What's in your glass tonight?

[winemaker81]

Sorry for the double post. I tried deleting one but the system won't let me do it. Maybe one of the admins would be able to do it...

done

 

[MiBor]

This was the desert:



Expensive but totally worthy of its price.

 

[Hazelemere]

Apple Cyser 2023

My son in law and I made this blend today which I'm tasting now from 30 bottles of his American medium toast oaked Sunrise apple, 45 oak cubes/30 bottle carboy, 30 bottles of my Cyser (King/Cox/Russet apple with Moonglow pears) with un-pasteurized blueberry blossom honey (no sugar added to this). No water added to any of it. 12 bottles of Russet apple juice chaptalized with cane sugar to make 72 bottles which we sorbated at SG 1.000 and raised the free sulphite from 12 up to 30 ppm and put in my cooler to age before bottling even 1 gallon. All of the apple wines were treated mid ferment with bentonite to remove protein haze.

Here are my comments:

Appearance - lemon yellow (which is perfect for apple wine)

Smell - good intense smell especially from the honey. Slight sulphite.

Tannin - good from the Russets and the oak

Acid - good from the Russets and the citric acid I added to the Cyser

Flavour - super intense apple wine with a long finish. This is a keeper with a really good aftertaste.

We'll try to take the last 45 bottles of oaked Sunrise apple to make another batch of this in 2024. Truly a pleasant surprise!

 

[Hazelemere]

Russet Ambrosia 2022-2023

My son in law and I made this blend today which I'm tasting now from 15 bottles of his unoaked 2022 Okanagan Ambrosia (1/3) and my 2023 unoaked Russet (2/3). We sorbated at SG 1.000 and sulphited to about 28 ppm free sulphite and put the blend in my cooler. All of the apple wines were treated mid ferment with bentonite to remove protein haze.

Here are my comments:

Appearance - lemon yellow (which is perfect for apple wine)

Smell - good fragrant wine

Tannin - good from the Russets

Acid - good

Flavour - this is a really tasty apple wine which I will absolutely make again with my son in law. I'd also like to try it as a cyser i.e. un-pasturized honey chaptalization instead of sugar. e.g. cranberry blossom, blueberry blossom or raspberry blossom.

The Ambrosia have a beautiful smell akin to Cox and even King apples.

 

[winemaker81]

Last summer @VinesnBines gave me a bottle of 2022 Chelois. She recently recommended letting it age a bit longer ... but I got impatient. Pop! went the cork.



I did what I often do -- I poured a small glass immediately after opening, then inserted a duck neck aerator and poured a second glass. It can be amazing how much difference aeration can make, and I enjoy checking.

The unaerated wine has great color -- bright purple. Nose? Can't tell -- I'm on the last day or two (hopefully!) of a headcold so my sniffer is down for maintenance.

I don't have a lot of experience with Chelois, but it appears to have nice varietal flavor. The only flaw is a slightly noticeable acid. Everyone who makes cool weather French-American hybrids is not surprised by this, as acid is almost always high. Beth (VinesnBines) and I have been discussing acid management for quite a while, so it's on my mind.

Next I sampled the aerated wine. WOW! Huge difference. The wine is softer, the acid perception is very much reduced, enough that the wine has a perception of sweetness to my tastebuds. Also noticeable is the mouthfeel -- it's not cloying like a port, but present in the aftertaste.

Next? I threw a monkey wrench into the works -- I cut a few piece of extra sharp cheddar. Bigger WOW! All perception of excess acid is gone, and to me the perception of sweet is greater. This is a food wine -- it will go great with unhealthy appetizers, cheese, steak, red sauce, and the like.

When judging commercial wines it's best to be as objective as possible, e.g., bread not cheese. This is a bad idea when judging our own wines. Always consider ways in which to best utilize them.

Next fall I considered making another Chambourcin, this time with a bit of Foch and/or Chelois in it. Plans may change -- Chelois with a bit of Chambourcin and/or Foch may be the ticket.

