Thinking outside the box

[LoneStarLori]

did you chop your raisins up Lori, Just wondering if they would give more flavor chopped. thanks for the thread. I have the Wine Expert Mezza Luna White in my shopping cart. I made the Winexpert Vintners Reserve Shiraz and used 2 bottles of my blackNBlue as a Fpack. It worked out really well. Be ready to crack open a bottle after the new year

No, the raisins were whole as Joe suggested. THe Black n blue sounds great! Would that be black and blueberries?

 

[Tess]

I think I would have been a little irritated had they sent me an old fruit pack replacement that expired 2009

 

[Tess]

No, the raisins were whole as Joe suggested. THe Black n blue sounds great! Would that be black and blueberries?

OK good to know. Yes blackberry's and Blueberry's. I used a lot of rasins in the primary in that batch. Just made sense it would work well in a Shiraz

 

[LoneStarLori]

I've never made an fpac before. If I wasn't doing this project with Joeswine, I might have made an attempt to create one instead of using their crappy juice.
And no, I was not happy. WE got a nice email from me today. Let's see if they do anything about it.

 

[LoneStarLori]

Just a quick photo update. 3 days after adding the fpac and fining agent, it's clearing right up. Anyone up for a game of dirty marbles?

 

[geek]

Lori,

I see this is a WE Mezza Luna white kit, I never tasted that type of wine.
Are you going to add almond extracts per joe's almond wine process and make it an almond wine, or leave as is?

 

[LoneStarLori]

Lori,

I see this is a WE Mezza Luna white kit, I never tasted that type of wine.
Are you going to add almond extracts per joe's almond wine process and make it an almond wine, or leave as is?

This won't have any Almond in it. I was trying to see what just the raisins and tannin would do. In my opinion, they turned a really sharp wine into a very smooth and fuller bodied white.
If I had to compare it, I would say it's kind of a Pino Grigio/Chardonnay mix. Leaning more toward the Pino but using the best of both types. Very crisp up front. Not too sweet, not to dry and a very nice, buttery mouthfeel. The oak is there but not overpowering.
I am not a tasting expert and my pairing skills don't go much beyond what type to drink while cooking. But I think this one is a good balance that a drinker of either a dry or semi-sweet wine can enjoy. Which is what I was aiming for. One that would make me happy and my 3 daughters all happy.

 

[Runningwolf]

Just a quick photo update. 3 days after adding the fpac and fining agent, it's clearing right up. Anyone up for a game of dirty marbles?

LMAO, looking at the picture I thought you had M & M's on the bottom of your carboy, now I have an urge!

 

[Runningwolf]

Hey Joe, I was looking at your extracts and want to try some. Can you post your extracts and pictures in the thread I started "extracts" so we can make them easier to search.Another questions and forgive me if I missed it, have you ever made a Almond extract? Researching it on the internet a few people make it with Almonds but most make it from Stone fruit like cherries and peaches by busting open the pits and using the meat inside of it. Looking for your opinion.

 

[joeswine]

Party wines

WHILE WERE waiting for the wine to clear lets review party wines.

 

[LoneStarLori]

Today was my long awaited bottling day for the Mezza Luna White. I started this from a from a Wine Expert Vintners Reserve on August 12th. This batch was tweaked using Joeswine raisin/tannin addition. I had just started the batch the day before I found his thread on his Sangiovese and was intrigued. Joe has helped me with this all the way. I am a newbie to any winemaking and his expert advice was invaluable. I kept a photo journal to help show the process and also to help me remember what I did.
My initial impression of the wine after the first 5 days of primary was a very tart and harsh white. I knew I would have to back sweeten, but it lacked body too so the raisins and tannin made sense. As I went along the process, I noticed the wine developing a great body. Now as I bottle it, I can taste a much better, more complex wine than I would have probably had without the tweak. The color is beautiful golden wheat, which I attribute to the golden raisins. Although this is still young, the smell upfront is very noticeably citrus and earthy. The body is amazing. It’s like butterscotch. Not nearly as weak as it was headed to be. The taste is almost like a pear with some kind of blossom (could it be the Plumeria I added?) It’s somewhat nutty which I really didn’t expect but really like. It lingers in the mouth for quite a while and is rather acidic. I expect that to demish with a little more time. All in all, I think I have a pretty darn good wine here. I am absolutely convinced the addition of raisins and tannin made this a wine of a quality other people will drink and be amazed that I made. And not just smile and say, “it’s nice”. Thanks Joe for all the help!

Now a recap on the process:

 

[LoneStarLori]

Now it's time to add the stabilizers:

 

[LoneStarLori]

9-9-2013 I waited for it to clear from the addition of the kmeta, sorbate and super kleer. Yesterday I racked it again and added the Isinglass, stirred for a couple of minutes then added the fpac and stirred for about 15 mins more because it was still a little gassy. SG went from .992 before fpac to just over 1.01. The wine was pretty dry before the fpac but still has an nice mouthfeel. It is now a little sweeter as I would expect but i think it will all come together and age out very nicely in the next couple of months.

9-24-2013 Bottling day! Once I got the hang of it all, everything went pretty smooth. Now I can work on my Sangiovese kit while I wait for this to age. Thanks for following, Lori

Total yield on the 6 gallon kit, 17-750ml, 6-375ml and 1- 1.5L.

 

[Stressbaby]

Lori,
Great series, and interesting thought to add plumeria to the secondary. Sounds like you can barely sense it in the final product.
I've made a couple of batches of plumeria wine and they are terrific.

 

[GaDawg]

Lori, Great!
Thank you for sharing

 

[Julie]

Lori,

That was a very good documentary on your wine process, thanks for sharing.

 

[LoneStarLori]

thanks y'all! This was a fun project. So much fun, I decided to order a cheapo kit from Amazon last night to see what I can do with it. Reserve Du Chateau 4 Week Wine Kit, Italian Orvieto Style. $50. with a $3. coupon.
I'm thinking of adding more flowers this time but not sure what goes well with white. Do you think dried Elderberry flowers will work?

 

[Julie]

i think dried elderberry flowers is a great idea!

 

[Jericurl]

Lori,
Thank you so much for posting this! (and of course, thank you Joe for starting this entire thread. Fantastic reading!)

I have this exact wine kit in my living room right now waiting to be opened.
I had started a thread looking for ideas about splitting the kit after fermentation to try some different things.
I don't have plumeria, but I definitely think I want to try adding the golden raisins.

 

[LoneStarLori]

Julie, I got the Elderberry flowers today.. Yay! I found a real brew shop and it was only only 2 hours away in San Antonio. lol

Jeri, I think you'll like the raisin and tannin addition, although I am not sure about splitting the batch. I would have to defer to the experts here, but I can't really think of a place in the process that it would be do-able. it might be difficult to split the chems and get it right.