Other Tweeking Cheap Kits

[joeswine]

balance to follow.....being creative with your wines profile is NOT a new thing think about it?

 

[Trick]

I got a Fontana looking Sauvignon Blanc (called Prestige, packaging and instruction look the same as Fontana) and am planning some tweaks. Any recommendations? I mean additives. Targeting crisp clean version like New Zealand style. Thanks in advance.

 

[Doug’s wines]

Thanks Joe. That's what I was thinking, but wanted to be sure.

 

[joeswine]

Trick is this a 6 or5 gallon kit? If so keep it simple some grapefruit zest in the primary boost the ABV to at least 12% check for a yeast to complement if not don't worry the ev1118 will pull through for you. Keep us informed do you follow tweaking cheap wine kits?

 

[Trick]

Trick is this a 6 or5 gallon kit? If so keep it simple some grapefruit zest in the primary boost the ABV to at least 12% check for a yeast to complement if not don't worry the ev1118 will pull through for you. Keep us informed do you follow tweaking cheap wine kits?

Thanks Joe. 5 gal is already my standard procedure. Haha.
For yeast, I am thinking about D47+71b to see how mixed yeast works.
Will skip sorbate.
Grapefruit zest sounds like a good idea. I will dump some (one whole grapefruit zest?) in primary first and see the dose is enough or not. Then add some more in secondary.
Chapterlizing to 12% sounds a moderate target.
Still waiting for the carboy to be empty. All my carboys are occupied now. May start in a couple of months. I didn't plan to buy this kit that early but couldn't resist the tempt of the price. It was only $34 CAN from a grocery store, Incredibly cheap! No pressure to play any tweak.

 

[joeswine]

use only half the grapefruit then after you have cleared and tasted the wine if you want more then add t will settle out rack and bottle..easy

 

[Trick]

use only half the grapefruit then after you have cleared and tasted the wine if you want more then add t will settle out rack and bottle..easy

Thanks again. Always attempt to add more even I know it is not good. LoL. Actually I failed in a Fontana-looking Pinot Noir kit due to overdosing a flavouring and threw the balance out of roof even it is still drinkable. Typical tweaks: 5 gal, some more oak, some fruits in primary etc. Everything was good until a cherry flavouring was added in. Lesson was learned in a hard way.

 

[joeswine]

Less is more ,you can almost aways add flavor but you can't take more out.stay the course and be patient.

 

[joeswine]

WHAT WE DO AT THIS LEVEL CAN BE FUN AND REWARDING,WE OBSERVE THE BASIC RULES AND TAKE IT FROM THERE..

HERE’S MY TAKE ON BLENDING, THE FIRST ITEM OF BUSINESS IS TO ESTABLISH WHAT IT IS IN A TASTE PROFILE, YOUR TRING TO ACCOMPLISH AND WHAT TYPE OF FINISH YOU WANT YOU’RE PROFILE TO HAVE.

NOW THAT YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED THE PROFILE AND FINISH LOOK FOR BLENDS THAT REALLY GO WELL TOGETHER, THAT MAKES WINE BLENDING A WHOLE LOT EASIER.

EX: MAKING A CAB AND MERLOT BLEND IS EASY RIGHT! BUT IF YOU’RE A KIT PERSON NOT SO. A WINEMAKER WHO USES GRAPE AND OR FRESH JUICE HAS THE ADVANTAGE OVER US, WHAT TO DO? UNDERSTAND? SO WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW AND HOW DO WE GET THERE.

BLENDING CONSIST OF A TWO DIFFERENT WINES OR MORE HAVING SOME OF THE SAME CHARISTERICTS YET DIFFERENT ENOUGH IN THE BLEND TO STANDOUT ON ITS OWN IN RESPECT TO THE OTHERS ROLL IN THE MIX.USUALY THIS IS ALL DONE AFTER THE WINES ARE COMPLETED AND READY FOR BOTTLING.

KIT MAKERS CAN DO ALL THE SAME MOVES ONLY GOING DOWN A VERY DIFFERENT AVENUE, IF YOU THINK OF ALL THE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS WE HAVE TO WORK WITH THERE IS NO REAL DIFFERENCE. WE HAVE THE BASIC CONCENTRATES TO WORK WITH AND DEPENDING ON THE VALUE OF THE KIT A LARGER AMOUNT OF VERITAL JUICE THEN CONCENTRATE,ADDING FRESH MADE FPACS TO THE BASE OR ZEST TO THE SECONDARY ALONG WITH THE ADDED AMOUNTS OF OAK,OAK DUST AND TANNINS ADDED ALL ALONG THE WAY. OUR VOLUMNES ARE SMALL ENOUGH TO TAKE CORRECTIVE ACTION AS LONG AS WE ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO THE BASIC WINE RULES AND SANATATION THAT’S REQUIRED,WE CAN CHANGE PERTTY MUCH ON A DIME AND DO WHAT IS NECESSARY TO OUR PRODUCT.

