WineXpert Luna Rossa - grape type?

[KSKOH]

Just opened a bottle last night that was about 4 years old. Still good but on the down side for taste. It was best between 3 and 3 and a half years old. This was my first kit so errors might have been made. It is still one of my favorites.

 

[DaveM]

Wow! You still have some bottles of your first kit at 4 years! Amazing. I've got about 10 bottles of my first kit left...but it's only about 22 months old!

 

[tonyt]

Sorry to bump this to the top. I just bottled this over the weekend to free up carboy space. It had kind of a sweet taste to it even though I know the SG went below 1.000 - just barely. Is this just a green tasting wine and I should let it sit in the bottle for a while? I tasted the oak and I can tell it is very rich with flavors, but it had that sweet taste.
What am I tasting?

The sweet taste is the young version of what many of us LOVE about Amarone. Young the raisins taste is a bit sweet. As Amarone ages (ten years and up for good commercial Amarone) the sweet turns musty, rich, complex and luscious. I doubt our kits can reach that level since three or four years is about all we keep them.

 

[MN-winer]

Thanks Tonyt. Obvioiusly I was expecting something more early but I'm content letting this one sit for a while. A few of my other wines are approaching 1 and 1.5 years and they are nice.

 

[Karey]

I'm on my 6th Luna Rossa Kit and we've drunk them all young. I wish I saved a bottle from the first kit cuz it would be going on a year. From now on, now that I'm developing quite a stash, I'll be saving bottles as well as carboys to age. We did open one the other night with company that was an earlier kit and they were pleasantly surprised. I think people think homemade wine has got to be some thin sweet stuff. All our guests are surprised at everything I serve (excepting Skeeter Pee of course, but I warn them - and have fun with it). But Luna Rossa will be a regular. I was curious about it's grape makeup too and origin, so thanks for that info.

 

[diggerdan17]

The sweet taste you may detect is probably Kit Taste. Its a bit more prevalent in the W.E. kits and does disappear in about 18- 24 months in the bottle.

I love this kit and am working on my second batch as I have devoured all but 1 bottle of my first batch which is 2 years old.

Try drinking your first bottle at about 12 months and you won't be disappointed!

Digger

 

[kat50496]

I have the Luna Rossa kit (gifted this week!) that I will probably start this weekend. Has anybody added raisins to this kit for some added body?

It would seem to fit with the varietal no? I go by a Whole Foods on my way home from work and could easily pick up some raisins. Does this sound reasonble? Thanks

 

[ibglowin]

A pound of the organic red flame raisins from Whole Foods should work in very nicely to this blend of grapes.

 

[kat50496]

Thanks Mike
Am I right to assume that all I need to do is add the raisins to the primary (I'm thinking in a bag) and still follow the kit instructions, just making sure to stir the raisins twice a day to keep moist. Is this correct or do I need to worry about any other changes to the primary. Will it take longer to ferment to target, or to dry, due to the added fruit?

 

[robie]

the local FOP opened a bottle of WE Luna Rossa that was 3 years old and I thought it sucked. The owner did say alot of people really like it and it is all they"make"

Like an Amarone, not everyone likes the taste of even a great Amarone. Maybe it is the raisin taste, or in the specific case of an Amarone, it could be the tartness. I think the word "amarone" in some way means "tart".

I know I am not terribly fond of a "big" raisin taste. It reminds me of the taste of an oxidized wine and visa-verse, an oxidized wine has a raisiny taste.

 

[Karey]

added raisins?

We so like the Luna Rossa I don't know if I'd want to mess with it, but if so, I'd cut/grind up the raisins first. And I'm no longer into bagging up fruit - don't like the work of getting it all out of the bag. By the time it's ready to rack into the carboy everything's usually on the bottom, and there's already a lot of oak chips from the kit on the bottom. Let us know how you like it with raisins ... but then you don't have a plain Luna Rossa for comparison.

 

[MN-winer]

I don't think there will be any purpose served by adding raisens. This wine is a full bodied wine and very rich complete flavors and ton's of oak. Just my opinion.

 

[kat50496]

All good points, thanks for the input. Since this gets overall good reviews as is, I think I will just make it according to directions first. At least then I can make it again and tweak if I think necessary. But everyone seems to like this one.

I do have the WE Italian Amarone at 1 year in the bottle, are there strong similarities between the two. I havn't tried the Amarone since 8 months - may have to open one this weekend to see how it's progressing.

 

[ibglowin]

Some people coarse chop them a little other just dump in whole. I use a cheesecloth bag like the ones that come with the grape packs. Makes it easy to punch down daily and easy to remove. It make take a bit longer to ferment but you probably wont notice it this time of year since its warmer. I would also take it all the way to dry in the primary to give the yeast maximum time to pull out as much as possible from the raisins. When the SG is ~1.000 squeeze them good and transfer to carboy for secondary fermentation to complete.

Thanks Mike
Am I right to assume that all I need to do is add the raisins to the primary (I'm thinking in a bag) and still follow the kit instructions, just making sure to stir the raisins twice a day to keep moist. Is this correct or do I need to worry about any other changes to the primary. Will it take longer to ferment to target, or to dry, due to the added fruit?

 

[JeanVin]

So to those who've made this - Do you put "Luna Rossa" on your labels or something else?

Luna Rosa is one of our staples out here. Everyone who has tried it seems to love it too.

I make my own labels too. Here is one of them even though the spelling is wrong.

 

[Rocky]

Your spelling is not wrong, the color of the label is! "Luna Rosa" is "Pink Moon" in Italian.

 

[JeanVin]

Thanks for the translation but I think I will stick with my red labels. As much as my daughter loves the color pink, I think that I will keep it off my wine labels.

 

[Putterrr]

Nice label

I picked up and Rosa at noble grapes last sale but havn't started it yet. I'm waiting for a winery series Chilean Carmenère that i want to start first. A Drawback to dealing with the small outlet down here is that they have to wait till they have enough for a big order to save $$.

Cheers

 

[Flem]

Nice label

I picked up and Rosa at noble grapes last sale but havn't started it yet. I'm waiting for a winery series Chilean Carmenère that i want to start first. A Drawback to dealing with the small outlet down here is that they have to wait till they have enough for a big order to save $$.

Cheers

Then I guess you'd better order a larger quantity. LOL

 

[cpfan]

Your spelling is not wrong, the color of the label is! "Luna Rosa" is "Pink Moon" in Italian.

Yes but the kit is "Luna Rossa".