WineXpert Private reserve Lodi cab vs eclipse Lodi cab

[wineh]

Not even close. The private reserve version has less colour, less alcohol and less varietal character than the eclipse version.
This is my 3rd private reserve kit and the second that is less than its predecessor. At least I have found a retailer that is selling them at a more reasonable price.

 

[Putterrr]

Could you be more specific on your time lines and technique for the lodi cad replacement? How long since your started your kit? Did you follow the instructions? How long had it been bottled? How long did you typically age your Lodi cab for comparison?

thx

 

[wineh]

I've been making wine from kits for better than 15 years now, and have electronic records of the last 160 kits. In that time I have developed my own set of instructions, which resemble the mfg instructions, but not really.
According to my notes, I pitched the yeast on Dec 7, which is 70 days ago. I tasted it at my final racking the other day, and recognize that it's still "new", but I have done this many times and know roughly what to expect. It will not go to bottle for another few weeks.
As for the lack of colour, I shine a trouble light through the carboy, and a really well extracted (cleared) red wine will block almost all of the light. This one is more the color of the Selection International Australian cab from 10 or more years ago.
Alcohol is estimated using before/after SG levels and allowing. 022 for the grape pack (.01 for RJS) , although I don't squeeze the crap out of the muslin bag anymore, and its possible that they put more sugar in the grape pack than they used to.
Hope that covered it.

 

[Putterrr]

Thx for the info.

I also have been making wine from kits for many years and at least the last 10 years almost exclusively from 18L kits. I usually bottle around 12-14 months. Part of the batch is consumed at that stage with the rest in bottles for another year of so depending on how sampling goes. I would be interested in hearing your impressions as your wine ages.

The lodi cab is one i have made many times. It's a bit lacking in body compared to RJS EP kits but it mellows and becomes silky after about 2 years. The fact the my local wine store usually has a $40 off sale on this kits every year helps smooth over the body issue..

cheers