What's in your glass tonight?

[winemaker81]

congratulations! Grenache may = strawberry.

Thanks!

We bottled 3 different Grenache last fall:

Melange de style Rhone (75% Grenache, 25% Rhone blend)
100% Grenache
FWK Tavola Merlot kit fermented with Grenache pomace

The last one has a strong strawberry flavor. The others are different. Not what I expected, but all 3 are good.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

My elder son is currently making shrimp scampi for his mom & I tonight. After sampling a ginger beer he made,

Ooh I might need that recipe.

 

[winemaker81]

Ooh I might need that recipe.

I am trying to get him to write it down.

 

[Hazelemere]

Pinnacle of Sirah 2020-2021

6 blended vinifera all hand destemmed and fermented uncrushed with RC212 yeast. I grow Regent. The rest were purchased in boxes. The Mettler were too high in sugar but tasted and smelled really good. Dineen and Sheridan are neighbours in Washington. First column is lbs, 2nd column is % of the blend, 3rd column is juice SG, 4th column is juice acid and last column is alcohol level. I opened 1 and have 8 left to age.

Comments:

Colour: purple ink

Smell: coffee, cocoa, black licorice, five spice, plums

Tannin: high but fine with tannin in the aftertase

Acid: good, matches the tannin

Flavour: intense, rich, balanced, needs lots of time e.g. 5+ years to mellow the tannins and develop a bottle bouquet. This had medium toast American oak cubes added during malolactic fermentation.

Finish: long and intense

I'll rebottle 1/2 of this in a split (13 oz) and taste it again in a years time. Pinnacle is the shorthand that I use for wines containing 2 or more Cabernets.

Pinnacle of Sirah 2020-21
Dineen Cabernet Sauvignon	97.7​	19.1%	1.100​	0.80​	13.3​
Sheridan Syrah	48.0​	9.4%	1.114​	0.70​	15.6​
Amador Cabernet Sauvignon	21.7​	4.2%	1.107	0.70	14.5​
Dineen Cabernet Franc	61.0​	11.9%	1.100​	0.75​	13.3​
Mettler Petite Sirah	216.0​	42.2%	1.120​	0.70​	16.6​
Regent	68.0​	13.3%	1.082	0.85	10.6​
	512.4​	100.0%	1.108	0.74	14.6​

Retaste:

Colour: purple ink

Smell: coffee, cocoa, black licorice, five spice, plums, blackberries

Tannin: high but fine with skin tannins in the aftertaste. This should age for a long time.

Acid: good, matches the tannin

Flavour: intense, rich, balanced, needs lots of time e.g. 5+ years to mellow the tannins and develop a bottle bouquet. This had medium toast American oak cubes added during malolactic fermentation.

Finish: long and intense.

This is Lodi Mettler Vineyard Amarone style super high brix Petite Sirah in perfect condition but slightly over-ripe blended with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon to drop the alcohol . This is very rich and tasty. I have 3 left and will try to open 1 every 2 years for 6 years. The Petite Sirah is dominant.

 

[winemanden]

I'll probably get shot down in flames for saying this. I have a theory that lots of people who say they can taste lots of different things in wine are just repeating, or have been pre-influenced by what they read on the back label.
I watched a video of a wine taster? Tasting a wine at a show in Germany. The grower started to tell the man what he would find in the wine. The taster held up his hand and said, "I don't want to you to tell me what this wine tastes like, I will tell YOU!"
I'm not knocking anyone, just overthinking I guess.

 

[Ohio Bob]

I'll probably get shot down in flames for saying this. I have a theory that lots of people who say they can taste lots of different things in wine are just repeating, or have been pre-influenced by what they read on the back label.
I watched a video of a wine taster? Tasting a wine at a show in Germany. The grower started to tell the man what he would find in the wine. The taster held up his hand and said, "I don't want to you to tell me what this wine tastes like, I will tell YOU!"
I'm not knocking anyone, just overthinking I guess.

