Other Tweeking Cheap Kits

[joeswine]

blueberry Shiraz

follow the flow.......................

 

[Mismost]

Racked the Fontana Cab Sav. today and got a taste....early yet but I thought it was really nice. Debating adding some more oak, nice and soft now. Love these cheap kits....got two UMMM GOODS from the wife and neighbor lady.

 

[joeswine]

Cheap kits

Good to hear it , a touch more oak won't hurt ,really, we have had more good end products then bad, I believe Jdwebb had some problems I really don't know what happened there, Bauer had a fermentation problems SpikeLemon had a hot one, any other problems out there we can work on??

 

[jdwebb]

I have a Fontana Cab sitting here, wondering what tweaks I need to do to get a nice result. Any ideas?

I think my other reds, Mezza Luna, Pinot Noir & Shiraz just need lots of time. Bulk aging the Shiraz and Mezza Luna in the carboy for about 6 months.

 

[joeswine]

Cheap kits

Reserve Du Chateau Kit (approx.. $55.00 off Amazon.com)


Kate’s Chilean Cabernet Merlot​

This is an fairly inexpensive kit we purchased off Amazon. We used Amazon Prime and the shipping was free and arrived in 2 days! (Yes!)
Contents of the kit: All the usual suspects
Our tweaks:
Oak cubes in the primary
Homemade blackberry F-pak
1 ball jar simple syrup (brought our SG up to 1.092 from 1.082)
We will be adding powdered oak tannins to the secondary
Please see the pictures below for the process.
Starting date: January 28, 2015

anyone else have success with this one???

 

[Rocky]

Interesting, Joe, putting oak cubes in primary. I have never done so and save the cubes for secondary and bulk aging. In primary, I normally use oak chips or powder. Do you feel you get enough extraction of oak in primary? Do you discard the cubes after primary? How many liters of juice are in that kit?

 

[joeswine]

Cheap kits

Good to hear from you Rocky are you still in the great wine contest??? Follow my thoughts if you will, I make a 3,5,and 6 gallon batches, so to me it's like making a good sauce, first I have a Base ,then I add the spices, or in other words the chardonnay is my base then add the oak ( the spice) to the base and let it cook or infuse in this case? I never use a sock of any kind I want full surface contact between my base and my oak or fruit (spices)..once the extraction is done= it's done ,there should be nothing left for the oak or fruit to give. Know different than a grape cap once it's done it's done and always full contact, SEE. At least that's how I do its in my Kitchen.

 

[Rocky]

Thanks, Joe. I use a strainer bag because I am lazy. I should try letting the skins and oak float and form a cap. By the way, that, along with stripping the grapes off their stems and pulling out leaves and other debris, were my first jobs in wine making back when I was about 10 years old! I have to chuckle when I see the fancy tools that people buy and sell for punching down the cap. We used a length of 2" x 4" to do it! Worked well and the board took on beautiful red hues from year to year. Looking back on it, it is a wonder we did not poison ourselves.

Oh yes, I am in for the white wine contest. I am not sure what I will be entering buy I have the following going right now: NZ Chardonnay, California Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc. I will have to have a mini-test here to decide. Looking forward to the details of the contest.

 

[joeswine]

Cheap kits

okay, how are you wine makers making out at this point,rocky good to see your in the contest mix,i talk to tom he has made a great deal of these kits and will chime in later. TONYT WERE ARE YOU MY FINE VINO FREIND????

 

[Tom]

::

Well joeswine the time here. I'v been away fighting my Cancer. Butt, I probablly used 25 of the "cheap wines". Well guess what my wife (taster) loved it. Now I just started 2. After putting in the base one needed to be bumpt up the other was spot on@ 5 gallons. Keep in mind I also make beer. Well alcohol is a no no so I drink less. I am taking a boatload of anti depression drugs. Listen to Joe he has alot to offer. Some dont make cents till you try it.
If I die I will have a drink in my hands.

 

[Glenbo]

Add MLF to kit wine?

