Thinking outside the box

[byathread]

Keep in mind you won't get much of the "sur lie" character if you are not also fully stirring up the lees into suspension for about 4 or more weeks. Often it is done 3 times/wk for the first few weeks, then tapered off to once/week, then even less frequently if the process is continued. But everyone needs a vacation and your wine will wait.

I think you'll get two similar but quite distinctive wines. Keep us posted and enjoy your vacation!

 

[LoneStarLori]

WE Vinters reserve Pinot Blanc kit update

Well I'm back from a fabulous vacation cruising the inside passage of Alaska. It's a must do if you have ever thought about it.

Time for a quick update on the what the Pinot Blanc kit did in my absence.
To recap, I took an inexpensive WE Vinter's Reserve Pinot Blanc kit and split it into 2, 3 gallon batches. Mainly to see what two different yeasts would do to the end product. The kit came with Premier Cuvée which I used on half, and I like how my LE Pacific Quartet turned out using D47 so I thought I'd try that on the other half. I also thought I'd try some tweaks.
On the D47, I attempted some battonage/sur lie as suggested by Byathread. Well, that didn't work out too well because I wasn't home to stir it and because I don't have a barrel. Maybe in the future I can try it again. It sounds too interesting to not try it. The Premier Cuvée batch got a dose of grapefruit zest as suggested by Joe (Joe'swine).

Upon tasting the D47 today and it sitting on the gross lees for 3 weeks, it certainly is fruitier than the Premier Cuvée batch. I expected that (and hoped for it) from the yeast. The med toast oak may have been a mistake. It has almost a smokey nose and can be tasted rather strongly. I'm hoping that will smooth out with time.
The batch with Premier Cuvée and addition of grapefruit zest is a blast of citrus to the nose for sure. Maybe even a little lemon tasting. It's quite dry and pretty much the characteristic of a Pinot Blanc. I like it.

You can see by the color, these are clearly two different wines by the color. Two wines, two different tastes from one kit. Experimenting is fun!

I added the fining and clearing agents today so we wait some more and let it clear. I have a camping trip in 3 weeks, so I will aim for racking once before I go and then again after returning in prep for bottling.

A few weeks ago after first racking and adding tweaks

Today before racking and fining.

After fining, time to let it settle.

Gotta share! Zip lining at Grzzly Falls in Skagway. (Daughter, Hubs, me)

Walking on Mendenhall glacier. (Daughter, me and hubs) As my daughter said, this was "life changing". That blue puddle in the middle is about 1200' deep into pure ice, watch your step!

 

[geek]

wow, very nice Lori....

 

[LoneStarLori]

Pinot Blanc conclusion

It's time for a final update on the WE Vinter's Reserve Pinot Blanc. To recap; this is an inexpensive kit from Wine Expert (< $75.) that I wanted to try a little yeast test on by splitting the kit into two - 3gal carboys using the Premier Cuvée that came with the kit and Lavlin D-47. I had used D-47 on a WE LE2014 Pacific Quartet and was quite pleased so I wanted to see what it would do to the Pinot Blanc. I had hoped it would make it a little more fruity and it did. However, it also made what should have been a dry wine, off dry. It has ended up being much closer to a Chardonnay. Not bad, but not a dry wine as a Pino Blanc should be. In addition I added oak cubes to the D-47 batch at first racking and it is very prominent.
A tweak was also made to the batch having the Premier Cuvée. I added zest of one red grapefruit when I racked it to secondary. That proved to be a nice addition. It was a little strong at first, but after 2 months, there is just a hint of grapefruit. This is a drier wine for sure and I prefer it. As do the two ladies that helped me bottle it this week.
We all agreed that the oak in the D-47 was too strong at this stage, but since I had help, I was determined to bottle it. So we did some experimenting on blending and ended up with 3 gals Premier Cuvée to 2 gals D-47. We drank last gallon of the D-47. Well, most of it.

Here are a few highlights of the process.

This is 4 weeks after adding clearing agents. Not too impressive so I added my go-to rescue clearing agent, Sparkolloid to the Premier Cuvee batch to see if it would help. After only three days there was major progress, so I added it also to the D-47 and let them let a few more weeks.

Bottling day! I admit I got ahead of myself on these labels. They were designed and printed before the wine was ready to bottle. Although it has citrus undertones as the description states, it is not dry. Off dry would be a better description.

All in all, I am very pleased with the result. I will reserve using D-47 for my sweeter wines and will probably use the zest more often. It's a nice touch.
Thanks to Joe's Wine for posting the zesting ideas.

 

[byathread]

Just curious, what were the final gravities on those two batches?
D47 should be able to easily ferment up to 14%abv and I've had it go higher with nutrients and aeration.

 

[LoneStarLori]

The D47 ended up at 13.6% and the Premier Cuvee 13.7%. I image if it had been 1.10, we would have have 14.4. These numbers are according to my Excel wine making log I found on the internet created by "ithink2020" Math is not my strong point so I borrowed this.

They both started at 1.094. The D47 stopped at .994 and the Premier at .993.

 

[joeswine]

Sharaz/vioginer

A excellent blend with A great TASTE profile/ some wines have it and this one is know exception,given more maturity this wine will be a prize winner and i know prize winners.

 

[LoneStarLori]

Aw Joe, what a great compliment I would love to place in a contest someday. Maybe I will enter the Grapevine Winefest next fall. It's the biggest wine festival in Texas.

That is the one I added tannin riche to.

 

[Boatboy24]

I really like your Pinot Blanc labels, Lori. Well done.

