WineXpert Petite Syrah / Zinfandel Limited Edition

[robie]

Made my Petite/Zin yesterday and after topping off to the six gal. mark, i took a gravity reading. It was only 1.090. i wanted it to be close to 1.100. I should have checked as i was puring the last half gal or so of water into the fermentor. Other kits I`ve done, have come out real close or right on the mark. So i added on cup of table sugar to the batch. I hope that it does`nt affect the flavor in the end. Has any one else experienced a lower than expected gravity reading?

That SG is a little low for what I think a Zin should be. It wil result in a wine of about 12.3% ABV.

Are you sure you thoroughly stirred the water and the juice together? They won't mix as easily as one might think.

What did the instructions say the starting SG might be?

That added sugar will be converted by the yeast to alcohol and CO2. It will not affect the taste other than what affect additional alcohol will make. Adding sugar is how one raises the ABV of any wine.

If you really want to raise the ABV:
First, make good and sure you thoroughly mixed your juice and water. Take another reading to make sure it really is 1.090.

Your fermentation just started, so you can still add some more sugar. Take out a half gallon or so of your must. Warm it up and add a pound of sugar to it. Stir until it is completely dissolved... completely! Get it back down to the same temperature of your fermenting must and stir it in to the fermenting must slowly but thoroughly. Take another SG reading. Repeat until you get the starting SG you desire.

Understand that when you add sugar, the over all volume of must in your fermentor is going to go up. That additional volume will end up as alcohol. That is acceptable in this case but don't get too close to the top. Just don't try to get a starting SG that is more than your yeast can handle. Any yeast supplied in such a wine kit should be able to handle an SG starting at 1.100.

 

[dbrewr]

Robie, thanks for your sugesstions. You have me wondering now about the mixing up part. I do know that after i added the sugar and mixed that well, the SG was 1.100. I dont have the instructions in front of me ,but I pretty sure the range they give is 1.095 to 1.100.
Its been fermenting for two days now. I think i will let it ride. I dont want to risk the possabillity of contamination.

 

[Bacci]

I'm getting ready to start this same kit and have never made a WE kit before, but love this blend, hope it's close to the body/color of some commercial brands. I'm considering adding .5 - 1 # of Zante currants to my fermentation to add some body. Also, has anybody experimented with eliminating the finings on a WE kit and cleared naturally during bulk aging?

 

[UBB]

Picked up this kit as well. Waiting for my Pinotage to finish fermenting before I start it. Liking what I am reading about this kit.

 

[Javila]

When I started my kit on 2/24, my sg did hit 1.100 on the nose which is ok since this kit is 60% petite / 40% zin by reply I got from winexpert email.

Update; I did subsitute yeast to Lalvin rc212 for bettery flavor/body and fermentation did go as scheduled finishing at .992 on 3/10 (step 3). I did cut back on the fining(only put about 1/3 of it) since I will let it bulk age for awhile and not stick to bottling right away.
I think my alcohol is about 14% ?

 

[Bartman]

The speed of the fermentation is not an issue.
Specs say it is a low producer of H2S, but it has a high requirement for nutrients. I would take a look at your yeast nutrient instructions and add it when its instructions call for it. (Probably something like when 1/3 to 2/3 of the sugar is fermented out.)

Since it has a high requirement, don't assume the nutrient supplied in the kit is enough. Otherwise, with this yeast, you may not get H2S (rotten egg smell), but you could end up with a stuck fermentation.

"Since it has a high requirement, don't assume the nutrient supplied in the kit is enough. Otherwise, with this yeast, you may not get H2S (rotten egg smell), but you could end up with a stuck fermentation."

I have only used RC212 with two batches of fresh grapes, having used the included EC 1118 with all the kits I have made. Some of those kits included yeast nutirent which I have only used 2-3 times. Having talked to George at FVW and some other folks on the forum about when/how/why to use the nutrient, I have found it unnecessary or missed the opportunity because the warm ambient temperatures led to a very rapid fermentation - I think the kit instructions mention adding it around day 6 or 7, but that kit fermented to dry (~0.998 S.G.) in about 5 days (with EC1118)!

With my fresh grapes, the fermentation with RC212 proceeded so smoothly I forgot about adding the nutrient from one of those kits, although I had planned on it. Of course, restarting a stuck fermentation because the nutrient was left out is not a good situation, but I'm just sayin' you don't HAVE to add nutrient when using RC212, if temperatures and sugar levels are about right.

 

[robie]

You simply "got away with it" and I am glad you did. Just because you didn't get burned is not a good reason for others to not follow the instructions. You might get by 10 times in a row, but don't always count on it being a forever thing.

My advice to everyone else is to not take any chances, follow the instructions concerning yeast nutrients. It can't hurt!

 

[Andrewwarwick]

I just starte 2 of these kits but in one I added a grape skin pack so it'll be interesting to see just how much it will add to the wine for a comparison test.

 

[robie]

The grape pack should give it a little more body, but delay when it will be good to drink by a few more months (6 months?) It will be worth the extra wait.

 

[wineh]

lack of colour

I have this wine clarified. I was hoping it would be an inky dark colour like my stag's Leap District Merlot, or the Lodi Cab, but it's light like the Australian Shiraz.

 

[robie]

I have this wine clarified. I was hoping it would be an inky dark colour like my stag's Leap District Merlot, or the Lodi Cab, but it's light like the Australian Shiraz.

