WineXpert Shiraz/Grenach/Mourvedre

[jdeere5220]

Has anyone made this W.E kit yet? I think it's new in 2009. Can you compare to a commercial wine? My retailer doesn't have this as far as the actual wine but he can get the kit. I really like some commercial versions of this blend. Any comments appreciated.

I can't change the thread title now, but the proper name for this kit is

"Selection International Grenach/Syrah/Mourvedra".

I like the vulgar name Shiraz/Grenach myself, that's the YellowTail label for this blend.

 

[jdeere5220]

Bump!!

So am I to conclude that no-one here has made this particular kit? I guess I'll be the first then......

 

[Wade E]

I havent, sorry. I dont do W.E. red wine kits.

 

[Runningwolf]

Sorry, not here either but let us know how it turns out.

 

[jdeere5220]

Will Do. The kit is on order, now I just have to clear out one of my carboys. The one on the left is my Luna Rossa, I was going to bottle it next weekend.

 

[Runningwolf]

The rule is is to go perchase additional carboys instead of clearing one out. You will soon learn you can never have enough.

 

[jdeere5220]

Yeah, I hear ya. Problem is I lost my job last year, so budget is a bit tight right now. Unfortunately I can't make wine as fast as we drink it with only 3 carboys The "big-reds" that I prefer also require the most aging. Bummer.

Maybe there is a tax-credit in the new heath-care bill for home wine brewers

The good news is my Stag's Leap district Merlot has now aged nearly 3 months, so I plan to open the first bottle next week! That was the first kit I ever made. My plan is to open one bottle every 3 months to see how it changes and improves.

After the Shiraz/Grenach I'm going to make the W.E. Montepulciano, that's a full-bodied red that I recently learned to appreciate.

So many terrific wines and me with only 3 carboys.......

 

[diggerdan17]

Yeah, I hear ya. Problem is I lost my job last year, so budget is a bit tight right now. Unfortunately I can't make wine as fast as we drink it with only 3 carboys The "big-reds" that I prefer also require the most aging. Bummer.

Maybe there is a tax-credit in the new heath-care bill for home wine brewers

The good news is my Stag's Leap district Merlot has now aged nearly 3 months, so I plan to open the first bottle next week! That was the first kit I ever made. My plan is to open one bottle every 3 months to see how it changes and improves.

After the Shiraz/Grenach I'm going to make the W.E. Montepulciano, that's a full-bodied red that I recently learned to appreciate.

So many terrific wines and me with only 3 carboys.......

My second kit ever made was a Stags Leap Merlot.It was by far the BEST kit i have made to date ( 17 kits and counting). I only have 1 bottle left of it and it will be opened in 2 months when it reaches it's 1 year birthday!

I did recently go out and buy another Stags Leap Merlot but have yet to ferment it.I have a Californian En Premiur Hightail Merlot in bulk aging that will have to take its place while i get the new Stags Leap into the primary next week .I will wait 1 year before i open my first bottle of the second batch of the Stags Leap this time.

You will be very happy with this wine.If you can cold stabilize this wine before bottling it will probably drop all the tartrate crystlas this kit tends to have.

Dan R

 

[Wade E]

If I were to do a W.E. kit it would be he Stags Leap as that 1 is a great one.

 

[jdeere5220]

Score!!!

I picked up both this grenach/syrah/mourvedre (GSM) and also a Montepulciano kit yesterday from my local shop.

The GSM kit includes 4 oak packs, two American Oak (looks like raw white sawdust) and two toasted oak (looks like very fine dust, like something you would scrape off burnt toast). The kit uses Lavlin EC1118 yeast, so I expect a fast and vigorous fermentation.

I started the kit last night, the initial SG was ~1.089. I love the primary!!!!

Update: On day 4 my SG is already down to 1.000, so I racked to the carboy.

 

[jdeere5220]

OK, this kit has been going fine until now I have my first problem.

My SG got down to 0.992 (in a week!), and after a few days of being stable I degassed and stabilized and added clearing agents. After an additional 10 days I racked it off the sediment. The wine is still very cloudy. I know it needs more time, but based on my limited previous experience this kit is not clearing properly. This is the first time I had this problem. It's a very fine fog type of cloudy, I don't know how else to describe it.

I think possibly the cause is that my degassing did not go well, since I didn't really get much gas to release. I used the drill-mounted stirrer and also my wife's vacuum sealer tool. I got some CO2 to release, but never a huge eruption.

