Mosti Mondiale Sneak Peak

[JimCook]

On Friday, I received from Mosti Mondiale a grape pack that will be provided in some Meglioli kits in the spring of 2010. This will be a sneak peak of the grape pack effect in this case on an AllJuice Petite Sirah kit. This kit will be started this week and I'll be posting information here as well as on my cellar page (which will also be updated this week) as the kit progresses to help give all of George's forum members a sneak peak into the use of this pack on a kit and as a teaser into the Meglioli products to be released in a couple of months.


As teaser information (I do not have pictures to post at the current moment), the grape pack came in the same kind of plasti-welded bag that the juice is shipped in, just smaller. It has a more drab color than the grape packs of other kits, but appears to be more liquidy and lest sugary-paste like than the grape packs I've used from Cellar Craft or Winexpert. If what Nino told us at Winestock 2009 still holds true, the pack should not have additional sugar in it, but I'll know more after opening and running before and after specific gravity tests on the juice. I plan to start this kit on or before Wednesday of this week.


- Jim

 

[admiral]

Good Luck, Jim. I will looking forward to your progress reports. Thanks, in advance, for sharing.

 

[ibglowin]

Hmmm perhaps I should hold off from ordering any more kits from MM for a few months....

I actually have two CC kits in the closet waiting for me to start in the next few weeks so I probably won't be ordering any till after the Holdays anyway.

Please keep us posted though!

 

[JimCook]

It has begun. Behold all pictures of how Mosti's AllGrape pack will look as I started the AllJuice Petite Sirah kit today.


Kit and Grape Pack...

Close-up of the Pack...

Final must mixed and ready to go...

There are more pictures posted on my cellar page, but they were not crucial to the process as these were. The flash of the camera caught some depth into the must and both skins and seeds are visible in the must.


I tested the sugar level of the juice and it was 20 Brix. True to Nino's word, after adding the grape pack, this did not change at all - there wasn't any sugar in the pack that would otherwise increase the specific gravity. It is also important to note that the pack is kind of runny compared to the 'bear ate berries and left them in the woods' texture of the grape packs from CellarCraft or Winexpert. I added the grape pack into the juice instead of the other way around for the sake of measurements, although I would add the grape pack first and then perhaps even rinse the pack out with some of the juice from the kit to try and squeeze the last residue out of it.


I'll pose updated pictures as the fermentation progresses this week. Per Matteo's instructions, this will be stirred at least twice daily (just like dealing with wine from whole grapes) to prevent volatile acidity (VA) risks and to keep proper moisture levels with the skins.


- Jim

 

[Waldo]

Looks mighty good Jim...Keep those pictures coming

 

[vcasey]

Hmmm perhaps I should hold off from ordering any more kits from MM for a few months....



I actually have two CC kits in the closet waiting for me to start in the next few weeks so I probably won't be ordering any till after the Holdays anyway.



Please keep us posted though!

Make sure you look at the limited editions from all the kit makers and order early. You can't go wrong with any kit!

Jim, of course they just happened to pick my favorite PS to test!
VC

 

[ibglowin]

Wow, skins and seeds! Now were talking.

Love the use of erlenmeyer flask on your cellar page!

 

[JimCook]

VC,
Actually, the grape pack was meant to be rather interchangeable from my conversations with Matteo. I had picked up an AllJuicePetite Sirah for this purpose several months ago and had chosen that varietal after tasting the end result made by forum member Trashy at Winestock 2009. I did not get any confirmation as to which kind of skins are included, but Matteo said that it would be fine for pretty much any of their red wines when I brought up the Petite Sirah option.


Mike - Those Erlenmeyer flasks rock. I can swirl the heck out of them to mix things without having to worry about spilling (kind of like a well-shaped wine glass) and they are the perfect size for the additives for a six gallon batch of wine. I have a 1L flask as well along with several beakers - having the right glassware helps smooth the edges on a winemaking experience. By the way, I noticed less 'stems' than I have seen in other grape packs - we'll see what gets pushed to the top as a mini cap forms. I'll be taking another picture today after I get back from work.


- Jim

 

[vcasey]

Ok I get it now, not enough coffee on the brain yet! I wish kit companies would sell just a grape pack that we could add to enhance the kits.
VC

 

[Wade E]

Did you get this through Mosti or George?

 

[JimCook]

The grape pack came direct from Mosti after some conversations with Matteo during and after Winestock 2009. In an ideal situation, Mosti would just sell these as drop-ins as we had discussed in a past poll of mine on this forum. The idea here is to have a field test of sorts and see how the AllJuice made with the pack compares. Once it's in the bottle, some will get shipped up to Matteo.