Interesting. I would have thought it would be very dark, considering the petite Syrah. Maybe it doesn't have a high percentage of P.S., I don't know. Maybe think about using a Petite Syrah for topping off each time. That should help some. I know lots of Zin in California has a little P.S. added routinely.

 

[wineh]

Interesting. I would have thought it would be very dark, considering the petite Syrah. Maybe it doesn't have a high percentage of P.S., I don't know. Maybe think about using a Petite Syrah for topping off each time. That should help some. I know lots of Zin in California has a little P.S. added routinely.

Me too! I actually broke the rules by topping up with a Carmenere (which is very dark, but a different flavor profile) instead of water at that stage. I don't think there is anything dark enough to top up with to darken this wine. I hope there are some others who can confirm this, as I am willing to contact WE about this.

 

[Bacci]

my batch has dropped a lot of sediment after only a few days after racking from the primary. Just doesn't seem right to have to stir all that sediment up during the stabilizing stage in a week. Has anyone just tried racking a WE kit off sediment, add KMET and clear without finings during bulk aging.

 

[diggerdan17]

my batch has dropped a lot of sediment after only a few days after racking from the primary. Just doesn't seem right to have to stir all that sediment up during the stabilizing stage in a week. Has anyone just tried racking a WE kit off sediment, add KMET and clear without finings during bulk aging.

Its funny you mention that.

I just racked my PS/Zin yesterday and racked it off the sediment and did not add the sorbate.

I added the kmeta and degassed with my drill attachment and now I will bulk age for a year.

I tasted it and although green and young tasting with firm tannins, this one should age quite nicely and I am more excited about this kit than any other I have made in the last year.

I also did the same thing to my New W.E. grapeskin Nero D'avola and it also tasted pretty good( although I think this one will be a little lighter in body than the PS/ZIN)

( can't figure out how to get the italics off)

 

[Javila]

Interesting. I would have thought it would be very dark, considering the petite Syrah. Maybe it doesn't have a high percentage of P.S., I don't know. Maybe think about using a Petite Syrah for topping off each time. That should help some. I know lots of Zin in California has a little P.S. added routinely.

Just a fyi, I got this from Winexpert email;

Hello Joe,

Thank you for your contact. We do follow CFIA laws for wine labelling,you can assume that the Petite Syrah is in the majority in this kit 60/40 - soit would be a 60% Petite Sirah and 40% Zinfandel blend.



Cheers,

Linda Kazakoff
Customer Service
1-888-424-4888, Ext. 241



Yep, my kit is also kinda light in color but progressing on schedule.
joeavila

 

[Bacci]

Its funny you mention that.

I just racked my PS/Zin yesterday and racked it off the sediment and did not add the sorbate.

I added the kmeta and degassed with my drill attachment and now I will bulk age for a year.

I tasted it and although green and young tasting with firm tannins, this one should age quite nicely and I am more excited about this kit than any other I have made in the last year.

I also did the same thing to my New W.E. grapeskin Nero D'avola and it also tasted pretty good( although I think this one will be a little lighter in body than the PS/ZIN)

( can't figure out how to get the italics off)

I'm considering not adding the clearing agent and just let it clear by gravity. It's done pretty up till now with about an inch of lees. (I brought all the liquid over). Maybe no finings would improve body/color. You would think the Nero grapepak would be bolder than a non grapepak, but the Nero commercial brands I've had were not as full bodied or darker than I expected. I'm optimist about the PS/ZIN, just don't want to mess up by going off instructions. This is my firt WE kit.

 

[robie]

I'm considering not adding the clearing agent and just let it clear by gravity. It's done pretty up till now with about an inch of lees. (I brought all the liquid over). Maybe no finings would improve body/color. You would think the Nero grapepak would be bolder than a non grapepak, but the Nero commercial brands I've had were not as full bodied or darker than I expected. I'm optimist about the PS/ZIN, just don't want to mess up by going off instructions. This is my firt WE kit.

If you are going to gravity clear, I would rack off all the lees left over after secondary finishes and start with as clean a wine as you can before letting it naturally clear.

In the instructions, the idea behind taking all the sediment over to start clearing is it helps to have lots of stuff present to help the clearing agents. (Sounds illogical, but that's the way it works.) But if you are not using the clearing agents, you don't want all that heavier sediment lying in the bottom of your carboy for several months.

 

[robie]

Just a fyi, I got this from Winexpert email;

Hello Joe,

Thank you for your contact. We do follow CFIA laws for wine labelling,you can assume that the Petite Syrah is in the majority in this kit 60/40 - soit would be a 60% Petite Sirah and 40% Zinfandel blend.



Cheers,

Linda Kazakoff
Customer Service
1-888-424-4888, Ext. 241



Yep, my kit is also kinda light in color but progressing on schedule.
joeavila

Well then, seems that would make the resulting wine pretty dark. (???)

Thanks for passing that on to us.

 

[adambaum]

I just started this kit yesterday. Ended up with an SG of 1.1155, which is out of range according to the instructions. I should have called support before pitching the yeast....instead I pitched the yeast and then emailed support a few hrs later. Basic answer back was: stir, stir, stir. Actual response said it really needed a beating since the juice and water don't mix easily in this kit.

My question now is: can I still stir (beat) or is too late since I already pitched the yeast?

Adam

 

[dbrewr]

I had the same happen to me only my gravity was low (1.090). When I posted what had happened I got the same response to stir, stir, stir.
You can stir (not whip) very gently after pitching yeast. I would let it ferment for the 7-10 days and take a gravity reading. If high you can stir the yeast gently. I always try to keep fermenting temp. around 75 for fast and complete fermentation.