WineXpert WE Petit Verdot SG

[tonyt]

Everything is going great now. Last night SG is .996 so I stirred, stabilized, stirred, clarified, stirred, stirred, stirred. Get this, I topped up with a 2000 Bordeaux, yes the vintage of the century! Had purchased two cases of it several years ago for only $14.oo per bottle. WS rated it 94 at the time. I had actually used a bottle of it to top up my previous batch of Petite Verdot and it is so delicious at just a few months in the bottle that I just had to forfeit another of the 2000 Bordeaux. I took a swig of the Bordeaux (now 10 years old) and it is out of this world. Too bad I only have one bottle left . . . Perhaps I should get one more PV?

 

[ibglowin]

I would have had a hard time parting with that Bordeaux............

 

[ibglowin]

BTW, Castle Rock makes a 100% Petit Verdot and it is VERY reasonable if you can find it. I see their Pinot Noir in many stores so you should be able to order it from a local store that stocks it. They have it on sale direct from the winery for $100 a case if your state allows wine shipments. That would be a good top off wine for sure!

 

[tonyt]

So I checked this one last night and it is already extremely clear, long sexy legs and tastes fantastic. It is about a week into clearing. I really love this wine it is my second batch this year.

Question: I think my guy in Houston has another PV kit and it is not offered in 2011. How long do y'all think a kit will stay good unopened if I get it now (already several months old) and hold it to make next year or so?

 

[ibglowin]

If it's kept cool I have heard up to 2 years from the DOM.

 

[tonyt]

I just racked off lees my second PV kit last night. Topped up with
commercial 1 Cab Franc and 1 $16.00 commercial PV and one bottle of our
previous PV. I did a true blind tasting of a glass of my previous PV
(bottled in June) and the $16.00 PV. I couldn't tell the difference of
the two nor did I prefer one over the other. My wife hands down
preferred ours, and that's with only a few months in bottle. So, the new
batch got splash racked, two American Oak spirals and K-Meta. I
followed my notes from previous batch almost exactly except that I added
one bottle of our own PV in topping. I hoped for 7 gallons after
racking (one 6 gallon carboy for aging and a gallon for future topping
of future kits) but there was tons of sludge (aka lees)so I only got 1/2
gallon extra. Haven't decided how long to wait to bottle the 6 gallons
of this batch, any suggestions?

 

[Randoneur]

I know a lot of folks age an additional 3 months, some go more. If your last batch was so good, why not just do the same on this one?

 

[ibglowin]

I have always bulk aged 6-7 months before bottling. What commercial bottle of PV did you end up going with?

 

[tonyt]

I have always bulk aged 6-7 months before bottling. What commercial bottle of PV did you end up going with?

I topped with La Mancha PV, 2006. That's what we blind tasted against the PV I bottled this past June.

 

[tonyt]

I know a lot of folks age an additional 3 months, some go more. If your last batch was so good, why not just do the same on this one?

My dilemma exactly. Copy last batch exactly since we like it so much or add a few months of aging to see if we like even more. Till now I have followed previous batch exactly so it would make a good aging test if I can hold off bottling for 6 - 9 months.