Most favorite?

[TxBrew]

In the long list of wine that you have made, can you share with us your most favorite?

 

[winemaker81]

for whites, 2020 Sauvignon Blanc from CA juice. My son and I are crying because we only had 15 bottles each. The runner up was a 1987 Seyval.

for reds, neither is in the bottle yet, but 2020 Meritage and Meritage Plus blends (Plus has Zinfandel added to the Merlot heavy blend).

 

[cmason1957]

My wife and I absolutely love the RJS En Primeur Winery Series Italian Amarone. Almost always have 12 gallons of it in some stage of producing. Another favorite has been the WE Stags Leap Merlot, I haven't made it since the reformulation, but I anticipate it will be wonderful still. As for from grapes the Chambourcin we made from 2020 grapes is amazing, lightly oaked with French Oak, hints of chocolate in the finish.

I am thinking that we will be adding the two Finer Wine Kits we are currently bulk aging Super Tuscan and Bordeaux Style Tavoli Series kits to this list. Planned bottling is this weekend, the Bordeaux is about 6 months old, the Super Tuscan a bit more.

 

[rustbucket]

My most favorite is the Winexpert Eclipse Italian Nebbiolo I made in 2016. Including commercial wines and at 5 years old, it is one of the best wines I've ever had.

 

[distancerunner]

2004 Meritage. California (non-premium) grapes aged on Stavin Hungarian oak beans. Bulked for a year, two years in the bottle before it really started to shine.

We have great hopes for 2021 Chile and California. Time will tell.

 

[globalnavigator]

for whites, 2020 Sauvignon Blanc from CA juice. My son and I are crying because we only had 15 bottles each.

Very interesting and coincidental; I was just wondering whether juice buckets can be awesome and what is the general ranking of wine made from grapes vs kits vs FWK kits vs juice buckets. I know there is a wide range but convinces me to grab some Chilean buckets this spring!

 

[oppyland]

My wife and I absolutely love the RJS En Primeur Winery Series Italian Amarone.

I need to try this.

 

[winemaker81]

Very interesting and coincidental; I was just wondering whether juice buckets can be awesome and what is the general ranking of wine made from grapes vs kits vs FWK kits vs juice buckets. I know there is a wide range but convinces me to grab some Chilean buckets this spring!

Our purchase was part of a 50 gallon barrel purchase. One guy backed out and left 13 gallons unclaimed, we took part of it and wish we had the whole thing! But juice is juice, it doesn't matter if it's in a 50 gallon barrel or a 6 gallon bucket. If the quality is good, your likelihood of the wine being good is high.

For reds, IMO grape is your best choice, then kits with skins, then juice buckets. For whites, juice will be top dog.

 

[She’sgonnakillme]

For reds, IMO grape is your best choice, then kits with skins, then juice buckets. For whites, juice will be top dog.

Interesting….where do you rank frozen must pails in this list?

 

[winemaker81]

Interesting….where do you rank frozen must pails in this list?

Before kits. They may be the equal of fresh grapes, so I may be a bit biased.

The less processing is better. This drives my ranking.

 

[globalnavigator]

For reds, IMO grape is your best choice, then kits with skins, then juice buckets. For whites, juice will be top dog.

I know nothing can be predicted, and putting personal preference aside, but which varietals would one think is best to take a chance on for Chilean juice buckets this spring? Any thumbs up (or down) would be appreciated. These are my options:

CHARDONNAY, GEWURZTRAMINER, MUSCATO, PINOT GRIGIO, RIESLING, SAUVIGNON BLANC, or VIOGNIER

BARBERA, CABERNET FRANC, CABERNET SAUVIGNON, CARMENERE, MALBEC, MERLOT, PINOT NOIR, SYRAH, or ZINFANDEL

 

[winemaker81]

I know nothing can be predicted, and putting personal preference aside, but which varietals would one think is best to take a chance on for Chilean juice buckets this spring?

Juice or must buckets? If juice, I'd probably stick to whites if skin packs are not available. I've had really good Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc from Chile. While I love Gewurztraminer, I haven't had a Chilean, so I have no opinion, and I'm not fond of the remaining whites so I can't offer an opinion on those, either.

For reds? I really like Chilean Malbecs, so that would be first on my list. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot would be next. I have not had any of the others, so I have no personal opinion. However, I read that Carmenere and Syrah are producing good things, so they may be worth a try.

 

[NorCal]

I think, by a large margin, the Cab Franc 100 point blend. I have yet to enter it in the CA State Fair (no competition in 2020, 2021) but will this year.

 

[Rocky]

The best wine I think I ever made was an accident! I was making a triple batch of Brunello and a double batch of Barolo. Both were somewhat disappointing in the final stages. The Brunello was too thick, just thinner than a light syrup and the Barolo was very thin and lacked the classic "brick red" color of the wine. I thought perhaps a blend of the two might be in order, so I made up three sample ratios of Brunello:Barolo of 60:40, 75:25 and 80:20 and had our friends in our "Gourmet Club"* taste the three and choose their favorite. They unanimously selected the 75:25, which I liked the best also, so I blended the wines and called it my "Gourmet Select." If I may say so myself, it was the best tasting wine I ever made, and I would stack it against store bought wines in the $40-60 range. It is gone now and only a wonderful memory amongst our group.

* I hasten to point out that the members were "gourmets" in name only. We were just four couples of old friends who like to eat and drink wine. We would have meals quarterly at a host's home on a rotating basis where the host was responsible for the main course and the others would fill in with courses like appetizers, salad, vegetable, starch and dessert.