WineXpert Tips needed for WE "Crushendo Sonoma Valley Cab."

[A2 Wine]

Just started a Wine Expert Sonoma Valley Carbernet Sauvignon. First thing I noticed was the quality (appearance, aroma and taste) of the juice. Did not get a look at the grape skins, but the color of the residual juice coming of their bag was intense. Getting the sawdust and wood shavingsunder the juice surface took some time.


1) I understand the grape skinwill form a "cap" on the fermentation. I assume this happens once fermenation is underway. Right now the skins are at the bottom. The instructions say to stir gently ever 24 hours until the first racking, so I assume the yeast will mix with the skins and lift them as CO2 is generated.


2) Any suggestions onhow to improveover the basic instructions would be appreciated.


Asalways, Iappreciate the feedback provied by this forum. Will be testing a vacuum degaser prior to using it on the wine - suggestion from this forum.


Also, I wentwith the WE kit since my local merchant carries onlythat brand.Maybe I went a bit over board but youneed to spend some money
on your hobbies.


Thanks again from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

 

[vcasey]

Just follow the instructions, give this plenty of time to come around. WE kits seem to take longer to develop so just be patient and you'll enjoy the results.

 

[v1rotate]

Did you use a muslin bag for the skins? I've made several skins kits but not a crushendo yet. The skins do indeed rise and form a cap, whether loose or bagged.

If you put the skins in loose, your first real challenge will be to successfully rack. The auto-siphon will clog up a lot! There are a lot of strategies for this. The one I like best is to rack about half of the batch to a carboy (at the appropriate time, SG=1.01 or so) then pour the remaining must into a second primary bucket that has a 5gal paint strainer bag secured over the top. With sterilized hands squeeze the skins to extract as much fluid as possible, then rack this second bucket into your carboy.

Here is a link to a thread on another forum about using a funnel to help rack a batch with loose skins.

Best to top up with red wine. If you top with water, make sure not to use more than 920ml of water. That is what WE kits are designed for.

Spend lots of time degassing when you get to that step.

As vcasey stated, read the instructions very carefully. If I remember right, Crushendo kits have enough KMeta so that you don't add an extra 1/4 tsp at bottling time. All other WE kit instructions call for the extra KM if you are going to age more than 6 months. I suppose they assume winemakers will age the Crushendos more than that.

From what I have read, this kit won't be impressive for at LEAST 18 months. Then at around 24 months it will be quite good and at 3 years it will be awesome. So it would be a shame to drink any before the 2 year point. Maybe a split or 2 before then.

Congratulations on picking a great kit. I'll look forward to hearing updates!

 

[vcasey]

Just a bit of investigating I found a place that listed the commercial equivalents to this kit, Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County 2005, Clos du Bois
Cabernet Sauvignon Briarcrest 2004. So if you can find one of these you can use it to top off your wine and get an idea of what to expect in a couple of years.

 

[smurfe]

Crushendo kits are pretty good kits. If you can give the wine a couple years age you will be rewarded nicely. It has been mentioned already that they are a challenge to rack. If you have a 3/8 auto siphon there should of been a little filter tip that fit on the end to help rack the wine. Problem is most folks that have auto siphons have the 1/2" model.

You have already started the kits so a few of the tips I used to use with them can't be done but I used to use a sanitized panty hose or a paint straining bag for the grape pack that made for easy removal and straining of the left over. I also never used the oak dust or chips. I would use oak spirals or if I couldn't get those I would use the cubes. This requires the ability to bulk age though to enable the wine enough contact time on the oak. I found much less harshness of the oak with cubes and spirals over the dust or chips.

 

[A2 Wine]

Quick update. I moved into the secondary fermenter after 7 days. Fermentation is continuing.


I 'solved' myprimary to secondary transfer problem with a very large funnel (really large with splash guard from a localbrew store), hose attached to the funnel outlet, nylon mesh filter bag and aheat sterilized stainless 3 quart steelpan with handle.
I placed the filter bag into the funnel/hose assembly. Then the funnel/hose assembly into the carboy.Next,I scooped upthe wine with the pan andpouredit into the funnel/filter bag/hose assembly. The outlet hose was long enough to reach thebottom of the carboy andwas quickly under the wine level (minimized foaming). The speed of the entire process was limited by my "scooping" speed. Final step was to squeeze out thefilter bagto remove the last of the juice.


How long to leave in secondary? The instructions say to leave itin the secondary fermenterfor 10 days. Theroom is a constant 75 degrees. Any benefits/problems with keeping the wine in the secondary fermenter more than 10 days?


I appreciate the feedback.

 

[Finguy]

Keep in mind your focus on the secondary should be the SG, not the number of days. When you see the SG get into the 9s and stays at the same reading for several days your secondary fermentation is complete. It could take longer than 10 days.

 

[A2 Wine]

Hi Folks,

I finished the kit and have been "aging" with a strip of medium toast french oak in the carboy. Everything seems to be progressing well. What seems to be missing "nose appeal". The color is great, the tannins are there just the "nose appeal" seems to be faint/muted. Does this develop over time or is it "what you got is what you're gonna get"?

I appreciate the support.

 

[v1rotate]

I've been noticing that my high end kits develop decent nose between 12 and 16 months. Fear not!

 

[smurfe]

In my experience all Wine Expert kits have been like that. You have no nose until the wine has some age. It will then develop and open up. If you can get 2-3 years of age on that wine with proper storage, you will be in for a real treat.

 

[A2 Wine]

It is now 18 months since starting the kit and it has been bulk aging in a dark cool corner of the basement with a strip of medium toast oak. The strip sank some time ago and I was unsuccessful in fishing it out. Note to self - get one of those oak holders or at least some stainless wire.

When it was young, I was concerned about the wine being a fruit bomb. The tannins now are much noticeable and where I prefer them. I suppose the oak helped out with the tannins.

I am now ready for bottling and have a few questions:

How much potassium metabisulphite should I add (stir in or mix wine wine) to the carboy prior to bottling? The instructions say 1/4 teaspoon. I have bulk and also Campden tablets.

I purchased some synthetic "corks". I expect these need to be sanitized in a meta solution, correct?

How long should the wine continue to develop and what is the storage life assuming proper conditions (below 65F)?

One more, any recommendations for the next kit? Does the Cellar Craft Chalk Hill Cab really have the claimed minerality (spelling)?

I appreciate the feedback.

 

[v1rotate]

1/4 tsp will add about 30ppm of free SO2 to 6 gallons of wine at bottling. That should be plenty. I don't use campden tablets so no advice there.

I always dip my corks in SO2 solution. Cheap insurance.

For the lifespan, I would have to guess your Crushendo kit will improve in the bottle for another 2 to 3 years. I would probably start drinking it on special occasions in about 6 months if it was my kit.

I am a big fan of CC's Amarone, Red Mountain Cab and Rosso Fortissimo kits. Mosti's Meglioli kits will be out soon, another good choice for a high end kit.

 

[tonyt]

All good advice from Jim. Age is the key with wine but particularly so withWE kits. With the age you already have on that wine, after a few months in bottle it should be very good. I've made four brands of wine kits and WE and Mosti take the longest to be approachable.