I think some people can taste a certain flavor but can’t describe what it is. I like to look up the flavors of a varietal to see if I can identify those flavors. Would you call that repeating or being educated?

 

[winemanden]

I think some people can taste a certain flavor but can’t describe what it is. I like to look up the flavors of a varietal to see if I can identify those flavors. Would you call that repeating or being educated?

Nowt wrong with that, I do the same myself. I suppose what I was really thinking was, would you be able to sniff the flavours if you didn't look?
Daft thinking probably on my part, as flavours are very hard to describe!
Doesn't really matter as long as you enjoy the wine.

 

[winemaker81]

I think some people can taste a certain flavor but can’t describe what it is. I like to look up the flavors of a varietal to see if I can identify those flavors. Would you call that repeating or being educated?

I do the same thing -- I can taste something but have NO idea how to describe it. Looking at a list for a varietal helps a lot. Leather was a hard one for me.

 

[winemaker81]

Nowt wrong with that, I do the same myself. I suppose what I was really thinking was, would you be able to sniff the flavours if you didn't look?

I can smell the aromas and taste the flavors. It's explaining it to someone else that can be difficult.

A lot of this is taking the time to consider what we're drinking. Simply slurp down a glass of wine, and most of a given type taste pretty much alike.

Slow down. Swirl the glass and sniff it. Take a sip, swirl it around your mouth, hitting all the parts of the mouth. Suck in a bit of air. Then swallow. It's a sensory experience. Tannin, acid, and various flavors appear that don't when simply slurping down a beverage.

Many moons ago I was told to try Cognac, so I bought a cheap bottle. Complete waste of money, as it tasted like much less expensive CA brandy. That turned me completely off Cognac.

About 10 years ago I tried again, this time with a higher end bottle. WOW! Totally different experience. Since then I've had a dozen higher end Cognacs, and all are different. All are not necessarily worth the price, but they stand out from each other.

Ditto with Scotch, Irish whiskey, bourbon, tequila, etc. I buy lower end bottles for mixing, and anything higher end I drink straight, to enjoy what makes that particular liquor distinct.

I have a bottle of Scotch from Islay. REALLY peaty. I can sniff the glass an hour after finishing the Scotch and the smell makes me taste is again.

 

[Old Corker]

My bucket list includes taking a sommelier class. Maybe in retirement… Not because I want to tell people what wine they will like but to have a better vocabulary to describe the wine I like.

 

[Wineart]

My bucket list includes taking a sommelier class. Maybe in retirement… Not because I want to tell people what wine they will like but to have a better vocabulary to describe the wine I like.

I did exactly that. What it taught me was there is a lot to wine and a better idea of how to make it. It taught me to tinker before, during and especially after. I never take what it gives me, I tell it what to do. If it's not where I want, I now know how or what to add to change that. Seldom do I throw a wine out. Someone gave me a Pinot Grigio kit that was really old, already brown. Most would throw it out but not me. Nothing invested, no great expectations. Made the kit and put it in a very large carboy with paper towel over the top. May be an acceptable sherry.
It has changed the way I cook. If it's not the way I want, then I change it, and maybe again if needed. Your pantry is your spice rack and you need your own spice rack for wine too. One thing I looked into was post fermentation additions of syrups. The Syrian and Lebanese stores have cordial syrups with, dates, pomegranates, blackberries and more. And they are dirt cheap, like me. You can make summer sippers or full bodied wines from these, but don't add K meta before fermentation as they may already been slightly preserved. Date syrup makes great full bodied sherry or drink it in the morning with a tablespoon in 3/4 litre of cold water. Asian markets have dried elderflower, hibiscus, lemon balm and tons more things to try or add to your spice rack. Sky is the limit. Tinker, tamper and enjoy.

 

[Christopher Anderson]

Costco find (once a year) !!!!!!

