Other Tweeking Cheap Kits

[joeswine]

The Partnerships in wine .... starts with a decent base say a pino nior, go into a wine tasting profile or a winexpert (little black book) and look at the tasting profile ( cranberry,earthy and raspberry) there's your keys to the wines profile.to that end you can work out a plan as to what you would like your pino nior s profiles to be and it should be all done in the primary, that then, becomes a partnership between the base and the enhancer got it!
On the other hand if you do the same process after the primary or in the secondary the enhancer becomes a background flavor and the base should be predominant. See!

 

[joeswine]

UPDATE: the pear wine is in the clearing process..so I decided to start the CRANDBERRRY wine the process is the same juice , fruit sautéed down then combined and let the wine making beginning.

 

[joeswine]

full process...................

 

[joeswine]

now were going into the first stages of the second stage primary to let the wine degas and settle out for 2 weeks or so. Theirs enough natural gases in the wine to create a natural headspace cap.

 

[David Taylor]

Anyone found a source for the Fontana Kits. Shipping to Alaska is the price of the kit for me! Also any recommendations on tweaking Wine Expert Chilean Malbec? Plan to add Zante Currants, Tannins, oak. Thanks!

 

[Wayne Freeman]

Anyone found a source for the Fontana Kits. Shipping to Alaska is the price of the kit for me! Also any recommendations on tweaking Wine Expert Chilean Malbec? Plan to add Zante Currants, Tannins, oak. Thanks!

For the past 3 or so years, I could get them from Amazon using my Prime membership, until recently when Amazon dropped Prime eligibility for them. I just checked now, and Prime eligibility has returned (at least for right now) for the Cabernet kit but not for any of the others. That's not much of an answer for Alaska (I'm in the PNW), I know.

On your other subject, I added a pound of Zante currants to my last Fontana Sangiovese/Canaiolo kit and they improved the result a lot, in terms of body and roundness.

 

[joeswine]

Yes they , do, just remember less is more.1 to 2 cups is enough without distorting the base wines profile always keep that in mind when enhancing your wines.

 

[David Taylor]

For the past 3 or so years, I could get them from Amazon using my Prime membership, until recently when Amazon dropped Prime eligibility for them. I just checked now, and Prime eligibility has returned (at least for right now) for the Cabernet kit but not for any of the others. That's not much of an answer for Alaska (I'm in the PNW), I know.

On your other subject, I added a pound of Zante currants to my last Fontana Sangiovese/Canaiolo kit and they improved the result a lot, in terms of body and roundness.

I too got them from Amazone Prim after I found this thread and after the second order, the shipping jumped to $50. I did order the cab as it after reading your comment with free shipping. Thanks!
Just saw Wine Lover's kits for $40 plus $14 shipping. Anyone tried and tweaked these kits?

 

[joeswine]

Yes I just did 2 of these for a customer of mine just a basic kit to have fun with,no problems found.

 

[David Taylor]

Yes I just did 2 of these for a customer of mine just a basic kit to have fun with,no problems found.

Thanks Joe; did you tweak it?

 

[Wayne Freeman]

Yes they , do, just remember less is more.1 to 2 cups is enough without distorting the base wines profile always keep that in mind when enhancing your wines.

I expect that you're right about that. I'd estimate that the pound that I added amounted to about two cups. It certainly didn't alter the character of the wine, at any rate. It still tastes like inexpensive sangiovese. My wife and I drank a lot of 1 euro bottles of that when we lived in Italy a few months back in the oughts, and that's about what this tastes like. Good enough, IOW.

 

[Wayne Freeman]

I did order the cab as it after reading your comment with free shipping. Thanks!

Glad to be of a little help!

 

[joeswine]

David, in one ( cab) I used blackberry.
In the sharaz crandberries.
Both 16 0zd. Or so in the primary.

 

[David Taylor]

David, in one ( cab) I used blackberry.
In the sharaz crandberries.
Both 16 0zd. Or so in the primary.

Joe, Thanks. Do you recommend reducing content to 5 gallons in Wine Expert also?

 

[joeswine]

That is up to you what and how you want your wine to finish out.
Certain reds do well with higher ABV especially big Italian reds,while white 10 to 13% , if you first read about your kits profile ,then decide on how you want to enhance it ( berries,etc) then put the base in The bucket add filtered water and start checking you ABV. As you go and stop we're you want.
If you take that as a plan your wines can have a life of their own and each one can be slightly different and not just the same old same old.Got it?

 

[David Taylor]

That is up to you what and how you want your wine to finish out.
Certain reds do well with higher ABV especially big Italian reds,while white 10 to 13% , if you first read about your kits profile ,then decide on how you want to enhance it ( berries,etc) then put the base in The bucket add filtered water and start checking you ABV. As you go and stop we're you want.
If you take that as a plan your wines can have a life of their own and each one can be slightly different and not just the same old same old.Got it?

Any place you can direct me to read about ABV? Thanks.

 

[joeswine]

Start a thread on this format and all will assist you.

 

[BigSell]

Changing subjects, has anyone done an extended maceration with raisins and fruit such as Blackberries? I’ve got a WE Coastal Red that just finished 14 days in the primary with the raisins and berries, thinking about going another 2-3 weeks before racking into Carboy.

Any thoughts?

 

[joeswine]

I really don't see the point , extraction is done in the primary ( of flavors) by the alcohol being created, kit manufacturers don't recommend it as a rule.

 

[Machinist Nick]

Hi folks, hope no one minds me jumping in here, just picked up a Fontana premium gamay/pinot noir kit and want to know what would be some nice tweaks to it. I'm thinking of using lalvin 1116, or maybe 1122 yeast. Perhaps some oak chips as well.
Is it preferred to add oak during the primary ferment, or after it's racked into a carboy?