 

[byathread]

They both started at 1.094. The D47 stopped at .994 and the Premier at .993.

Gotcha. So they both fermented dry, but the D47 batch has the impression of being off-dry due to the vanillin oak profile I suppose. Whites are very easily overpowered by oak, but it sounds like you worked out a blend you like in the end. Really nice labels, btw.

 

[LoneStarLori]

Thanks for the compliments on the labels guys. Those are printed by Grogtag. Kind of pricy at about $25 w/shipping but they are vinyl and come with front and back labels. Their design software is pretty easy too.

Gotcha. So they both fermented dry, but the D47 batch has the impression of being off-dry due to the vanillin oak profile I suppose. Whites are very easily overpowered by oak, but it sounds like you worked out a blend you like in the end. Really nice labels, btw.

I Didn't think about the oak adding the off dry profile. Good call. You are probably right.

 

[joeswine]

Oak in the mix

ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS ,THE ONLY WHITE THAT CAN TRULY STAND UP TO A DECENT OAKING IS A CHARDENAY,WHITE WINE CAN BE OVERPOWERED VERY EASILY AND THERE'S NO TAKING IT OUT.IN SOME CASES LIKE FRANCES FORD COPPOLA CHARDENAY HALF IS STEEL COLD STABLIZED /THE BALANCE IS IN OAK FOR 1 MONTH JUST TO GET THAT ACIDITY UP THEN BLENDED AND BY THE WAY A EXCELLENT WINE AT ABOUT 12.99 PER BOTTLE TRY ONE AND YOU'LL UNDERSTAND THE BALANCE PORTION OF THE GREAT WHITES.......A LITTLE FRUIT FOR THOUGHT!

 

[tshank]

Hi joe,

I started a WE Pinot Noir yesterday that you added the blackberries to, I liked your tutorial on this. I got side tracked with a family issue and when I came back to it I realized that I had forgotten to add the simple syrup. Is it too late to add? Thanks. Tom


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[joeswine]

Adding simple syrup

HOW FAR ALONG IN THE PROCESS ARE YOU? IF YOUR STILL IN PRIMARY OK THEN ADD, IF YOUR AT THE END YOU CAN STILL CAPITALIZE, WHAT IS YOU SG AT THIS POINT???

 

[tshank]

After adding the fpac my SG was 1.090. I added the yeast yesterday around noon. I'll check SG when get home.


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[tshank]

SG is now 1.075


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[joeswine]

Capitalizing

Go ahead and add the simple syrup at this point,your using ec1118 correct?

 

[tshank]

Added, thanks so much for this thread! I really appreciate the help an knowledge I have gained here.

Tom

 

[LoneStarLori]

WE Selection Brunello kit tweaked

Well folks, here goes another kit tweak. I have upped the ante this time and spent some real money on a kit. No it's not the most expensive you can buy, but it's the most expensive I have ever bought. I have a WE Selection Brunello kit that includes 16L of grape juice concentrate and a 1.5L bag of juicy grape skins. I bag of med toast American oak chips and 2 bags of Hungarian oak cubes.

Normally I would include pictures of the kit contents but I had SEVEN of my sister-in-laws and dear Mother-in-law here when I started the kit and it would have been a difficult production. They wanted to see how I make all this wonderful wine I give them (and I wonder why I run out of wine so fast? )and it seemed like a good time to share the fun of making wine.

I'm sure this kit could stand just fine on it's own, but I wanted to do a little tweaking to try and add just a bit more dimension. Over the last year I have done about 12 kits. Most of them were tweaked using Joeswine methods. Some were not. I can tell you without a doubt, the ones I tweaked with raisins, tannins, Elderflowers or zests are by far more enjoyable. The few that I did not stray from the manufacturers instructions are a little too boring to me. Therefore, I am going to continue to tweak.

Since this is a higher end kit, I'm going with higher end ingredients. I will be using black Zante currants (from Corinth grapes) and Tannin Riche. The currants will add a little more fruitiness and body, while the Tannin riche will also enhance the body and give it hint of vanilla and coffee. The manufacturer says it adds coconut but I have never picked that up myself.

The kit was started Aug. 8, 2014. The starting SG out of the box was just under 1.095 so I added 1/2 pound of Demerara sugar to the juice and stirred throughly. That brought it up to 1.099. I considered adding more sugar to get it to 1.10 but since I didn't really know what the grape pack would add, I left it at 1.099. Following the instructions we added the grape pack using the mesh bag that was included along with the bag of oak chips. Then pitched the 2 packs of EC-1118 that were included.

The grape pack. Which was referred to as "donkey balls" by one of the ladies. We are still considering this as the name for the wine.

Sis-in-law Adrianna gets the honor of pitching the yeast.

By the next morning, we had a good ferment started.

The must was stirred daily and the grape bag squeezed.

8-11-14, SG 1.022 time to add the currants.

8-12-14 SG=.998 I'm going to let it go one more day.

8-13-14 SG=.995. Time to rack to secondary.

Here is what is leftover of the skins and currants. Since the currants were only in there 2 days and still have more to offer, I am going to add them back into the carboy.

I then added the currants back into the carboy and 2 Tsp. of Tannin Riche powder.

Racking process using the All-in-One pump. Notice how I am going from a primary on the floor up to a carboy on a moveable cart? My best investment EVER!

Now we wait about a week while it finishes fermentation.

To be continued...

 

[reefman]

Lori,
You're allowed to make wine in the kitchen??? Oh my!