LET SAY I WAS GOING TO MAKE A BLACKBERRY PINO NIOR,THE FIRST QUESTION I ASK IS WHATS THE PRIMARY FLAVOR AND WHATS THE SECONDARY.DEPENDING ON WHAT PROFILE I WANT THE WINE TO HAVE (TASTE) WILL LET ME KNOW WHO IS THE LEADER IN THIS DANCE, THE PINO OR THE BLACKBERRY,IF I USE THE PINO AS THE BASE AND THE BLACKBERRY FPAC IN THE PRIMARY THEN THE BLEND SHOULD BE A PARTENERSHIP OF FLAVORS,IF I USE THE PINO AS MY BASE AND THE BERRIES IN THE SECONDARY THEN THE BERRIES BECOME THE BACKGROUND.

I want to make a pinot Gris, from California and wanted to create crispness and a better bite to the wines finish, I would finish out the wine making sure I first had good abv. At the finish then either in the secondary or as a closing step a couple of weeks before bottling I would add the zest of 1 grapefruit or lemon to the wine and allow it two sit to infuse its acidity and freshness to the wine, then rack and bottle.

Making your own fpac from fresh grapes whenever and where ever you find them adds a better mouthfeel to the finish.

There are a lot of different ways kit winemakers can infuse, enhance and create our wines to have a touch of our own hand in the making but you must take the time to plan your work and work your plan, and always think outside the box.

 

[joeswine]

well I started these kits around the 9th of February,,and all 6 out of the fermentation buckets and into a stabilization period of one to two weeks before they move on to what I call secondary process...although they started at different times they have caught up with each other. Now I can move them on as ONE PROCESS. ..add the chems and finish all at one time the bottles are ready for the wine, corks are in place, we have labels , I need to find some volunteers for the big day..

 

[joeswine]

Next step is to allow the wine's to settle out , Degas then transfer to their finnishig vessel's, time is on my side
Patients grasshoppers.Patients

 

[joeswine]

today I'm going to take the first 3 wines I started and move them forward the other 3 will follow in a week .also I'm' going to do this all manually for those of you who don't have all the toys ,as I get older I prefer to handle the wine at my own pace and there for use more manual methods so follow the flow,,what your seeing is one multiply that flow by 6.

 

[joeswine]

follow the flow

 

[joeswine]

AFTER ALL IS SAID AND DONE CAROL'S 6 WINE KITS ARE IN THE CLEARRING STAGES BY APRIL 9TH OR SO READY FOR BOTTLING.. I ALSO BOUGHT FROM MISTO MONDIALE.COM ALL GRAPE FPAC THAT I WOULD LIKE TO TRY ON SOME OF THESE KITS AT $20.00 PER PACK NOT A BAD INVESTMENT FOR THE OVERALL FINISHED PRODUCT,WILL SEE.

 

[joeswine]

here's a cheap kit that turned out just fine, follow the flow

 

[joeswine]

balance of merlot kit......................ALWAYS REMEMBER TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

 

[joeswine]

okay here are the results of the yields from the wine pak (Malbec ) Fontana ( pino noir) and the Fontana ( merlot/blackberries). will bottle the next three this week and she can llet them setup for a month or two??

 

[Trick]

AFTER ALL IS SAID AND DONE CAROL'S 6 WINE KITS ARE IN THE CLEARRING STAGES BY APRIL 9TH OR SO READY FOR BOTTLING.. I ALSO BOUGHT FROM MISTO MONDIALE.COM ALL GRAPE FPAC THAT I WOULD LIKE TO TRY ON SOME OF THESE KITS AT $20.00 PER PACK NOT A BAD INVESTMENT FOR THE OVERALL FINISHED PRODUCT,WILL SEE.

I just bought the MM Allgrape pack in a local shop and it is sitting in my freezer now to wait for next dual Costco cheap Cab kits.

Very glad to know you are also trying this. Waiting for your result.

Planning to split one grape pack to two kits (2 kg each) to make the two cheap kits into a high end skin kit. (Kidding)
Planning: Yeast swap as usual (BM4x4 and RC 212 one for each), one with extended fermentation, the other one normal for comparison purpose. Will throw in some black table grapes with some stems. Additional oak in aging period.

Due to the limit of carboy space, I will start these two sometime in the summer.


A quick report for the Fontana SB mentioned previously : It is in primary (5 gal) with half grapefruit zest. Pitched two packets of different yeast (to try out whether the co-fermentation works or not. D47 & 71B), no pressure for a $37 kit. Temperature is controlled at 17°C.
Start SG at 1.085 (even with 5 Gal volume), pH=3.4 not too bad. Since the target is a crisp light version for summer sip, no chapterization was made.
It smells great. No sign of stressed yeast yet.

 

[joeswine]

I always looked at the wines base as a sauce and then you add the spice,in our case the fpac, zest ,oak and fruit are the enhancements that makes the wine our own.Making a good base straight up is ok and I do that also but I enjoy putting my own touches on it and making it mine. Still following the basic rules for wine making.And always Thinking outside the box.

 

[joeswine]

Okay here is the balance of Carol's wine the last 3 of 6 kits made, not bad yields decent balance at this point. NOW IM GOING TO MOVE ON TO MY STUFF....