WineXpert New Limited Release: Eclipse Nocturnal Wine Making Kit With Grape Skins

[pillswoj]

Funny, the Merlot and the Pinot Noir Eclipse are the only ones in the line i would make again.[emoji23][emoji485]

 

[pillswoj]

Although to be fair I have found cabernet Sauvignon is not my favourite grape, my wife loves the Eclipse Cab now that it is approaching 2 years old

 

[jgmann67]

I didn't add oak and don't stray too far from the kit instructions because the flavour profile usually works for me. Early on I found the oak in Bravado and Fourtitude a bit strong (not integrated). They are now 17 & 18 months old and nice. Jgmann I agree the Cab did take some time to mature as well. The Zin and Shiraz did mature earlier and incidentally are my favorites. I have tried all of the red Eclipse kits except the Merlot and Pinot Noir.

The Merlot is my favorite Eclipse kit so far.

 

[sour_grapes]

The Eclipse Nebbiolo is not to be sneezed at!

 

[jgmann67]

The Eclipse Nebbiolo is not to be sneezed at!

I have that one at about 8 months in the carboy. It’s pretty good now. In another year or two, I’m hoping for spectacular.

 

[Frosty]

pillswoj,
I'm curious, if you would not make the Eclipse kits other than Merlot and Pinot what are your favorite red kits? For awhile I focused mostly on Cab blends. Early on before I focused on top end kits I found Cab to be more flavourful than Merlot. However the Eclipse Merlot is on my short list to try. For the Pinot I was leaning toward the top end RJS kits because they have wine skins in the kit and the Winexpert do not for Pinot. However perhaps they are not needed as this is a "lighter wine" I really like the Eclipse kits because they are distinctive and more full of flavor (in my modest opinion) than anything else I have made. My wife and I found the Zinfandel to be our favourite of all time and the Shiraz a close second. That is the beauty that people can go after their unique flavours.B

Best wishes.

 

[pillswoj]

I am making more of the RJS en Primeur kits theses days, for the next Pinot I make I am going to try the RJS cru international BC Pinot Noir, as you said Pinot is a lighter red that I am not sure benefits from the big kits. I have in bulk right now a Cru International Baco Noir that is a wonderful representation and I think will be fantastic in a year.

Last year I made all the WE LE reds and the RJS RQ Reds plus the Hightail Cab franc, the RJS reds are all superior to the WE's and in the case of the Cab Franc there is no comparison between the WE and the RJS Hightail and they are both equal in age. Also the RJS en Primeur kits are cheaper then the Eclipse kits in my area.

 

[LouisCKpasteur]

I just used the wine thief to steal 1.5 ounces of Nocturnal to sample at the six month mark. I'm bottling this weekend. I have another batch that will bulk age for another two months and it hits the six month mark. I had unrealistic hopes that this might be contest worthy for Winemaker's contest in March, and those hopes are indeed unrealistic. Anyways, this has a true medium or better mouthfeel than WE's other Rhone/Chateuaneuf du pape blend, Vieux Chateau du Roi. While that is one of my favorite kits, its' mouthfeel is way thin in comparison to Nocturnal. I'm a newby, but I'm guessing that's the skins. The nose already jumps out at you and slaps you in the face compared to Vieux Chateau du Roi too. But like I said, I believe it needs significantly more time I'm apprehensive and excited at the same time about the future for this kit. On the first batch, there was no top off as I lost a lot of wine to a very violent blowoff fermentation and got 5 ballons and some change before I transferred to the 5 gallon carboy for aging. I drank that change bottle like a common wino while I was pumping. The second batch was topped off with Chateau du Roi as I had one rather pricey bottle of Rhone that matched the Nocturnal (well, as far as varietals were concerned - percentages I do not know). I'm probably rambling because I'm a bit geeked about this. These are my favorite blends.

 

[heatherd]

I just used the wine thief to steal 1.5 ounces of Nocturnal to sample at the six month mark. I'm bottling this weekend. I have another batch that will bulk age for another two months and it hits the six month mark. I had unrealistic hopes that this might be contest worthy for Winemaker's contest in March, and those hopes are indeed unrealistic. Anyways, this has a true medium or better mouthfeel than WE's other Rhone/Chateuaneuf du pape blend, Vieux Chateau du Roi. While that is one of my favorite kits, its' mouthfeel is way thin in comparison to Nocturnal. I'm a newby, but I'm guessing that's the skins. The nose already jumps out at you and slaps you in the face compared to Vieux Chateau du Roi too. But like I said, I believe it needs significantly more time I'm apprehensive and excited at the same time about the future for this kit. On the first batch, there was no top off as I lost a lot of wine to a very violent blowoff fermentation and got 5 ballons and some change before I transferred to the 5 gallon carboy for aging. I drank that change bottle like a common wino while I was pumping. The second batch was topped off with Chateau du Roi as I had one rather pricey bottle of Rhone that matched the Nocturnal (well, as far as varietals were concerned - percentages I do not know). I'm probably rambling because I'm a bit geeked about this. These are my favorite blends.

You're correct that the skins add mouthfeel, as well as tannins, to the wine. I try to use them for my reds.

 

[Country]

I transferred to the 5 gallon carboy for aging. I drank that change bottle like a common wino while I was pumping.

I have been using this approach lately and I like it. I bottle the excess and set them aside for future top ups or just sampling/taste testing, something I’ve gotten quite good at

 

[LouisCKpasteur]

Has anyone tasted theirs yet? I'm almost nine months along on the first batch and haven't tasted since six.

 

[jgmann67]

Has anyone tasted theirs yet? I'm almost nine months along on the first batch and haven't tasted since six.

Sounds like you're due.

 

[Frosty]

I held off until recently. Wine is very similar to wine I have had in France. The wine is not overly full bodied but that was my experience with the wines I sampled. I was in Sablet. Other areas my vary but varietals were the same or similar to nocturnal.

 

[LouisCKpasteur]

So I won a Bronze Medal with the the Nocturnal I mentioned in this thread (I did two of these kits, but obviously only entered the oldest). Been quiet on the couple of Nocturnal threads going. I'm anxious to see the tasting notes. I frankly didn't expect to win as the wine was about 19 months old when tasted in March and I frankly was concerned about what seemed to me a lacking nose that could only be mitigated by a rather lenghty decanting time, so I was pleasantly surprised by the medal. When I can talk myself into reading again through the list of winners I'm going to try to confirm whether this was the first Eclipse Nocturnal winner in Wine Maker's International Winemaking Competition. I hope to see more because I'd like to see the kit made permanent.