Other Ur fav Sangiovese kit & tweaks

[She’sgonnakillme]

This is true, I’m a professional winemaker and I tried one of the frozen juice buckets just to experiment and see if in my opinion they are worth it. Found a company that had Carignan and for like $130 a bucket and I bought one and made it and thawed it and let it rip with nutrients and the same enzymes and yeast I always use and the results were quite good the grapes were good quality and the wine has the benefit of the freezing process effectively cold soaking it much better color. I feel that while expensive they are a good option for those of us who don’t have fresh grapes or want to produce good wine out of season.

I feel like the juice buckets are leaps and bounds better than most kit wine.

i also like the fact that you can buy buckets from very specific regions or even from certain vineyards.

 

[Nebbiolo020]

i also like the fact that you can buy buckets from very specific regions or even from certain vineyards.

Yes, I also like that at least where I live we have a amateur winemaking club that sources grapes yearly for its members from quite well known vineyards and amateurs can get access to various varietals. They had like 30 different varietals on the list last year. I source my grapes personally from friends I’ve obtained over the years.

 

[Bmd2k1]

i also like the fact that you can buy buckets from very specific regions or even from certain vineyards.

Where do you buy your buckets from?

 

[She’sgonnakillme]

WineGrapesDirect.Com and grape must.com

 

[Bmd2k1]

Anyone adding raisins or zante currants to theirs during primary ferment??

Gonna be starting a fresh batch early March.

Cheers ✌

 

[Ohio Bob]

I add 23 ounces of raisins (chopped in half) to a 3g batch of blackberry port. I found it in an internet search for recipes. I recommend boiling them well. Surface bacteria is a concern. I once ruined a batch of beer by thinking in the last 10 minutes of boiling the extract, I should throw in a few apricots. Tasted like apricots, but way worse.

 

[cmason1957]

Anyone adding raisins or zante currants to theirs during primary ferment??

Gonna be starting a fresh batch early March.

Cheers ✌

When I think of Sangiovese, I think of cherries. Raisins are not something I would think souks be in the taste profile for Sangiovese. Now I might get some tart black cherries and use those to make some kind of flavor pack, but not raisins. But it's your wine.

 

[Old Corker]

I have two FWK Sangiovese kits in bulk aging. It was the first FWK kit I bought last May (2020 harvest I assume) and I’m waiting it out for 12 months of aging. So far it tastes great. When I saw that FWK was having trouble sourcing it for the latest harvest I went back to the LP site to see if there was any left from 2020 and bought another one. It must have been one of the last bc a few days later they were showing it as sold out. That one started in October. I’ve not done Sangiovese kit before but have always loved the wine. Looking forward to these!

 

[Venatorscribe]

I have two FWK Sangiovese kits in bulk aging. It was the first FWK kit I bought last May (2020 harvest I assume) and I’m waiting it out for 12 months of aging. So far it tastes great. When I saw that FWK was having trouble sourcing it for the latest harvest I went back to the LP site to see if there was any left from 2020 and bought another one. It must have been one of the last bc a few days later they were showing it as sold out. That one started in October. I’ve not done Sangiovese kit before but have always loved the wine. Looking forward to these!

i've never been happy with my Sangiovese. Did two kits. Cheeky Monkey was the kit brand name. So I left them sitting in their bottle for four or five years. Finally one day I grabbed one expecting it to be thin and flavourless - and was very surprised at how the wine had developed. I now leave most of my kit reds in bulk for at least one year then bottle. And wait another three or four yrs. It makes a big difference

 

[Bmd2k1]

Anyone used 71B yeast for their Sangiovese?

Used the provided EC1118 for my first batch last year...

 

[Bmd2k1]

My 1st Sangiovese last year was RJS Grand Cru International and it came with a pack of dried grape skins. This time around I ordered RJS Cru Select, just opened the box and it did NOT come with any dried grape skins. Wondering what I might consider substituting for dried grape skins during primary fermentation?

 

[Khristyjeff]

I know 1-2 Cups Zante Currants in primary are a nice addition. I've also seen where some people added tannin and oak, too. You might search through the "Tweaking Cheap Kits" thread for more ideas or just wait here for more replies. People are great on this Forum about answering questions quickly.

 

[She’sgonnakillme]

My 1st Sangiovese last year was RJS Grand Cru International and it came with a pack of dried grape skins. This time around I ordered RJS Cru Select, just opened the box and it did NOT come with any dried grape skins. Wondering what I might consider substituting for dried grape skins during primary fermentation?

perhaps this would be an option? Buy a FWK Forte kit with two skin packs, then you can use one with your Sangiovese kit and just use one with the FWK. That’s what I would do

 

[Bmd2k1]

for this RJS batch ended up going with...

-provided EC1118 (might try 71B future batch)
-1cup Zante Currants in primary
-66g American Medium toast oak chips in primary (kit provided)

I would like to give the FWK Sangiovese a whirl once available again -- for comparison to RJS -- which has been a hit with peeps.

Cheers!

 

[Khristyjeff]

@Bmd2k1 That looks like a winner to me.

 

[Bmd2k1]

2weeks...

FG = .997 Smells & looks dang great!

Racked to 20L Speidel for 3months bulk aging on 1 light toast American oak spiral.

Cheers!

 

[jgmann67]

This isn't a sangiovese red wine kit, but the Winexpert Sangiovese Rose kit seems to be available again. I made two of thoseand bottled them recently, wonderful pale red color, no discernable kit taste, lightly backsweetened, just to red move the acidic harshness. Might be worth a look.

We did one of these last year. So, I just picked one of these up for our summer wine this year too. It was a very good dry rose last year - with nice strawberry and red raspberry flavors and (as you said) no discernable kit taste.

Did you measure your SG when you backsweetened? If so, to what?

 

[cmason1957]

We did one of these last year. So, I just picked one of these up for our summer wine this year too. It was a very good dry rose last year - with nice strawberry and red raspberry flavors and (as you said) no discernable kit taste.

Did you measure your SG when you backsweetened? If so, to what?

I did not measure it. I probably would have liked it just a bit less sweet than it is, but I just dumped in the entire flavoring pac. As I recall, it wasn't very large.

 

[jgmann67]

I did not measure it. I probably would have liked it just a bit less sweet than it is, but I just dumped in the entire flavoring pac. As I recall, it wasn't very large.

Ahhh. Okay. I’m with you and prefer it barely off-dry. The flavor pack is 1L. So, I decided to do a 50/50 split with it (like I do with the Luna Bianca) - 500ml went into the primary and I’ll save the rest for the finish.

 

[Bmd2k1]

I have two FWK Sangiovese kits in bulk aging. It was the first FWK kit I bought last May (2020 harvest I assume) and I’m waiting it out for 12 months of aging. So far it tastes great. When I saw that FWK was having trouble sourcing it for the latest harvest I went back to the LP site to see if there was any left from 2020 and bought another one. It must have been one of the last bc a few days later they were showing it as sold out. That one started in October. I’ve not done Sangiovese kit before but have always loved the wine. Looking forward to these!

How did you like your FWK Sangiovese?