 

[wineh]

Hester Creek merlot in our Saskatoon hotel room

 

[Hazelemere]

Dineen Vineyard Cabernet Verdot 2023

This is 50% hand-destemmed and uncrushed Dineen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon + 50% hand-destemmed and uncrushed Dineen Vineyard Petit Verdot in perfect condition at 14.0% alcohol, fermented with RC212 yeast plus nutrient for 12 days and then oaked with medium toast oak cubes (38 cubes for 25 bottles) from my cooler in a gallon jug after dropping tartrates for a month. Here are my comments on this young red wine:

Appearance - inky, purple

Smell - good clean nose

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - This is rich, smooth, fragrant and tasty with a nice finish. I bottled 5 full bottles + 2 splits to see how they develop in my cooler before dealing with the rest of the unblended Dineen Cabernet and Verdot carboys during the summer. I want to make Dineen Malbec if I can get it but would absolutely make this again with or without Dineen Cabernet Franc and possibly even Merlot or Grenache.

 

[Boatboy24]

So much junk out there - especially in this varietal, I feel. This one just tastes like a Zin should. Not mind-blowing, but but pleasant, and refreshing to buy a bottle that tastes like the grape it came from.

 

[winemaker81]

Last night I opened the last bottle of my 2019 Zinfandel, which was my first wine from grapes in 20 years. It came in at 15.6% ABV. Since it's the last bottle, I recorded my notes.

Opened the final bottle tonight. As has been my habit, I poured 2 glasses, unaerated and aerated with a duck aerator.​

​

Unaerated: This has strong Zin fruit in the taste, but there is an undercurrent of tannin that is a bit harsh. Unfortunately the aftertaste fades into a bit of harsh oak, and I can taste the alcohol.​

​

Aerated: Taste is more balanced than the unaerated — The fruitiness is lighter and the tannin lost its harshness as the aeration softened it. Oak is prominent in the aftertaste, but it’s not harsh. Unfortunately, the high ABV stands out as unbalancing. It’s far better than it was, but still unbalancing.​

​

When I made this one, I had not used fresh grapes in 20 years. In hindsight, I pressed way too early. If I had waited another 2 days, the wine would have been heavier and would have been more balanced. Also in hindsight, I should have watered back 5% with acidulated water, which would have reduced the ABV to about 14.8%. That would have made a huge difference.​

​

At the same time, this also explains why the 2019 second run blend was so good — there was a LOT of goodness left in the pomace. This made a great second run, but at the expense of the first run.​

It was started on 10/19/2019, and my previous tasting notes from 08/21/2020 (date bottled), 05/19/2021, and 06/13/2022 were more optimistic. While I'd not say this one was declining, it was probably at its peak, so I don't feel bad about the batch being gone.




Updated to add a graphic of the label:

 

[Hazelemere]

Russet Cyser 2023

This is 90% homegrown russet major Cox and pear minor apple juice chaptalized with cane sugar and 10% homegrown King apple juice chaptalized with unpasteurized blue berry blossom honey and fermented with 71B yeast blended in a single glass. Here are my comments:

Appearance - golden i.e. a bit dark

Smell - good rich apple nose with a bit of honey fragrance

Tannin - good from the russets

Acid - good from the Russets

Flavour - good, rich intense apple wine. I'll probably make at least 15 of these.

Russet 2023

This is 100% homegrown russet major Cox and pear minor apple juice chaptalized with cane sugar

Appearance a bit lighter than the Russet Cyser

Smell - good rich apple nose

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - tasty, balanced apple wine with a nice aftertaste. I have 15 bottled but can do 30 more as my house white ( 45 bottles ) and still make 15 Russet Cyser. I may save 15 to blend with my son-in-laws apple wine to make a 3rd apple wine and/or 2nd apple cyser wine.

Retaste of the Cyser 2023:

Appearance - clear, yellow, trace of petillance

Smell - very fragrant from the honey

Tannin - slightly high but ok (tannin from Russets and honey)

Acid - good

Flavour - rich, slightly sweet and tannic, with a long finish. This should be good in prawn linguine or pork chow mein. So I'll rebottle some of it in a split for that purpose.

