a few days. Revolution is just a red blend that I enjoy... Not a great wine, but nice to have around.
How much does top off affect taste?
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The issue of topping off is a frequent topic with may opinions. If you go to the Wine experts web site and click out Tim's Blog for January 2012. You will see the topic discussed.
http://www.timswineblog.com/2012/01/water-into-wine-kits
According to Tim:
'Top up the carboy to within 2 inches of the bottom of the bung. Use cool water. Topping up helps prevent spoilage.'
And that's what throws some folks. The concern is that the wine is going fine--won't adding water at this point dilute it? Wouldn't it be better to use wine to top it up, to prevent a loss of flavour and aroma? We continue to get calls on this, year in and year out at Winexpert.
The answer is yes, the water will dilute the wine--to exactly the level we want it to be diluted! You see, all Winexpert kits are made to 4% over strength, with extra Brix levels and Total Dissolved Solid material calculated to produce a kit that will work out perfectly at 23 litres + 4%, which is 0.92 litres, or about a US quart.
http://www.timswineblog.com/2012/01/water-into-wine-kits
According to Tim:
'Top up the carboy to within 2 inches of the bottom of the bung. Use cool water. Topping up helps prevent spoilage.'
And that's what throws some folks. The concern is that the wine is going fine--won't adding water at this point dilute it? Wouldn't it be better to use wine to top it up, to prevent a loss of flavour and aroma? We continue to get calls on this, year in and year out at Winexpert.
The answer is yes, the water will dilute the wine--to exactly the level we want it to be diluted! You see, all Winexpert kits are made to 4% over strength, with extra Brix levels and Total Dissolved Solid material calculated to produce a kit that will work out perfectly at 23 litres + 4%, which is 0.92 litres, or about a US quart.
Interesting... I had been under the impression that topping up with water made the wine taste watered down. This seems to be the general consensus on this forum at least.
Wow! This "topping off with water" subject goes round and round.
Just don't top off with water, ever. Red kit wines are already going to be much, much thinner than their commercial counterparts, so adding water is only going to make the wine even thinner.
Yes, you can use your box wine to top off, especially a red blend like your box. If you should add a full 750 ml bottle to top off, that represents only one 30th of the wine in a 6-gallon carboy of 30 bottles. That's not going to affect the taste hardly at all, if at all.
Just don't use water. For a red, if you don't have a like wine or a red blend, top off with a Merlot. Merlot has a neutral taste profile, so it will blend unnoticeably.
Just don't top off with water, ever. Red kit wines are already going to be much, much thinner than their commercial counterparts, so adding water is only going to make the wine even thinner.
Yes, you can use your box wine to top off, especially a red blend like your box. If you should add a full 750 ml bottle to top off, that represents only one 30th of the wine in a 6-gallon carboy of 30 bottles. That's not going to affect the taste hardly at all, if at all.
Just don't use water. For a red, if you don't have a like wine or a red blend, top off with a Merlot. Merlot has a neutral taste profile, so it will blend unnoticeably.
cpfan
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Many of the wine makers on this forum are into the Big Red full-bodied wines. Nothing wrong with that. But adding water is not going to help a wine be full-bodied.
IMO, it can depend on how much water you are adding. Less than a bottle, then probably OK. A couple of litres? Nope. Tim is talking about adding a quart of water.
One issue these days is the size of carboys. The Italian glass carboys are larger than 6 US gallons. The Mexican ones, which are no longer available, were much closer to the proper size. Personally, I'm fortunate to have 5 Mexican carboys. Newcomers to the hobby are stuck with the larger glass carboys, thus requiring more topping up.
Steve
I totally undetand what Tim is saying in that article but I feel that these kits are short on body to begin with and using water is only going to further this. Of all the kits Ive done Ive brought it up to the 23 liter mark with water and the finished abv wad right in the ball park of that typical wine or lower but Im really never concerned too much about that unless Im way over or under. Im more foncerned at that point about body and taste and they usually start falling rally short by adding more water! Just my $.02
jdmyers
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loosin my marbles
if your relly concerned about affecting taste or diluting the wine use marbles in the bottum of your carboy to bring up the level. i got mine a a dollar store for cheap. Also when Im racking alot of the sediment seems to be trapped down in the marbles.
if your relly concerned about affecting taste or diluting the wine use marbles in the bottum of your carboy to bring up the level. i got mine a a dollar store for cheap. Also when Im racking alot of the sediment seems to be trapped down in the marbles.
AlFulchino
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in my entire life...not one wine has ever been topped off....thus i can say that my wines are 100% what they are supposed to be....
