Making a Port style wine from a Standard Wine Kit

[ou8amaus]

Thanks for following! It is a double kit... 2x 7 liter bags to make 2 batches of 30 bottles. First bag I made normally, this thread is following the second bags evolution into something (hopefully) better.

 

[jgmann67]

Thanks for following! It is a double kit... 2x 7 liter bags to make 2 batches of 30 bottles. First bag I made normally, this thread is following the second bags evolution into something (hopefully) better.

Didn't know they made such a thing. That's cool.

 

[ou8amaus]

Costco sells something similar under the Argentia Ridge Chateau brand.

 

[yanks4carolyn]

You had me.....up until Seths calculations. Oo! It is a very interesting piece of work you are doing. I will stay tuned and keep my fingers crossed that it turns out awesome.....cause you sure deserve it!

 

[Bent-Brewer]

Glad I saw this thread! I was just thinking of doing the same thing with a Spanish Tempranillo kit. Looking forward to hearing about the results when you finally get the chance to open a bottle!

If only we had time machines... Homebrewing would be so much easier.

 

[ou8amaus]

So far I have just been letting it sit in the carboy. In the coming weeks I will be racking it off any sediment and the oak I added. I am omitting any sorbate additions as I believe them to be unnecessary in this case, but will be adding some Kmeta. Then I will be topping up with a combination of either more concentrate (I kept the leftover frozen) to sweeten, or another wine to dry it out. I am still a little unfamiliar with how sweet a port should be, but seems to be a final SG of about 1.02 to 1.03 is the norm. Once I have hit the "sweet spot" I will be aging it for 6-12 months before bottling. I am looking forward to tasting in the coming weeks!

 

[ou8amaus]

Racked the port last night into 3x Gallon jugs as I need the carboy free to start another port kit. Took a sampling. My expectations were low to begin with so while I am pleased with the results so far, I am not overwhelmed. Looks are dark crimson and thick (viscous), nose is rich with heavy body, loads of red berries, strong alcohol, and unfortunately strong KT. Taste is actually OK, well balanced, quite hot at this stage... but with a lot of KT/"Cheap wine" flavours.
Have not added any further of the reserved concentrate as I feel this will only exacerbate the KT/Cheap kit taste. Going to keep ageing it for 6-12 months. Will check in again in a few months with another taste. As I have it now split into 3 gallon jugs I may experiment with various sweetening liquids to try and cover up the KT... Suggestions as always are welcome!

 

[ou8amaus]

Well, 2.5 months of ageing and time to check in... I am still mostly smelling cheap kit. Kind of overpowers any other smell. Taste on the other hand is really not bad. At least it has about met my low expectations for taste. Heat has dissipated so I am sensing this may balance out nicely. Going to give it more time to mellow. Added heavy oak to one of the gallons to see what it brings to the mix...

 

[FTC Wines]

Just found this thread. I too started a Spanish Tempranillo Wine Expert, kit on 2/2/16 to make a port out of. Started with SG of 1.112, chaptized it up to 17.5% abv. Letting it age on some oak, will add Brandy & back sweeten down the road. SG is .992 right now. Will keep in touch with results. Thanks for starting this thread, Roy

 

[ou8amaus]

I would imagine that with a mid-range product like World Vineyard (10-12 liter concentrate?) that you should get a much better end product with less concentrate flavor than the 7 liter I used. Please keep us informed!

 

[FTC Wines]

Will keep you all informed. It was a 6 gal kit I made to a 5 gal size. I going to split it into a 2 gal batch Of straight Port, fortified with brandy, the 3 gal batch I'm going to back sweeten with a " left over " Black Forest Port " back Sweetening package. Don't ask why I have an extra package, it wasn't pretty! Roy

 

[ou8amaus]

Well it has been almost 6 months since I last chimed in. Decided to rack and take a test to see how things were going. First off the oak was a bad idea. Either I put too much or left it in for too long, but it now tastes like IKEA furniture. I do not think I will blend the oaked portion or age it out, it is really undrinkable (first time I have even said that). The other 2 gallons are ageing nicely. I still find it has quite a bit of KT present, but the taste is very nice. My wife even prefers it to the ports I have made from port kits! Going to bottle this up and let it sit for another few months. Would never give this to a port aficionado, but will do very nicely with desert at the next family gathering.

 

[marino]

But the oak should dissipate. Do you have a small barrel you can rack into? That will help everything settle in

 

[E-man]

How did this port turn out after a couple years of aging and what was your final SG? Thanks