RJ Spagnols Kit #3: Super Tuscan, first skins kit

[AZMDTed]

My wife and I just had our first taste of the Super Tuscan that we started when you started yours. About the only difference is that ours went into a Vadai barrel for 8 weeks (2d red to age in that barrel). It was fantastic. Very full body, great flavor and a very balanced oakiness. Just over 9 months old now, can't wait for this to get another year on it. This will probably knock a few cab kits a year out of my rotation.

Too bad labelpeelers doesn't stock it, but it's worth full price wherever I need to buy it.

 

[lilvixen]

I opened the April split last night for dinner and used the aerator to rid it of the residual bit of CO2 - that sharpness I detected last time - and let it breathe 15 minutes before dinner. Hubby and I thought it tasted pretty good. After dinner, I was rinsing out the bottle and was able to peel off kit-provided label with little effort. I made a comment about it, and hubby said, "oh, that was your homemade wine tonight?!" SUCCESS! The Super Tuscan is about 9 months old now, and hubby thought it was a normal $10 bottle that we drink. If I wasn't 100% sold on this hobby before, I am now!

 

[David219]

I read your post quickly, without my glasses on, and thought you wrote, "If I wasn't 100% sold on this hubby before, I am now!"
It's so nice wine has brought you two closer...

 

[lilvixen]

I bypassed the May split and grabbed a 750mL bottle for this week's Turkey French Dip dinners (think French Dip but with roasted turkey leftovers because I need variety for these leftovers!). I aerated the Super Tuscan (ST) into glasses when I started dinner, so it had about 30 minutes to breathe. Hubby took a sip as we sat down to dinner and commented, "ooh, fruity!" The ST was indeed fruity tonight! I'm guessing red fruits, but my smell taste buds aren't sensitive enough to really know. It feels medium, maybe medium-full bodied, and tastes great! I watched hubby sip it in between bites and looking pensively at the label a few times. After dinner, we had half glasses left (we're sippers), and after hubby made another humming nod at the label, I said, "pretty good for homemade, huh?" Again, he was shocked, said the ST was great, and that he didn't know it was mine. I figured as much based on his reaction through dinner to it, and I appreciated that I was able to witness honest reactions to it. It's 11 months old now, and I'm officially adding the ST as fair game for the dinner wine rotation. I'll keep it at 1-2 bottles per month so we can taste the progression, but it's high time we start enjoying it now!

 

[Boatboy24]

That's great! Now make another one so you can age it for two years.

 

[lilvixen]

I will eventually. I have 4 kits waiting in the closet, 2 kits ready for bottling, 1 kit in primary, and only 4 carboys. With a 6 month bulk aging routine, I'll be able to start the last kit from the closet in Nov. But then I want to do an Amarone and Barbera to round out my variety. At that point, my wine racks will be at capacity (~275 bottles/9 kits). But I could probably start another ST mid next year and wait to bottle it until there's room. Although, we're low on Malbec, because that was a mid-level kit, and we're trying to finish it before the premium kits are drinkable, so I'll likely end up doing a Malbec before another ST...Eh, details. But yes, I will make another ST that I won't be chomping at the bit to drink, but this is my first premium kit, and the only premium red bottled, so it's definitely a target.

 

[AZMDTed]

I will eventually. I have 4 kits waiting in the closet, 2 kits ready for bottling, 1 kit in primary, and only 4 carboys. With a 6 month bulk aging routine, I'll be able to start the last kit from the closet in Nov. But then I want to do an Amarone and Barbera to round out my variety. At that point, my wine racks will be at capacity (~275 bottles/9 kits). But I could probably start another ST mid next year and wait to bottle it until there's room. Although, we're low on Malbec, because that was a mid-level kit, and we're trying to finish it before the premium kits are drinkable, so I'll likely end up doing a Malbec before another ST...Eh, details. But yes, I will make another ST that I won't be chomping at the bit to drink, but this is my first premium kit, and the only premium red bottled, so it's definitely a target.

Sounds to me like another couple of carboys and a new wine rack will solve all your challenges

 

[lilvixen]

Except I've already commandeered the back of the master closet for rack space, the side of the guest closet for kit and empty bottle storage, and two sections of the dining room for equipment and carboys. I'm already toeing the crazy/obsessed line given our house layout. And no, I'm not moving. Besides, total consumption including gifts is about 170 bottles a year. 275 in the racks is way more than enough. (I say to remind myself as much as to convince you.)

 

[lilvixen]

I am proud to announce that, as a newbie winemaker, I have successfully allowed 24 bottles of this Super Tuscan, my third kit, to age a full year!

The first kit was a 10L kit to test the waters and the second kit was a batch for sis, so I'm feeling even more proud of myself for abstaining from touching most of the Super Tuscan, because it's leagues better than the first kit, even with the teensy bit of residual gas. And I'm not even tempted to open a bottle of the Super Tuscan to celebrate... because I haven't meal-planned for it yet, but I will at some point this month.

 

[AZMDTed]

Congratulations! That's a very hard thing to do. Now try to keep a dozen for another year. Drink some of your newer wines without guilt as a sacrifice to age your Super Tuscan longer. I did that with my second kit and I still have a dozen bottles after 32 months and it's now a source of personal pride in NOT drinking them yet.

I started an ST kit about the same time as you and my wife has already declared it one of her favorites.

Well done.