View attachment 109691

I wish COSTCO in Texas had spirit sales ;{(

 

[Boatboy24]

 

[Hazelemere]

Black Iris Foch Syrah 2022-23

wild blackberries, wild black cherries (pitted), dried elderberries, Sheridan Syrah (repair job), homegrown organic Marechal Foch

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - complex, cherries overpower the Syrah nose

Tannin - good

Acid- good

Flavour - decent, rich house red. I'll try it again, this year, without any Syrah as Black Iris Foch 2024 as well as Black Iris Regent 2024.

retaste:

Black Iris Foch Syrah 2022-23

wild blackberries, wild black cherries (pitted), dried elderberries, Sheridan Syrah (repair job), homegrown organic Marechal Foch

Appearance - inky purple, slight fizz

Smell - complex, cherries overpower the Syrah nose and work well with the Foch together with the blackberries and dried elderberries

Tannin - good

Acid- good

Flavour - decent, rich house red. I'll try it again, this year, without any Syrah as Black Iris Foch 2024 as well as Black Iris Regent 2024. I'll also try Regent on its own as a rose for the first time. We won't be buying red wine grapes this year in the fall. The Okanagan wineries will probably buy them all and clean us out so we'll have to make our own reds from our own fruit and blend or not Mettler Petite Sirah - Regent (74-26) 2020 in carboy, Dineen Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 and Dineen Petite Verdot 2023 this summer together with Australian Orange Muscat juice in pails and Chilean Viognier juice in pails alone or blended with Washington Sheridan Vineyard Chardonnay (butter popcorn smell) to give it more of a Carneros-Sonoma tropical fruit bomb smell. We may even try a bit of Foch into the Petite Sirah to boost the acid and complexity.

 

[Trebor]

Good evening everyone, this is my very first post. I'm a fairly new member and Ive enjoyed reading lots of your content and you've already helped me quite a lot on my journey making wines.


This evening me and my partner bottled two different wines I've had clearing for some time. A red, made from wild blackberries and elderberries from last year, using this popular book as a guide which has a recipe for both fruits. And the second was the almond wine recipe from this same book.

Now, the red has come out very sweet, too sweet. The recipe did say sweet and I think I got excited and went a bit overboard anyway, after a few sips I'm feeling tipsy, so definitely a desert wine. Partner wasn't too keen, she likes a dry wine, fair enough.

The almond has come out quite dry, ever so slightly bitter and very nutty. Weird sensation actually, having never had a nut wine before.

So, we looked at each other and said "are you thinking what I'm thinking..."
We blended the leftover BIG glass of each one together which is what you can see in the picture. The bitter flavour has been tackled by the sweet red and the excessive sweetness mellowed by the dry white, or more golden really. Very pleasant, definitely going to experiment like this again with these country wines.

Cheers
Hope you enjoyed my post
Talk to you soon

Trebor

 

[Hazelemere]

Dineen Vineyard Pinnacle of Verdot 2023

I had 3 small carboys (15 bottles each) of Washington Dineen Vineyard Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon fermented with RC212 hand destemmed and uncrushed with nutrient containing B vitamins for 12 days followed by malolactic fermentation and oaking with medium toast American oak cubes to 14.0% alcohol. The grapes were in boxes in perfect condition.. My son in law made the same wine but used more oak than I did. We racked all of the wines off of tartrate sediment and raised the total sulphite level from 45 to ~65 parts per million (guessing free sulphite at ~22 ppm). The Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon ("Pinnacle") were blended 50/50 and tasted. My son in law who has never tasted Petit Verdot said he thought the blend was sensational and that the Verdot gave the wine a beautiful, complex smell and a long, wonderful finish. So he got ~150 bottles of the blend oaked his way and I got 90 oaked my way. He then took 60 of his 150 and re-blended it 80 (Verdot blend)/20 (petite sirah blend) of Mettler Petite Sirah 2021 (74% Petite Sirah and 26% Regent (homegrown) 2/3 with Marechal Foch (homegrown) 1/3. I made 15 of this blend "Petite Pinnacle of Verdot" 2021, 2023. He made 60. This is my wife's primo red wine. This is rich, complex and tasty with a long finish and a really good smell. Finally I saved about 8 bottles of the Petite Sirah 2/3 Marechal Foch 1/3 blend which is very intense and much better IMHO than the Petite Sirah on its own since the alcohol level is ~14.5% instead of 15.5%. We have one carboy (30 bottles) of Lodi Mettler Vineyard Petite Sirah 2021 left which we will blend with this year's homegrown Marechal Foch to drop its alcohol and improve its alcohol, acid level and complexity.

