RJ Spagnols RJS Merlot

[Goodfella]

Hello everybody,


I want to make a great Merlot. I am leaning towards a RJS?. Dean recommended the winery series kit. Does anyone have any recommendations, input, oradvisefor me?


Thanks.

 

[LittleLeroy]

I have no input but I will watchthis thread to see what you come up with. I would like to make a great merlot also. Good luck.

 

[Wade E]

I have not made the Merlot in that series but have made every other Winery series and every 1 of them is awesome. I ended up getting the Limited Edition Cru Select Tannat Merlot instead. That too was is awesome.

 

[diggerdan17]

I ,m sure you can't go wrong with a high end RJS product. I have only made 1 merlot to date and it was a Stags Leap Merlot from WE.I have only 5 bottles left and it's only 6 months old .


I will recomend the Stags Leap, but i would age it for at least a year to 18 months the next time i do 1.


Good Luck

 

[cpfan]

Cellar Classic Winery Series Washington Merlot. If I was going to make a Merlot from RJS, that would be my first choice (Grand Cru International Wash Merlot would be second). I have enjoyed Wash Merlot kits in the past, and a year ago made the RJS En Primeur Hightail Wash Merlot (a limited edition believed to be only in Canada). The first bottle was wonderful. I would have made another this year but it wasn't in the list, so I bought an EP Hightail California Syrah instead.


The CCWS Wash Merlot is definitely on my futures list.


Steve

 

[Wade E]

There you go again cp fan with rubbing it in to those of us who cant get any of that hightail!

 

[vcasey]

Hey Wade, I think Steve should share!
VC

 

[admiral]

First, I agree with Vcasey. Pass that bottle this way! Second, I agree with Dan that the Stags Leap District Merlot is great.

 

[Dean]

Hey I bought the same EP Hightail California Syrah this year too! I also picked up the EP Hightail Okanagan Chardonnay as well.

The only reason why RJS doesn't sell the hightail in the US is that this is a "quick to market" kit. Basically, they are in the vineyard crushing 1 day, processing it the next, and bagging and boxing it the following day. I'm not sure if it is only 3 days, but I'd say within a week and in very limited quantities. I just think the Canadians snap them all up before they can even offer shipping to the US distributor.

 

[Wade E]

You stingy dang Canuks!

 

[Goodfella]

Looks like you don't go wrong with ant of the RJS merlots....












I agree with Wade.... Dang Canadicans!!!

 

[Goodfella]

Hey Dean,


I went with your suggestion....


I ordered the winery series Merlot!!!


Thanks for your advise.

 

[Dean]

Awesome. I think you will be very pleased.

 

[ptk]

I am very excited to see the RJS Gran Crue International Collection Washington Merlot as a pick for a great merlot. I recieved the wine kit and juice as a gift and I am now seing what a nice gift it really was. I thought I messed it up because I have the oak right in with the must but now I see that other people have done that without problems. I tested the specific gravity at 1.091 at 76 degrees. I was a little worred that the house got a little too cold last night but this morning I can see bubbles coming out of the water valve! I gave it a little swirly slosh but did not open the lid. How much should I worry about contamination? I noticed a couple of drips of water from my hands of water that is from the kitchen sink area go right in the must. I steralized the sg tester and tested by dropping right in the must as I dont yet have a wine thief or test cylynder. I used distilled water mostly because my tap water is a little funky. Thoughts?

 

[Goodfella]

Hello and welcome....


I try to keep the must around 70. That can be different then room temp.


If this is just starting you do not need to snap the lid down, in fact, for the first few days the yeast need small amounts of oxygen. So just place the lid on top for now. I would also recommend giving it a stir a couple times a day for the first few days.


Sounds like you are being good and carefull about sanitizing, ect ect.


Should turn out good for you.

 

[ptk]

awsome thanks! I just took the lid off and gave is a stir. It is starting to smell yeasty! I took the temp and I am at 75 now so that will work out great since I would like to drop my house to about 65 from 70. The temp should drop over the next day I expect.

 

[Wade E]

Once the wine gets fermenting good it will create its own heat source but then when it slows down you may want to use a brew belt to keep the temp up so that it finishes fermenting with no problems.

 

[Flem]

Goodfella,
I saw in a post a year ago that you had ordered a RJS Winery Series Merlot. How did it turn out? I just started my first kit - it is the Washington Merlot.
Thanks, Mike

 

[ptk]

So everyting seems to be going well. I have been keeping the temps in the low end of the acceptable range for the most part. I tried it and it does tast like wine! The instructions say to start the clearing process at about day 20 or when specific gravity reaches .998 or lower. It has reached that level as of this morning but it is a full week sooner than expected! Should I go ahead and siphon to a new carboy and start the clearing process now or should I wait? Also I lost about half a bottle of wine in a spill. Should I back fill that with wine (suggestions welcome on wine to use) water, or just leave it alone? Thoughts?

 

[Wade E]

Dont add or do anything until your sg is stable meaning that it hasnt changed in a few days. At that point you will need to add fining agents and degas and you will need the extra space in there to do this. Once you have degassed this and added the sulfite and sorbate and fining agents and if you are still low in the carboy you can top up with a similar wine and stir it all up again and let it clear. I dont advise using water though. You can use sanitized marbes also to displace the missing volume.