when good wines gone bad

[Stressbaby]

Joe,

Great thread...I'm only 3/4 of the way through it. Two questions regarding your wine toolkit...

First question has to do with extracts. Have you made an everclear/vodka extract using bananas? If so, could you tell about it?

Second question has to do with adding things to the secondary...and it may be too far outside the box. Have you ever tried adding aroma by adding flowers in the secondary? I have some Plumeria wine going and was thinking of a "floral f-pac" if you will. I also have a lot of jasmine and thought it might add an interesting note to the Plumeria or other wine to add a few jasmine flowers to the secondary. Thoughts?

 

[joeswine]

Stress baby

FIRST ,THANKS FOR READING THE THREAD, flowers for aroma, not only for aroma but add excellent taste, the experience with this that I had was, once I made CHARDONNAY to that I added DRIED ELDER BERRY FLOWERS, what a wonderful aroma and taste very classical,bouquet the Chardonnay was fruit forward style with just some powdered tannins and nothing more.

SECOND, never tried bananas I would think they would not do well do to the vast amount of oil s they have, but that's not to say you can't try, buying a good banana extract would be faster and a better finish ,I would think, I just finished my first ALMOND WINE,using a almond extract and a two year old Chardonnay ,it is excellent blend of wine and almond flavor ,Good desert wine ,I do believe..

KEEP reading and asking+ I love the interaction, yours,JP

 

[joeswine]

Party kits

These are a blast to put together not only are they fun they taste great at least that's what others think not exactly my style but I enjoy seeing the faces when they taste then ,and they keep coming back for more when I'm mean then I mean my wife and her lady friends ,this is a good example of how chemistry and wine go together follow a process one more time ,Thursday were going to put a different one up. P

 

[chrisjw]

Great thread. Just finished reading every post (but only once ). Wish I found it a few months ago, before making my last few reds.

Just some comments on some other's posting concerning extracts. If one is going to make an extract then it should be from a relatively dry source such as coffee beans, vanilla bean, ground coffee, dried fruit, zest. You can get a good extract from banana chips if they are flavorful enough but not all banana chips have lots of flavor). Making an extract using everclear on fresh fruit that has lots of water, just isn't an extract IMO, but it may make a really good flavored vodka (yum ).

I have a question on adding raisins to the secondary. I have not tried this because some people claim that this introduces oxidized flavor (from the raisins) that may be good for young wines but that the oxidized flavor will be very noticeable after a year or two. So I am wondering if this procedure is recommended only for low to midrange kits that one should drink in the first year? Would you ever add raisins to a secondary on a kit that you intended to age for 2+ years? or for that matter, would you ever add raisins to a higher end kit that already has a grape pack? Thanks much Joe.

 

[LoneStarLori]

Just yesterday morning I started my first kit. A WE Eclipse Mezza Luna. Then I saw your creation earlier in the thread last night and am completely intrigued. The thought of making wine from a kit with no input from me is like making a cake out of box and claiming you made it.
I am going to try this but have a few questions. I am VERY new to this so bear with me. (It all started with some Mustang grapes on my fence of the house we bought last year, but that's a whole other story). I will add white raisins and I have some tannin from Midwest supplies that simply says 'wine tannin". Will this be sufficient? Also you mention putting the cloth on top, which I did, but am I not to put an airlock top on it or stir it at all as the instructions say?
Another thought I had, someone on a later post mentioned adding Plumeria flowers. Since my Plumerias are in full bloom, that sounds like a great idea. Should I dry them first and is it ok to add them with the raisins? And lastly, should I add the F pack and when.
Any help gladly accepted.

EDIT: scratch that Plumeria idea. I just read they are slightly poisonous and can irritate the digestive tract.

 

[Stressbaby]

Lori,

Jack Keller has a recipe for plumeria wine. I've made two batches now. It is wonderful. I freeze the flowers until ready for use.

 

[RCGoodin]

Never tasted/tried Amarone, so this may be my next juice pail in the fall.

I just bottled my first Amarone (kit from Amazon), and my wife and I agree it's perfect. I carboy aged it for 8 months. I think it may be the best I've done. I ordered an Eclipse kit with grape pack (the high end stuff). I'm already confident that it will be the best I've made.

I've also been reading about a Tempranillo. I bought a bottle at Costco last week. It was a 2004 for $20. It was over the top. I want to try and create it with a more reasonably priced kit.

I gotta keep on bewing, there's no stopping me.

 

[joeswine]

RCGoodin

leave some of the amarone for later it will get better what did you like best about it?

 

[joeswine]

Tempanello

THIS is and everyday Argentinian wine some what similar to a Spanish Rojo,nice wine to let age a short time only or drink young, good choice made this many a time from fresh juice...

 

[RCGoodin]

Hi Joe,

I liked it all. The smell told me right away that this was a big red. The mouth feel on the first sip was smooth and delightful. I don't recall the tastes but it matched my palette perfectly. The swirl and finish reminded me of my favorite Zinfandel. The after taste made me want another sip. It doesn't get any better than that for me.

 

[LoneStarLori]

Lori,

Jack Keller has a recipe for plumeria wine. I've made two batches now. It is wonderful. I freeze the flowers until ready for use.

So it won't kill me? I'd love to add the flowers to my batch. I guess I'll start plucking and freezing. Thanks for the reassurance.

 

[joeswine]

Floral wines

ONE OF MY FAVORITE WINES IN THE WHITE FAMILY WAS A SAUVIGNON BLANC WITH ELDERBERRY FLOWERS THE AROMA AND FRAGRANCE WAS OUTSTANDING AND THE TASTE WAS SPOT ON.THE EARTHNESS OF THE ELDEBERRY FLOWERS COMBINED WITH THE EARTH TONES OF THE SAUVIGNON,WAS A KEY MATCH UP..