Then I retasted the un-rebottled Cyser 50/50 with Apple Edelzwicker 2022 (i.e. Cyser Pyment in a glass. Here are my comments on this blend:

Appearance - clear, lemon yellow, trac of petillance

Smell - complex rich smell from the apples, muscat varietals in the Edelzwicker and the honey

Tannin - good

Flavour - this is rich, complex and tasty, still has the slight sweetness but the 2nd run white grape (Edelzwicker from Siegerrebe and Ortega) makes it much more interesting. This is definitely worth making again from homegrown apples and grapes with unpasteurized local honey (blueberry, cranberry or raspberry blossom).



Acid - good

Flavour -

 

[winemaker81]

I haven't been good about recording tasting notes, but I'm on a roll. This is my 2020 Meritage Plus, which is 40% Merlot, 40% Zinfandel, and 20% Bordeaux Blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot).

As is my current habit, two glasses were poured:​

​

Unaerated: Fruity up front, the Zinfandel is prominent with a berry flavor. As soon as it's swallowed, that disappears and the flavor is solid tannin. It's mellow, not harsh, but totally dominating.​

​

Aerated: Used duck aerator. This is very different -- the berry flavor is definitely blackberry. It slides into tannin, but the tannin is less dominant -- it's cooperative with the berry, then the berry fades.​

​

I tried something odd -- I poured equal amounts of both wines together. This is not good -- the oak in the finish is harsh. Very weird.​

​

The wine is 3.33 years old at this point -- I'm going to ration the remaining 1.5 cases as I want to try this one at the 5 year mark.​

 

[Boatboy24]

I was going to give it an 88. CWB gives it 86. I think it's better than that, but the acid is a little sharp for my taste. Still, crazy to be getting a halfway decent PN from this area for 12 bucks!

 

[jswordy]

Bad news from my doc. He says I have a bad case of that familiar. It causes tremendous thirst. There is no known cure, especially when it is 73 degrees on the deck and after a day of picking up winter windfall branches and blueberry bush trimmings. Got two 16-foot trailer loads. Pain is very hurtful, you know.

 

[winemaker81]

Bad news from my doc. He says I have a bad case of that familiar. It causes tremendous thirst. There is no known cure, especially when it is 73 degrees on the deck and after a day of picking up winter windfall branches and blueberry bush trimmings. Got two 16-foot trailer loads. Pain is very hurtful, you know.

True, it's not curable. All you can do is treat the symptoms and suffer through it. I wish you the perseverance to deal with your malady.

 

[winemaker81]

I'm on a roll recording my tasting notes, so I figured I'd do another. In 2021 the grape delivery date kept changing, and the final date coincided with my younger son's wedding ... so I punted and purchased FWK to fill the barrels. This one is a triple batch of Forte Super Tuscan that was fermented with Scottzyme Color Pro maceration enzyme, since I had purchased it before the grape buy was scotched.

I poured 2 glasses, the second using a duck aerator.​

​

Unaerated: The color is pure ink. I used Scottzyme Color Pro maceration enzyme, and it works fine on skin packs. This one has a lot of berry fruit up front -- some might even think it sweet, although it's bone dry. There's tannin on the middle of the tongue in the finish. There's a bit of harshness in the aftertaste I cannot place.​

​

Aerated: The fruit is just as prominent, but it's different -- I'd say black raspberry that fades into a strawberry. As I noted with the Meritage Plus tasting, the fruit is more distinctive with aeration. Tannin is a hint in the aftertaste, a seasoning, not a flavoring. There's a hint of an acid bite that never materializes; it's tantalizing.​

​

This is more than I'd expect from a kit, but I used Color Pro and fermentation oak (both of which enhance color and body), and barrel aged for 9 months, so it's not a typical kit.​

 

[Hazelemere]

Last night I opened the last bottle of my 2019 Zinfandel, which was my first wine from grapes in 20 years. It came in at 15.6% ABV. Since it's the last bottle, I recorded my notes.