Hello. If Sorbate is the only concern can I just do malolactic fermentation to a Chardonnay kit like to Fontana and never add the Sorbate? To normally do malolactic i buy Chardonnay juice from a winery but they are an hour drive away and Amazon delivers to my door. Yep I'm lazy. Plus the winery charges $50 and Fontana is a bit cheaper. Does anyone have any experience with Malo and kits or know where I can get info. Thanks so much for any help!

 

[thruhike00]

Hello. If Sorbate is the only concern can I just do malolactic fermentation to a Chardonnay kit like to Fontana and never add the Sorbate? To normally do malolactic i buy Chardonnay juice from a winery but they are an hour drive away and Amazon delivers to my door. Yep I'm lazy. Plus the winery charges $50 and Fontana is a bit cheaper. Does anyone have any experience with Malo and kits or know where I can get info. Thanks so much for any help!

Not recommended to try malo on kits. There are lots of posts on the forum with reasons why to not try.

 

[joeswine]

Cheap kits

THESE KITS ARE UNTO THEMSELVES,IF YOU READ BACK ON THIS THREAD YOU'LL SEE.... HOW ARE THE REST OF YOU COMING ALONG??

 

[wineforfun]

@joeswine
Trying to figure out which one to do next. Would really like to get a port of some sort.

FYI
My wife is flying through that Fontana Green Apple Reisling. She loves it. It tastes good but way too sweet for me.

 

[joeswine]

wineforfun

what was your ending abv.?? That's why i made fpac and was going to use just some of the flavor pack they provided.

 

[wineforfun]

Ending ABV was 11.6%. SG 1.018.
Remember, I did the Fontana kit, not the Island Bliss like you.

I added the whole fpac at the end. It is a very good tasting and well balanced wine. Just too sweet for me. My wife and her friends love it.
I am more of a dry red wine drinker.

 

[Spikedlemon]

Brief update on the Merlots
1. The first Merlot, with the raspberries and extra tannin, is starting to mellow now that it's a few months old. My dad still loves it but I'm no fan.
2. The second Merlot is 'ageing'. This one was done on the lees & skins of the Amarone kit. I have degassed, clarified and stabilized it. I'll be checking for a sample later this weekend to see how it tastes compared to the other one and if there's any residual gas (before moving to bottling).

My Cabernet Kits are sitting and waiting but I think, as I've ordered some crushed Baco grapes, that I'll be starting them on the skins of the Baco.

I am thinking of getting a Syrah... and then start a second Cab on its lees. But I've not convinced myself of it yet (and risk tipping off the missus to the vast volumes of wine that would quickly fill the basement)

 

[joeswine]

Cheap kits

GOOD TO HEAR FROM THE BOTH OF YOU WHO ELSE IS MOVING ALONG WITH THESE KITS???

 

[Mismost]

I am thinking of getting a Syrah... and then start a second Cab on its lees. But I've not convinced myself of it yet (and risk tipping off the missus to the vast volumes of wine that would quickly fill the basement)

Spike...I think you will be amazed at how fast the "vast amount of wine" dwindles away. The other day I noticed a big hole in the wine rack I had just filled up and asked my wife about it. She had taken a case to the beauty shop where she works. She claims the afternoons are much more pleasant now and actually dug a list of wine types out of her purse and said "you need to make these too"! "Oh and do another one with the lady in the black hat on the label, it's all gone"...my Nebiollo...none made it past 8 months in the bottle!

Make it and they will drink it.

 

[Spikedlemon]

Brief update on the Merlots
2. The second Merlot is 'ageing'. This one was done on the lees & skins of the Amarone kit. I have degassed, clarified and stabilized it. I'll be checking for a sample later this weekend to see how it tastes compared to the other one and if there's any residual gas (before moving to bottling).

Since responding to the thread (and it now coming to my mind as I had successfully 'forgotten' about my wine) I decided to open up and taste-test. Both my Merlot and Amarone still have that sour CO2 taste.

The Merlot still tastes a little hot to me and I'm hoping a couple weeks will let it settle - else I'll rack and dilute it down with some water.