WineXpert Vintner's Reserve White Zinfendel Kit

[Lost40Vinter]

I have a question about my White Zin. kit. I am in the clearing stage and I am due to check the clearity on the 14th before I start filling bottles. I drank some Berringer White Zin. last week and it had a light rosey color to it. My kit has a very deep purple color similar to a Merlot. Is this normal for the Vintner's reserve White Zin. Kit?

 

[Dugger]

I would expect it to be a blush as well ( I made a Spagnols Grand Cru white zin and it was a blush) - a straight Zin would be that deep color - could they have mislabeled?

 

[Lost40Vinter]

I also expected a blush color. Like I said, if it tastes ok, I'll bottle it. I had 3 options when I ordered my kit. It was Chardonnay, Merlot, and White Zinfandel. If it is a Zinfandel and not a White Zinfandel, should I long term age it or treat it like a white wine and consume earlier?

 

[Dugger]

I would age it for at least 6 months before drinking - a year is even better but if you have a limited amount of wine, this can be difficult.
By the way, was there any oak with this kit? A white Zin wouldn't have any, but a Zin probably would.

 

[Redtrk]

I have a white Zin going also and it wasn't the blush color until after it's second clearing. I would wait and watch it. As it clears you will see the dark go lower and lower in the carboy until it's all at the bottom.
Mine is now bulk aging and we wait. I've been told on here to have patience and I am passing that on to you.

 

[Lost40Vinter]

Thanks to all! I noticed that it is looking a little less opaque today than a couple of days ago. Since this is my first shot a wine making, I'm a wee bit too cautious. I know the kits are usually safe, but I'd hate to have 6 gallons fail on me.

There was no oak in it. When a fella doesn't have any home made wine around, he does tend to get a little antsy.

 

[MN-winer]

I"m doing this same kit and I agree the color is a little darker than what a White zin looks like but its still a blush and it might be that in a carboy it looks darker than in a 750 bottle.

 

[Danml]

For those that have made this kit. This is the first kit out of 13 that I have done that is taking this long to ferment down to 1.010 It is now at 10 days in the bucket, when all other kits went no longer then 7 days. It has been droping very slow from 1.080 to 1.022 in 10 days. Just let it go until it's done ?? Will this long in the bucket cause any problems ? Mine also looks dark, not the color I was expecting, but it is early.

 

[cpfan]

For those that have made this kit. This is the first kit out of 13 that I have done that is taking this long to ferment down to 1.010 It is now at 10 days in the bucket, when all other kits went no longer then 7 days. It has been droping very slow from 1.080 to 1.022 in 10 days. Just let it go until it's done ?? Will this long in the bucket cause any problems ? Mine also looks dark, not the color I was expecting, but it is early.

What was the starting sg, and what is the temperature of the wine?

Try stirring it gently to bring some of the dormant yeast up from the bottom.

BTW, these kits always look darker in the primary or the carboy. They also can look darker until cleared. Take a small sample to observe the colour. The Fermtech Wine Thief works great for this, if you have one.

Steve

 

[Lost40Vinter]

Mine took longer to ferment in the primary than what the directions suggested too. I brought mine up from my basement (61 degree F) to our kitchen that was warmer. It started to ferment faster once it was in the warmer room. It took another few days in the warmer room before it dropped to the level the instructions said to rack to the secondary. It didn't really take off till I racked it into the secondary. I suspect that there might have been 2 problems in the primary. 1 - the temp was too low and 2 - there might have been not enough oxygen in the must for the yeast to get to work. This was the first wine I have ever made and I was trying to follow the directions as close as possible. I also think the yeast that is in the kit has a slow rate of fermentation. Since then, I have made a couple of non-kit wines now and a aerate the b'geebers out of them before I though my yeast. Both of those took off right away. My kit did come out a little darker color than a normal white zinfandel, but I also used a 750 mL bottle of blackberry wine to top off the secondary after I added the F-pack. The wine has mellowed quite a bit now that it has been bottled for about a month now.

 

[Danml]

Mine is still going. Hate to keep opening it to check the sg. Started it at 1.080 and at last check it was down to 1.022 after 10 days. I am going to rack to secondary tommorro..day 12 no matter what. I need the bucket to start another The color will be what it is, I need to move on.

 

[Lost40Vinter]

On my batch, the sg didn't reach it's goal for racking for about 12 days. Once I moved it upstairs and it warmed up, it dropped 0.010 per day. I had to fight my impatience because it was my first batch and I didn't have any home made wine of my own to drink. Have patience, it will get there. I don't think opening the airlock and testing the sg will effect the win too much.