If you can get Petit Verdot I suggest that you try it. My son in law says that the Verdot wines that we just blended are the best we have made since 2009 (Washington Cabernet Sauvignon Syrah). I agree. We'll leave our wines in our walk in cooler until Xmas-New Years 2024 and then bottle them to age for at least 5 years, maybe even 10.

Good luck with your wines.

 

[Hazelemere]

Regent 2023

This is homegrown, on well drained glacial moraine soil, organic Regent grafted on SO4 rootstock to prevent phylloxera attack, hand-destemmed, uncrushed with 71B/RC212 yeasts mixed with medium toast American oak cubes during malolactic fermentation.

Here are my comments:

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - good nose - cocoa, plums, black currants, red currants

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - this is actually decent, not very good or excellent but certainly good. I have no trouble drinking it and would be happy to make it again on its own or blended with homegrown organic Marechal Foch. It has a really pleasant aftertaste. It was picked at SG 1.086 in very nice condition. I'd also like to try some of it as a dry rose which I've never made from red wine grapes (a first!). If I make the rose I'll forgo RC212 yeast in favour of 71B. It tastes like it could improve. e.g. to good-very good. We'll see. Patience means a lot in winemaking unless it gets absurd e.g. kit or u-brew wines aged for 4 years plus, that oxidize due to lack of skin tannins.

 

[Hazelemere]

retaste of Russet 2023:

Appearance - this one isn't fizzy at all, golden due to oxidation of russet skin tannins during grinding and pressing, although it doesn't smell oxidized.

Smell - fragrant rich Russet apple nose.

Tannin - good.

Acid - good.

Flavour - good, rich, tasty, balanced apple wine.

Bottom line - this is a very good house wine and will probably be a really good cooking wine. I'll definitely make it again.

retaste of Russet 2023:

Appearance -clear, deep yellow

Smell - really fragrant rich Russet apple nose.

Tannin - good.

Acid - good.

Flavour - really good, rich, tasty, balanced apple wine. For apple wine, this is first class. Russets work because of the tannin in the skins, acid in the fruit and a really good smell. If I wanted to make nothing but apple wine I'd grow 80% russets 10% Cox Orange or Cox Pippen and 10% Ambrosia. If I could I'd do 80% russet with 20% cox pippen or cox orange. Cox apples have an amazing smell, even better than Ambrosia which has a beautiful smell.

Bottom line - this is a no brainer to make again alone or combination with second run white wines from grapes with or without honey to sweeten the apple juice. I make all of these combos 1) pure russet blended or unblended with cane sugar 2) pure russet blended or unblended with unpasteurized honey (e.g. cranberry blossom, raspberry blossom, or blueberry blossom), 3) 1 blended with second run white grape wine 4) 2 blended with second run white grape wine

 

[Jovimaple]

@Trebor Welcome to WMT!

It's generally accepted here to be good practice to ferment to dry and then backsweeten if necessary. Most fruit (non-grape) wines will benefit from at least a little sweetness. For me, I figure the amount of sugar to get the ABV level I want, ferment to dry, age for a bit, then add potassium sorbate + potassium metabisulphite ("kmeta") - to ensure fermentation doesn't restart after I backsweeten - then I add sugar or simple syrup to backsweeten. This method provides a bit more control than trying to stop the fermentation at a specific sweetness level.

 

[Old Corker]

Can’t go to Mendocino and not visit Anderson Valley. When to Handley yesterday. Saving this for dinner tonight