Mosti Mondiale MM Renaissance Australian Chardonnay

[uavwmn]

Very nice labels and it looks delicious!!!!!

 

[ibglowin]

Thanks for the kudos!

Since each kit has only ~ 30 bottles I suppose they are all "limited" in some way!

 

[LittleLeroy]

look great good job.

 

[Mharris335]

They look good. How do they taste? I am looking for a good Chard.

 

[ibglowin]

Excellent at only 3 months bulk aging. Highly recommended!

 

[pracz]

Excellent at only 3 months bulk aging. Highly recommened!

Fantastic looking bottles. Very professional!

Does this chardonnay have a buttery hint to it? My wife loves chardonnay but she's very particular and enjoys that creamy/buttery finish. Just curious.

 

[ibglowin]

The buttery Chardonnays have all gone through MLF or Malolactic Acid Fermentation which is a completely different type of fermentation not carried out by yeast but rather a bacteria. It is done after normal fermentation. I don't think any of the kits could undergo MLF as they have been pasteurized. Perhaps someone else will chime in to correct me if I am off base here. I think you can only do MLF with fresh juice and not a kit wine.

 

[Dean]

you can do MLF on kits as well, but they will come out flabby and not very good. Kits have already been acid balanced for the final results, so any change on that, like MLF will render them under acidified.

You still can get some of that buttery character without MLF, by using the sur lie and battonage method. What this does is swirl the spend yeast around while it starts to autolyze, and releases compounds such as diacetyl (buttery flavour) and increases the mouthfeel with other compounds.

 

[grapeman]

I'm glad you said that Dean. Too many people think that the process is an MLF, not just the yeast breaking down. It gives a buttery character without the risk of doing mlf with a kit wine. Kit wines with malolactic bacteria is generally not a good combination!

 

[Big Ike]

Mike,

Great looking batch top to bottom. That's got to be satisfying.

 

[ibglowin]

Thanks Ike!

Can't wait till this Summer and I can start cracking them open on the patio as the sun sets!

 

[Mharris335]

Have you tried another bottle? I was going to buy this kit soon, but wanted to hear your thoughts.

 

[ibglowin]

Had a blind taste test with my wife and her best friend with a commercial chardonnay and against this one a few weeks back. Both of them picked it over the commercial bottle so yea, we still like it a lot. It's just now 7 months old.

 

[robie]

Wow, Mike, that's significant, especially if they are chardonnay drinkers.

Was the commercial chard also oaked?

I have always sort of snubbed white wines, but a few months ago realized if I really wanted to appreciate wine, I needed to broaden my taste and learn to appreciate whites as well. I have been wroking on it and have actually gotten to where I am buying some semi-sweet Rieslings and other whites.

The best chardonnay I have ever tasted was a month ago in California. It was a 2007 Ortmans chardonnay. The wine maker si referred to as Mr. Chardonnay, because he is so good at making it. You could actually taste creamy caramel... really smooth. I should have bought a few bottles, because it is not distributed in my area. About the next best so far is (IMO) a low priced Cupcake Chardonnay, believe it or not.

Anyway, good job on the taste test.

 

[ibglowin]

The commercial was Yellow Tail Reserve Chardonnay. It's not a heavily oaked chard like alot of them, its more fruit forward and lightly oaked. I was looking for a good head to head comparison and this is what I came up with.

Even though this kit has around 120gms or so of oak chips the oak is not all that overpowering.

It will be interesting and fun to see how the profile changes over the next 6-12 months.

I know what you mean about snubbing whites, it was like what's the purpose, but they really are good for lighter fair or just by them selves. And every time I have a good dry Riesling I wonder why I have not purchased a kit to date. I will for sure, so many wines not enough time!

 

[Mharris335]

You have to try the CC Riesling kit from Washington. My kit is about 6 months old and it will be very good. I have tasted it every month and I was very pleased by the progress so far. I will bottle soon and tell you how it tastes.

 

[ibglowin]

That one is on my radar for sure. Our daughter is a big Riesling fan and was thinking about making a kit for her birthday (she will be 23). Just need more Riesling bottles and waiting for the kit to go on sale!

 

[CassieV]

Did you bulk age this with oak the whole 3 months? I just started this kit Monday. I'm not sure how long I want to leave the oak in it.

 

[ibglowin]

This kit came with oak chips that I did transfer from primary to secondary.
I left them behind when I did my final racking before degassing and fining.

 

[ibglowin]

Tasting Update:

This kit is coming up on its 12 month BOD (born on date) and I have to say it is really coming into its own. We opened a bottle this weekend as a before dinner wine and in just the past month it seems to have really matured. The comments were, "you made this! and "this is really good!" The sorbate taste has finally disappeared and now upon opening it you get a nice crisp, dry, fruit forward Chardonnay. I was hoping it would be ready to drink earlier this Summer but I guess you can't rush a wine to mature on your timeline. So a Fall Chardonnay it is!

Highly recommended!