- Jim

 

[JimCook]

After just under 24 hours, there is signs of increased yeast 'bunching' but no real bubbling. BM45 is a slow-starting yeast and this is similar to the last time I used it. There were not enough skins floating at the surface to form a 'cap' and when I stirred the must up, seeds could be heard rattling around the bottom of the fermenter and felt hitting the spoon. I applied a Brew Belt as the fermenter is on a floor where the room temperature is 68 degrees at chest height to help give the yeast a little encouragement in the beginning.


The flash made everything appear a bit more pink than it really is.

- Jim

 

[JimCook]

This morning, the fermentation had the typical kit 'brownie top' of the start of fermentation. I took the Belt off and will snap a picture tonight. There still was very little solid material at the top, although the CO2 output is pretty low currently, so not much of the 'hard stuff' will be brought up.


- Jim

 

[JimCook]

Over the past two days, the foaming is starting to intensify and some of the skins have plumped up a bit or are caught up in the CO2 release.


10/30/09...

10/31/09...

- Jim

 

[Wade E]

Looks good and I really hope they do sell these skins separately. I forget what the company's name was that did offer this for awhile but had problems with them due to vegetal smell or something and thats a shame cause Im betting this could really help sell some of the smaller kits and make them a better wine.

 

[Waldo]

Wouldn't mind throwing a bag of them into one of my Port concotions

 

[JimCook]

The specific gravity was 0.998 today and it was time to rack over the wine. As I had introduced the grape pack into the must without using a muslin bag, the solids were loose and I poured the resultant wine through my 1 gallon press. As you can see by the final picture in this series, a Mosti 23L AllJuice (generally known for having some extra juice in it) plus a Mosti grape pack yields more than six total gallons of wine. I would expect this to happen with the Meglioli kits with grape packs as well. I've calculated that the total amount of liquid added (bentonite, yeast hydration, Fermaid, etc.) was around 500 mL and some liquid will be lost from evaporation, but the yield was still fine.
Pressing the wine...

Pomace after pressing - this material was very 'pulpy' although it did contain skin bits, stems, seeds and pulp.

Final wine in secondary fermentation...

I tasted some residue of the wine after stirring it up and I will definitely say that the wine has more to it than the other AllJuice wines that I have made. The wine is a baby still in formation, but there is more tannin as well as overall mouthfeel, which I can only surmise is due to the addition of the grape pack as everything else is the same between other AllJuice kits I've made.


Combine that observation with the already preferred raw materials contained in the Meglioli kits and I am thinking that the grape pack Meglioli kits should be something special indeed.


I would have preferred to have a longer contact with the grape pack, but did not have the CO2 tank around anymore to prevent oxidation of the wine in the primary fermenter. There were not enough skins in the grape pack to form a proper 'cap' during fermentation and yet at the same time there is a noticeable difference to the wine.


- Jim

 

[JimCook]

Okay - fermentation has finished at a specific gravity of 0.996 and the wine was sulfited appropriately. By my calculations, this should put the ABV around 11.8% (lighter than I'd like to see, but I didn't boost this). Looking back over this fermentation to date, here's the differences I noted between the Mosti grape pack experience compared to Winexpert or Cellar Craft...
- The Mosti grape pack has a runny/liquid consistency whereas the other grape packs are jelly-like and thick (likely due to the sugar used partly as a preservative).
- The amount of skins/stems/seeds/pulp in the Mosti grape pack seems to net the same amount as compared to the other grape packs I've used.
- The Mosti grape pack did not directly affect the specific gravity of the must. While sugar may be held inside of the grapes and/or pulp of the pack, it had no effect on the specific gravity measurement of the must after a thorough mixing.
- The grape pack adds extra liquid to the final product - this may result in 1-2 bottles of extra product by the end based on my current volume estimate.
- The introduction of the grape pack into the AllJuice kit definitely boosted the tannin level (not out of balance, just increased) and the initial body of the kit. While I have not known any grape pack to magically transform a kit into something better, it is important to note that this grape pack appears to have boosted the quality of the resultant wine and considering the quality of the AllJuice (or Meglioli) products from Mosti, it should be really nice.


I personally am looking forward to the Meglioli kits with grape packs and based on the track record of the Meglioli kits along with what I have experienced from this test thusfar, I can't see how I could not recommend the new Mosti grape pack products.


Don't forget to call George to reserve your limited edition kits.


- Jim

 

[Waldo]

It sure looks graet Jim
How long will you need to age this

 

[Wade E]

Great job with this Jim and thanks for the work you did on helping us out with this. I hope they eventually decide to also sell this as a side product as I believe this would sell pretty good for people who just dont want to spend the extra quag on a bigger kit but want a little more body. Kind of like the RJS Cru Intern. and the Cellar Craft smaller kits.