So my plan is to degass again. After reading on here, I'm going to put both my brew-belts on for a to raise the temp and see if it works better. My questions are:

1) Will degassing again possibly help?

2) Can I hurt anything by raising the temp and degassing again?

3) Will I need to add clearing agents again, or just leave it alone?

Thanks in advance!

 

[robie]

Expand your horizons and next time try something besides WE kits. After comparing, you might just be happily surprised.

 

[jdeere5220]

Isn't this the Wine Expert forum? Am I bothering you or something?

I can buy these kits for $68.00 locally. Buying RJS mail-order looks to run about twice that, if not more, depending on what you buy.

 

[robie]

Don't get your undies in a t.

Make all the different brands of kits and experience the differences.
They all make good wine but can surprise you how differently they get to that end point.

Some use grape packs, some don't. Some cost more for a similar kit and wine; some less. Based on one's (very) individual opinion, some turn out better; some worse.

It is likely you can taste a difference between similar kits from different makers. Which one would you like best... You'll never know or have an opinion if you don't try them.

 

[jdeere5220]

Yeah, I will try others at some point. Since I have a couple of friends also making wine, I was thinking we might band together and each buy a couple kits to cut down on the shipping costs. Or maybe I'll become an RJS distributor

 

[robie]

Somebody was saying that Northern Brewers has a $7.95 fixed delivery cost. I don't know anything else about it, but if true, that sounds like a winner.

In our local wine club, we have a guy who drives to Dallas regularly. Poor guy, we always have him bring back several hundred pounds of kits for us from FineVineWines in Dallas. He never complains.

I'd like to try that Shiraz/Grenach/Mouvedre kit sometime. Personally, I really like the blends.

 

[jdammer]

Somebody was saying that Northern Brewers has a $7.95 fixed delivery cost. I don't know anything else about it, but if true, that sounds like a winner.

In our local wine club, we have a guy who drives to Dallas regularly. Poor guy, we always have him bring back several hundred pounds of kits for us from FineVineWines in Dallas. He never complains.

I'd like to try that Shiraz/Grenach/Mouvedre kit sometime. Personally, I really like the blends.

The 7 dollars is only for low weight items. Wine kits will cost more for shipping. It will say price + ship if it is more.

 

[jdeere5220]

The GSM is clearing, but it's painfully slow. It's about 1/3 the way down the carboy 2 weeks after the second racking (4 weeks after adding clearing agents). My dealer offered to filter it for me, but I'm sort of curious to see if it clears on it's own if I just give it more time. Not good for my production, but good for learning I think.

Would sure like to free up that carboy...

 

[jdeere5220]

Well, here I am 10 days later and the wine is now perfectly clear! I shine my flashlight through it, and while it's dim (this is after all a full-bodied red), there is no cloudiness at all, from top to bottom.

This wine didn't clear like my previous kits, there was no "clearing line" that progressed from top to bottom. It just gradually got clearer throughout until a couple days ago I couldn't detect any cloudiness at all. Don't know if that means anything or not. Just had to give it an extra two weeks.

Intend to bottle this weekend, which always involves a bit of tasting, so I'm a happy camper.

Update- Bottled May 11. Did a bit of sampling A harsh green tannin taste (just what you would expect), which to me means it's going to improve a lot over the next year if we can leave it alone. Definitely a fruit-forward Shiraz/Grenach, really bursting with fruit flavor. I think all signs point to a winner, we just have to let it set for a while.

 

[Jerry_]

Well, here I am 10 days later and the wine is now perfectly clear! I shine my flashlight through it, and while it's dim (this is after all a full-bodied red), there is no cloudiness at all, from top to bottom.

This wine didn't clear like my previous kits, there was no "clearing line" that progressed from top to bottom. It just gradually got clearer throughout until a couple days ago I couldn't detect any cloudiness at all. Don't know if that means anything or not. Just had to give it an extra two weeks.

Intend to bottle this weekend, which always involves a bit of tasting, so I'm a happy camper.

Update- Bottled May 11. Did a bit of sampling A harsh green tannin taste (just what you would expect), which to me means it's going to improve a lot over the next year if we can leave it alone. Definitely a fruit-forward Shiraz/Grenach, really bursting with fruit flavor. I think all signs point to a winner, we just have to let it set for a while.

any update (tasting) I'm planning to buy GSM from Vineco founders series.