What's in your glass tonight?

[CheerfulHeart]

Drinking Apple wine bottled December 2015. Listening to the rain in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

 

[Boatboy24]

Two Forza's: mine, and one that @ceeaton gave me back in October. Mine is about 14 months old, Craig's 17 months. If memory serves, this kit came with RC212 and EC1118 - we both skipped the 1118. Otherwise, Craig followed the directions. I added ~8g of Tannin FT Rouge in primary, skipped clarifiers and barrel aged for 12 weeks in a neutral Vadai. Other than the shavings/dust for primary, I used 2-3 oz of Medium French Oak cubes after barrel aging. Its fun seeing the different twists you can put on kit wines. Both are very enjoyable, dare I say quite good. There is a very, very slight difference in color, which I attribute to the micro-ox from barrel aging. Craig's is stronger on the oak, and I can taste and smell the differences between the Hungarian that came with the kit and the French I used. Neither one is better, they're just different. I get more vanilla in Craig's. Both have nice dark cherry notes and there is a little more roundness/smooth in mine - again, I chock that up to the barrel aging. I fully expect that Craig's will get to that point, just taking a little more time along the way. Overall, a really good kit and well executed by @ceeaton. Obviously, I'm not going to drink both bottles tonight, but I'm looking forward to more sampling in the next day or two.

 

[Bodenski]

Tonight was some Dragonblood. Made with 3/4 cup sugar per gallon, and now three months out I think that's too sweet. Next one will be maybe 1/2 cup.

In any case I have a little more that I can drink on Saturday as I bottle my JOAM. I tasted a little bit about two weeks ago, and I'm really looking forward to this mead!

 

[geek]

Apple wine from FTC Wines.
Is there such a thing as an apple wine, or wine NOT made from grapes or grape juice??

I have this dilemma with a friend who insists that wine is only the one made from grape/grape juice, anything else she argues is not called wine...

Is this true??

 

[wpt-me]

Drinking a glass of Orchard Breeze Pomegranate Wild Berry Wave . I tried not to make it to
sweet but think I failed, will try better next time!!

Bill

 

[heatherd]

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr, RJS shifted the En Primeur Sauvignon Blanc from Australia to South Africa in the merging of EP and WS. I had hoped to just buy the same kit again since my hubby and I have run out of he 2015 vintage. So there's no Sb in my glass tonight.

 

[Rocky]

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr, RJS shifted the En Primeur Sauvignon Blanc from Australia to South Africa in the merging of EP and WS. I had hoped to just buy the same kit again since my hubby and I have run out of he 2015 vintage. So there's no Sb in my glass tonight.

Heather, FWIW my bride and I both like SB's and I have been very pleased with the WinExpert Selection California Sauvignon Blanc and the WinExpert Selection International Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. Both are 16 liter kits and are a real bargain vis-à-vis the RJS En Primeur line. Label Peelers currently has both for under $75. Because the white varieties do not come with skins, I prefer the 16 liter Selection Series when making whites.

 

[Boatboy24]

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr, RJS shifted the En Primeur Sauvignon Blanc from Australia to South Africa in the merging of EP and WS. I had hoped to just buy the same kit again since my hubby and I have run out of he 2015 vintage. So there's no Sb in my glass tonight.

The Eclipse is a good one. Not Aussie, but New Zealand. Close enough, right?

 

[Elmer]

Perfect for cold night

 

[heatherd]

Heather, FWIW my bride and I both like SB's and I have been very pleased with the WinExpert Selection California Sauvignon Blanc and the WinExpert Selection International Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. Both are 16 liter kits and are a real bargain vis-à-vis the RJS En Primeur line. Label Peelers currently has both for under $75. Because the white varieties do not come with skins, I prefer the 16 liter Selection Series when making whites.

Rocky, thanks for the recommendations! I will give them a shot. The EP Australian was 18L according to my wine log, so the 16 is surely fine.

 

[heatherd]

The Eclipse is a good one. Not Aussie, but New Zealand. Close enough, right?

Jim,
You're right. I did some research on Sauvignon Blanc and found that there are "old world" and "new world" vineyards making them. The US, Australia, and New Zealand are all within the "new world" regions, with Europe in the "old world." So NZ and California are both comparable. I think I'll try doing a few from different regions and see how they are.

 

[Bodenski]

Apple wine from FTC Wines.
Is there such a thing as an apple wine, or wine NOT made from grapes or grape juice??

I have this dilemma with a friend who insists that wine is only the one made from grape/grape juice, anything else she argues is not called wine...

Is this true??

Many people refer to non-grape wines as "Country Wines." I myself don't care so much about the distinction. But when I buy a blackberry wine at the local ABC store (which was more of a blackberry infused apple wine) the bottle still said "wine." Your friend can think whatever she wants. Tell her you'll only share yours with her if she calls your country wine "wine"!

 

[Boatboy24]

Started out with tasters of the Forza's I opened last night. Then I decided I wanted some WA wine. So I sealed them back up and opened a bottle of Intrinsic 2014. Perfect with steak dinner. The Forzas were very good, but not what I was in the mood for.

 

[Johny99]

I decided "we are special" tonight. Ribeyes, portabellas, broccoli.....

Good structure, soft but assertive tannins, a a nose to die for! The fruit has faded, but with the steak

 

[ibglowin]

One of the best in the State.

I decided "we are special" tonight. Ribeyes, portabellas, broccoli.....

Good structure, soft but assertive tannins, a a nose to die for! The fruit has faded, but with the steak

 

[ibglowin]

2009 Gorman Winery Red Mountain baby! Amazing from start to finish. Look at the cork. It looks brand spanking new still and its 6-7 years old now!

 

[Bodenski]

My wife got me a 5L Oak Barrel for Christmas, so I'm trying different red wines (I'm not an expert at all) to see what we'd like to make a 5 gallon batch of when the Chilean juice comes in this spring. (My wife is not much a wine drinker, so many taste tests will be involved to get something she enjoys.)

Tonight was a Malbec.

I think it scored 92 points, according to the sign in the store. I enjoyed it, but not my wife's favorite. SO I'll keep looking for varieties that she might like. Sigh.

 

[geek]

Margarita at Texas Road House.

 

[Elmer]

Long day out in the cold, time for a milkshake!

 

[jgmann67]

Had a Yalumba Patchwork Barossa Shiraz. Surprised me how much we liked it. So much so, I thought about pulling the trigger on the WE Eclipse Barossa Shiraz. Luckily, I remembered I have a Cab coming and really don't know anything about that particular kit.

Any thoughts. If it's anything like the Yalumba Patchwork, I could be convinced.