 

[Stressbaby]

So it won't kill me? I'd love to add the flowers to my batch. I guess I'll start plucking and freezing. Thanks for the reassurance.

No you will be fine. I do recommend that you snip off the green at the base of the flower. As you know, it has a bit of latex.

I have used 80-110 flowers/gallon in the primary depending on the plant (as you know, some are more fragrant than others). I have never added them in the secondary before, but this last batch might be a bit light on aroma, so I'm considering adding some flowers to this batch in the secondary.

They will eventually brown in the freezer. If you can add them fresh, I would consider doing that. The brown flowers aren't a problem except it can adversely affect the color.

 

[LoneStarLori]

I live in south Texas so our growing season is pretty long. I think the plants I have now will keep blooming for a while. Hopefully by the time it goes into the secondary I should have enough blooms. I think I may try drying the flowers. That tends to boost the aroma and maybe keep them from getting too brown. I'll have to test that in the next few days.

 

[Stressbaby]

Lori,
Pls post some pictures.
Here is the thread I started with the recipe I used.

Joe,
I tried the gelatin filtering on coconut. I used 1 13.5oz can coconut milk, 1/2c water, 2-3oz shredded dried sweetened coconut, 14g (2 7g packs) of gelatin. I mixed the coconut water and water together, split in two; sprinkled the gelatin on top of one half, then heated the other have to a boil with the dried coconut. I added the hot half to the gelatin/cold half and mixed it. Then I froze it in a ziplock. Then next day I broke up the chunks of ice and put the chunks in a strainer covered with cheesecloth and let it thaw.

I'm calling this a partial success. I ended up 2T of what looked like crystal clear water, but what tasted like coconut extract. The color and flavor would have been perfect for tweaks to my lemongrass wine, but I just didn't get enough. The "jello" didn't give up enough fluid when it thawed, and I believe that is because I used too much gelatin. I will retry this weekend with half the gelatin and twice the coconut. If it works, I will post pics.

 

[joeswine]

Coconut extract

It would seem to me a lot easier to get a 16 ounce bottle MacCormick's coconut extract and see how that taste there pretty good with their abstracts they really are and for what you're going through and I understand the process by the way I had posted that online a while back it seems to me that it could be a lot more effortless by just experimenting with the extracted self sometimes the easy way is the best way .

 

[Stressbaby]

It would seem to me a lot easier to get a 16 ounce bottle MacCormick's coconut extract and see how that taste there pretty good with their abstracts they really are and for what you're going through and I understand the process by the way I had posted that online a while back it seems to me that it could be a lot more effortless by just experimenting with the extracted self sometimes the easy way is the best way .

There are a couple of reasons, Joe.

First, the coconut extract I found was "imitation" coconut extract and I was trying to use something that wasn't "imitation."

Second, this was just as much about learning the technique, so that it could be applied to compounds for which a store-bought extract was not available...another tool in the toolbox so to speak.

 

[LoneStarLori]

Lori,
Pls post some pictures.
Here is the thread I started with the recipe I used.

Joe,
I tried the gelatin filtering on coconut. I used 1 13.5oz can coconut milk, 1/2c water, 2-3oz shredded dried sweetened coconut, 14g (2 7g packs) of gelatin. I mixed the coconut water and water together, split in two; sprinkled the gelatin on top of one half, then heated the other have to a boil with the dried coconut. I added the hot half to the gelatin/cold half and mixed it. Then I froze it in a ziplock. Then next day I broke up the chunks of ice and put the chunks in a strainer covered with cheesecloth and let it thaw.

I'm calling this a partial success. I ended up 2T of what looked like crystal clear water, but what tasted like coconut extract. The color and flavor would have been perfect for tweaks to my lemongrass wine, but I just didn't get enough. The "jello" didn't give up enough fluid when it thawed, and I believe that is because I used too much gelatin. I will retry this weekend with half the gelatin and twice the coconut. If it works, I will post pics.

Thanks for the link. I tried to find it on Jacks website and couldn't.
My plants are a little light on blooms this year since we are under a big drought. But I think I might be able to save enough to get some wine going. I think I'll vac seal them as I collect for a full batch of wine. I am also going to throw a handful into the batch of Mezza Luna White I have when I move it to the secondary.
These are a couple of my plants. I have 4 total. 3 in pots and one in the ground. I wish I had some yellow ones but these are all white because the stems came from the same mother plant over the last 10 years.

 

[joeswine]

Coconut extra

I'll tell you what I'll do I will place some coconut extract imitation in with a good base wine, and then I will make a coconut extract out of coconut nut ,the way I would normally do for my base. I'm going to use a Riesling base , when they are completed I will send them to you okay, stress baby.and I agree with you it is always good to have something in your toolbox ,always.................... Respectfully yours JP.

 

[joeswine]

Winexpert -selection kit amarone

WINEXPERT IS GOING TO SPONCER US TO PROCESS AND COMPLETE THEIR TOP OF THE LINE AMAROME KIT ON THIS FORUM,THIS ALL CAME ABOUT WITH THE ADVENT OF THE SANGIOVESE KIT PROCESS THAT WAS POST HERE,REMEMBER?,THEY LIKED THE FORMAT AND TIM VANDERGRIFT GAVE HIS BLESSING AND CORK AND BARREL GOT THE CALL THEY CALLED ME AND WE ARE READY TO ROLL WITH THIS PROJECT,SO STAY TOON FOR A TOP OF THE LINE WINE KIT WITH A TWIST.

WINEXPERTS SELECTION AMARONE