You are not making any kit wines though so big difference. If you like a light easy drinking red with little to no tannin/mouthfeel then use water. If you prefer a bold wine that will pair nicely with roasted mammal flesh of some sort then never, ever, never use water.
Remember how a kit wine is processed. There is no fermentation on the skins in many kits and only a few pounds of skins in the highest end kits. Now compare that to making wine from fresh grapes.
You are fermenting on ~100lbs worth of grape skins and seeds.
Thats a little different......
My $0.02 never top off any kit wine with anything other than an inexpensive similar wine.
Remember how a kit wine is processed. There is no fermentation on the skins in many kits and only a few pounds of skins in the highest end kits. Now compare that to making wine from fresh grapes.
You are fermenting on ~100lbs worth of grape skins and seeds.
Thats a little different......
My $0.02 never top off any kit wine with anything other than an inexpensive similar wine.
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AlFulchino
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Mike, you above many, i truly enjoy the give and take on wine making because you truly are passionate about wine making
you are right about the issue of personal preference..i never tell anyone to do what i do...or to copy me...but intuitive ones will because they read between the lines....by the way...if i did a kit, it would NEVER be topped off ...
speaking of mammal flesh we picked up our fresh meat from our two bulls yesterday....i sense the Jersey will be like veal while the hereford will be more traditional.....the color is outstanding ...hambugers this afternoon and a rib eye this evening
my issue will be which of the twenty five wines do i pair with it
you are right about the issue of personal preference..i never tell anyone to do what i do...or to copy me...but intuitive ones will because they read between the lines....by the way...if i did a kit, it would NEVER be topped off ...
speaking of mammal flesh we picked up our fresh meat from our two bulls yesterday....i sense the Jersey will be like veal while the hereford will be more traditional.....the color is outstanding ...hambugers this afternoon and a rib eye this evening
my issue will be which of the twenty five wines do i pair with it
Decisions, decisions.......!
Those poor babies...... LOL!
That should be some fantastic meat for sure.
I have a hunter friend here at work who likes wine and we swapped some Elk tenderloin and steaks for some wine. Wow, was that tenderloin AMAZING!
Those poor babies...... LOL!
That should be some fantastic meat for sure.
I have a hunter friend here at work who likes wine and we swapped some Elk tenderloin and steaks for some wine. Wow, was that tenderloin AMAZING!
All 25, Al! One meal and one wine at a time. One meal and two wines at a time, when you add a dessert wine 
Lucky you!!!
Fresh, home-grown meat. Not since I was a child, raised out in the country have I had such an opportunity.
Enjoy.
Lucky you!!!
Fresh, home-grown meat. Not since I was a child, raised out in the country have I had such an opportunity.
Enjoy.
AlFulchino
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yes some tough decisions await us!
Mike, i have not had elk but hope to some day....
Robie, sounds like a plan
Today, for lunch between pruning, we ate hamburgers from Julius, the jersey….the meat looked great and you could see it was very lean…..the butcher said essentially all his meat would be considered veal because of his youthful age at slaughter……the hamburger was the most tender I have ever had…..and it was different from store bought and I don’t mean just that no food color was added like much of what meat is in the supermarket, or no hormones and no antibiotics….you could tell the meat was extremely lean by taste as the animals were not filled w corn meal and grain and they were terrifc bugers...now that i have learned this, the next jersey (Tiberius) will have some very thin sliced cuts to be used for veal parmagiana....so live and learn on that one for sure!
tonite is rib eye from him…tomorrow we will see what Augustus the hereford gave us
Mike, i have not had elk but hope to some day....
Robie, sounds like a plan
Today, for lunch between pruning, we ate hamburgers from Julius, the jersey….the meat looked great and you could see it was very lean…..the butcher said essentially all his meat would be considered veal because of his youthful age at slaughter……the hamburger was the most tender I have ever had…..and it was different from store bought and I don’t mean just that no food color was added like much of what meat is in the supermarket, or no hormones and no antibiotics….you could tell the meat was extremely lean by taste as the animals were not filled w corn meal and grain and they were terrifc bugers...now that i have learned this, the next jersey (Tiberius) will have some very thin sliced cuts to be used for veal parmagiana....so live and learn on that one for sure!
tonite is rib eye from him…tomorrow we will see what Augustus the hereford gave us
Next ones you should give massages to and hand feed them a beer each day! Kobe beef!
Hey Guys, I am not a vegetarian but I do not eat a lot of red meat. We eat mostly lean pork, fish and fowl more for health reasons than anything else. But I have to say, I would have a hard time eating anything that I had named!
AlFulchino
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fortunately i dont have that problem
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