WineXpert White Merlot wine kit

[TreyH]

Hi everyone...

I don't know what happened, but I just got bit by the wine making bug.

A little background, I hope I don't bore you...

I've never been inclined to do anything like this before, but I'm going to give it a whirl. What has really got me interested is I found several large Muscadine vines on my property and have been able to harvest 10lbs or so. I was deciding what to do with them and trying to make them into wine seems like a great idea. Fun, challenging, and ultimately rewarding... (and to be honest, I really don't even like wine all that much, but my wife does!)

Anyway, I cleaned the Muscadines and they are now sitting in my freezer. Yea, I watched a couple of youtube videos and this was suggested as a first step. They said freezing them will help break down the cell structure and will make for easier processing. The more I read about how to make this particular wine, the more confused I've become.

So, what I decided to do is get a "kit" to help me better understand the process and get me past the learning curve...

I settled on the Winexpert White Merlot based on my wife's taste... don't know if this is a good decision or not, but it's part of the learning experience.

Anyway, I've been reading a bit about this kit and have a quick question about the F pack. Should I put this in before I begin the fermentation? It seems the wine is going to be very sweet and more wine cooler like than I would like. So if I add the F pack in the beginning, will it help raise the alcohol level and make it less sweet and more like a real wine?

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

 

[Runningwolf]

Trey welcome to our forum. I am currently making this myself. I only added half the fpack up front so I will have flavor to add on the back half. I tasted another members and liked it so much i decided to make it. He followed the instructions all the way through I believe other then adding an oak spiral to it during the secondary fermentation.

 

[cpfan]

I settled on the Winexpert White Merlot based on my wife's taste... don't know if this is a good decision or not, but it's part of the learning experience.

Anyway, I've been reading a bit about this kit and have a quick question about the F pack. Should I put this in before I begin the fermentation? It seems the wine is going to be very sweet and more wine cooler like than I would like. So if I add the F pack in the beginning, will it help raise the alcohol level and make it less sweet and more like a real wine?

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Trey:

I see two White Merlots on the WE web site.

1. Selection White Merlot - probably has an F-pack, but I'm not certain from the description. The F-pack will NOT make this into a cooler type wine. If this is the type of wine that your wife likes, then you probably want to follow the instructions. This is a true White Merlot (ie Blush Merlot) wine.

2. Island Mist Strawberry White Merlot - DEFINITELY a cooler type wine. In which case your comments make much more sense. Please don't call this kit a White Merlot. It is basically a Strawberry Cooler-like wine, that happens to be made on a White Merlot base. It will taste nothing like a true White Merlot.

So which kit do you have?

Steve

 

[TreyH]

Trey:

I see two White Merlots on the WE web site.

1. Selection White Merlot - probably has an F-pack, but I'm not certain from the description. The F-pack will NOT make this into a cooler type wine. If this is the type of wine that your wife likes, then you probably want to follow the instructions. This is a true White Merlot (ie Blush Merlot) wine.

2. Island Mist Strawberry White Merlot - DEFINITELY a cooler type wine. In which case your comments make much more sense. Please don't call this kit a White Merlot. It is basically a Strawberry Cooler-like wine, that happens to be made on a White Merlot base. It will taste nothing like a true White Merlot.

So which kit do you have?

Steve

Sorry, I guess I should have been more specific.

I have #1 the Selection White Merlot.

I'm starting to think I should just make it per the instructions, but would like input if there is something I should/could do to make it better. I just personally don't like really sweet wine, and that's the impression I'm getting from reading about this particular kit.

You bring up a good point though, maybe others are referring to #2...

Runningwolf, Thanks for the warm welcome. Which kit are you making?

 

[wyntheef]

I've done the selection kit and it is semi sweet. not a dessert wine.
My preference is dry, and this is about as sweet as I can enjoy.

 

[cpfan]

Sorry, I guess I should have been more specific.

I have #1 the Selection White Merlot.

I'm starting to think I should just make it per the instructions, but would like input if there is something I should/could do to make it better. I just personally don't like really sweet wine, and that's the impression I'm getting from reading about this particular kit.

You bring up a good point though, maybe others are referring to #2...

Runningwolf, Thanks for the warm welcome. Which kit are you making?

Trey;

This kit won't be really sweet (WE calls it off-dry), especially compared to the Strawberry White Merlot. The Selection will be a 1-2 on the sweetness scale that I am used to, and the IM Strawberry will be about a 5.

When I ran a Ferment on Premises making wine for customers, many of them would request half of the F-pack be added for a kit like the Selection. Not as sweet, but stll not totally dry.

Steve

 

[millwright01]

I have made the Selection White Merlot and I followed directions to a "T". (It was my first kit) It turned out real well. I would call it off dry. Not really sweet at all IMO. We enjoyed it. I prefer something along the lines of a Chilean Merlot but I quite liked this one. We drank most of it young but I happened to keep 2 bottles stuck away for a year and it was quite good at that time as well.

 

[gonzo46307]

This is an "Off-Dry" kit, not super sweet. Compare it to a white zinfandel, it's just the blush version of a zinfandel (slightly sweeter, lighter color). Same with the white merlot...it's just the blush version of merlot.

Make it per the instructions, and it will turn out great. The only issue I had with this kit was that it didn't clear as fast as my other kits did.

Peace,
Bob

 

[Wade E]

Welcome to our site Trey and glad you found us. I am currently making a White Merlot also but from another manufacturer so cant really help you with this question but the higher end kits I can say arent usually very sweet unless it is a style in where they typically are like say an Ice wine or Port. Some of the smaller kits can sometimes be sweeter to make them drinkable earlier.

 

[TreyH]

Thanks everyone for the info/tips/help/etc.

I started the kit this weekend and everything seems to be going well so far.

I'm going to make it exactly as the instructions suggest. I'll start experimenting with future kits... I think I need a good "baseline" to start from.

My SG was 1.080 before adding the yeast. The was the lowest acceptable reading per the instructions... (should be between 1.080 and 1.100).

I was watching one particular video and the maker said these kits tend to be a little low on the alcohol and he added 2-3lbs of corn sugar to boost it a bit higher. This will probably be one of the first things I experiment with in the future, but am curious what others think or have actually done.

As I progress through making this wine kit, I will post my progress...

------------------------------------------------------------------

BTW - I started making the Muscadine wine in my opening post.

I think I'm doing this a little different than most... (maybe I'll post this in another part of this forum as well)

This really is an experiment as I kinda made up my own recipe...

I used approx 10lbs of Muscadines and 8lbs of sugar. I put the Muscadines in a large pot and brought them up to a simmer. I added the sugar and allowed it to dissolve. I used a potato masher to mash the Muscadines as best I could.

I then took this mixture and put it in a 5 gal glass carboy and filled the carboy 3/4 was full with water. I stirred this mixture well and added a package of yeast. (My SG before adding the yeast was 1.070) This is a bit low, but I'm hoping the sugar in the Muscadine skin will be enough to create the desired alcohol content)

At first all of the Muscadines settled to the bottom of the carboy and the liquid was a pale pink/purple, but after about 14 hours most have risen to the top and the liquid has turned a really dark purplish color.

I've read the Muscadines will eventually settle to the bottom, and at that point (30-45 days) I will siphon off the wine. I haven't decided exactly how I'm going to finish and bottle, but I have plenty of time to figure it out. If you have some advice, I would love to hear it.

I realize I may have not used enough Muscadines, but actually leaving them in the wine during the entire fermentation process I think will help...

Obviously I'm a real newbie, and you more experienced guys are probably laughing a bit, but I'll learn as I go. I've found for me, making mistakes and taking risks is the best way I learn.