Other Selection Estate Series- Lodi Old Vines Zinfandel

[Neviawen]

Tonight my wine helper and I broke out the wine kit that my husband got me for my birthday. It's a Selection Estate Series- Lodi Old Vines Zinfandel kit that won a silver metal. I'm excited to see how this is going to turn out! It's my second red kit that I've ever made. Has anyone else tried this kit?
Kate

 

[Rocky]

Kate, What a cutie! She looks just like her Mommy!

I have not tried that particular kit but I have made a lot of OVZ so I am sure you will be happy with your wine. If you do some research on OVZ you will see that the "vines" look like trees and the wine is outstanding. Good Luck!

 

[Neviawen]

Thanks for the compliment!
I didn't know that about Lodi's vines but just looked them up and was quite surprised. Those vines are ginormous! Some of them date back to the late 1800's!

 

[kat50496]

Kate, I made this kit last year, and was planning on trying it this weekend. It will be 1 year in the bottle on Saturday. I'll post back and let you know how it turned out.

 

[gonzo46307]

I have this kit ready to bulk age, so I'm not much help...LOL! I haven't heard anything bad about the Estate series. I have a feeling it'll need a year or two to come around. Time to make another Trinity Red!

Peace,
Bob

 

[shoebiedoo]

I have a friend who made this 5 years ago and he still isn't satisfied. I get the feeling he would have liked more oak. but at's all a matter of taste right?

 

[Dugger]

My Estate Series LOVZ is going on 3 years now and it's still not what I was hoping it would be; it does have residual gas and that certainly affects it but even after decanting it still seems a bit harsh. All in all it has been disappointing.
Perhaps inadequate degassing affects the ability of the wine to age properly??

 

[RCGoodin]

Kate,

This was the first kit I made and it was in January of this year. I've opened several bottles already and each time I find it to be great. My daughter-in-law asks for it at every gathering. I bought a refrigerator to store it in since I am in the Pheonix area and I worried about aging it.

Since that kit I have made 9 other kits and I have three on order. It's interesting how I forget about the earlier batches, which is a good thing. They may get a chance to age.

I don't think you can go wrong this kit. Keep us posted on what you think. I was surprised to hear some of the other posts that were not happy with their results.

 

[wineh]

My Estate Series LOVZ is going on 3 years now and it's still not what I was hoping it would be; it does have residual gas and that certainly affects it but even after decanting it still seems a bit harsh. All in all it has been disappointing.
Perhaps inadequate degassing affects the ability of the wine to age properly??

yes that is correct

 

[kat50496]

Kate, tried the Lodi OVZ at a wine party with friends on Saturday. It is 1 year old, and tased it against 2 other commercial Zins - Gnarley Head and Cline. These are about $10 -$12 each. Bottom line, everyone liked the flavor of the WE, as well as the varietal profile and found it very comparable to the commercial wines. The only difference was the lack of mouthfeel (noticably thinner) and finish on the WE Zin. Although the taste was very good, it just "went away" after swallowing. I think these characteristics are common to kit wines, especially when they agend only in glass.

Overall, I am pleased with this kit, and think it will get even better over the next several months.

 

[Rocky]

I have heard the criticism of kit wine as being too thin, without mouth, etc. and perhaps they are. I guess I have become inured to this because I prefer the fresh taste to that of commercial wines. To me, all I taste is chemicals in commercial wines and these are wines that I previously enjoyed. In talking to wine makers in Italy, I was told that they have to load up the wine that they export to the US with sulfites in order to protect it against the huge temperature swings that the wine could see in warehouses. Depending on to which state it is shipped and where in the warehouse it is stored, they had to protect against temperatures going from near freezing to above 110 degrees F.

There are some things that one can do to improve the mouth of kit wines, e.g. barrel age, add oak, add raisins, add grape skins, add tannin, add glycerin(?), etc. We don't know what commercial wineries add to the wine. I think a lot of people would be surprised to learn where the "head" comes from on some of the beers they drink.