Opened the final bottle tonight. As has been my habit, I poured 2 glasses, unaerated and aerated with a duck aerator.​

​

Unaerated: This has strong Zin fruit in the taste, but there is an undercurrent of tannin that is a bit harsh. Unfortunately the aftertaste fades into a bit of harsh oak, and I can taste the alcohol.​

​

Aerated: Taste is more balanced than the unaerated — The fruitiness is lighter and the tannin lost its harshness as the aeration softened it. Oak is prominent in the aftertaste, but it’s not harsh. Unfortunately, the high ABV stands out as unbalancing. It’s far better than it was, but still unbalancing.​

​

When I made this one, I had not used fresh grapes in 20 years. In hindsight, I pressed way too early. If I had waited another 2 days, the wine would have been heavier and would have been more balanced. Also in hindsight, I should have watered back 5% with acidulated water, which would have reduced the ABV to about 14.8%. That would have made a huge difference.​

​

At the same time, this also explains why the 2019 second run blend was so good — there was a LOT of goodness left in the pomace. This made a great second run, but at the expense of the first run.​

It was started on 10/19/2019, and my previous tasting notes from 08/21/2020 (date bottled), 05/19/2021, and 06/13/2022 were more optimistic. While I'd not say this one was declining, it was probably at its peak, so I don't feel bad about the batch being gone.


View attachment 110496

It is always educational to get detailed comments from seasoned winemakers like winemaker 81.

 

[winemaker81]

It is always educational to get detailed comments from seasoned winemakers like winemaker 81.

Thanks! I read all your tasting notes, as you pick out things I might not notice if I was tasting.

Periodically folks will say, "I don't have an educated palate". Like with everything else, education takes effort. That's among the reasons I often recommend recording tasting notes while making wine. It's a free education, and it's fun!

Many moons ago my roommates and I would open a few bottles and score them using the AWS scale. We'd seriously think about what we were drinking, and not just a few people thought we were weird. I can't say we weren't, but we did differ from the "let's drink a lot of cheap beer and get trashed" crowd. When you're in your mid-20's and drinking good quality because you like it (not to be cool), it is different from the norm.

To be honest, we'd finish all the bottles we opened so we ended up well lit on a regular basis. But we educated our palates.

 

[Hazelemere]

Carol's Red 2022 - 2023

This is my wife's house red wine. A combo of resurrected Sheridan Syrah, Blackberries, Elderberries, Wild and domestic pitted cherries, Marechal Foch and Regent. Here are my tasting comments:

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - good fruity smell

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - As a house red this is fine, but right now it is slightly tangy and tannic for my wife so it needs to age in the bottle (I'm guessing 2 years) to soften so she likes it. It is rich and complex. Not outstanding but certainly decent. It was a good way to use up a damaged Sheridan Syrah (malolactic sulphide nose that gave it a burnt rubber smell which has morphed into a non-sweet caramel smell). It may be a coincidence or not that a 2nd run Chardonnay that we made from Sheridan Chardonnay grapes in boxes had a sulphur smell in this case "cabbage" odour which I suspect to be mercaptans, so we dumped it ~75 bottles. I've made 2nd run whites for years and they never smell like this. I use them alone or in apple wine blends especially with cysers to make pyments. I don't use sulphur on my grapevines when they start veraison to prevent formation of sulphides and always use nutrients having had a 500 lb drum of Sheridan Syrah go "burnt rubber nose" during malolactic fermentation with RC212 yeast and no nutrient. We've had really good Sheridan Syrah (e.g. 2011) but not recently and always buy their neighbour's reds (Dineen Vineyard) instead without a single trainwreck wine in 13 years. PS the first run Sheridan Chardonnay 2023 from juice settled from solids is fine, especially blended with my homegrown Siegerrebe/Ortega on D47, V13 and even 71B yeast. All of that chardonnay is oaked with medium toast American oak cubes.

 

[winemaker81]

It may a coincidence or not that a 2nd run Chardonnay that we made from Sheridan Chardonnay grapes in boxes had a sulphur smell in this case "cabbage" odour which I suspect to be mercaptans, so we dumped it ~75 bottles.

For future reference, if you taste mercaptan, try treating with ascorbic acid. I had that happen to a second run in 2020 -- it took 6 months for the treatment to be successful, but it worked.

 

[tullamore]

Hester Creek merlot in our Saskatoon hotel room
View attachment 110409

u may need more than 1 bottle with all that snow u guys got and the freezing temps creeping in the next day or 2!
up to -40 ouch!