White questions

[Jared77]

Hello,

New to the forum (but have been reading everything I can) and new to wine making.

So figured I'd start out with the World Vineyard Australian Chardonnay. It's a 1 gallon kit so trying to start out on the right foot.

Im after a quality 1 gallon kit so I can end with a respectable wine to help get support for this new hobby. Plus my wife likes her whites to be smooth creamy, buttery, and oaky and it seemed to be the best fit I can find in that size.

I'm open to suggestions for other kits that size that fit the creamy/oaky/buttery white criteria since I haven't ordered it yet.

Anyway I was also wondering about bulk aging a white in a carboy. I've read all about people aging reds and fruit wines so I figure the same year to 18 months would apply before considering bottling?

I know whites mature faster than reds so wasn't sure a time frame on bulk aging a white. I have the room in my basement where it's nice and cool to age them and being a father of 3 kids with the oldest in elementary school I've got plenty to keep me busy errrrr patient while the wine ages.

I appreciate your help on this and will be sure to keep you informed of my progress with this.

 

[mainshipfred]

Welcome to the forum. I don't know much about white wine kits but I don't think there is a quality one gallon kit. I would do a 6 gallon and if you follow the instruction and the forum recommendations you WILL get support from your wife.

 

[dralarms]

I don’t do kits. But welcome to winemakingtalk

 

[salcoco]

sorry to say this but if you want buttery oaky in a white you will need to use fresh juice or grapes. to achieve the buttery taste the wine will have to go through malolactic fermentation after the yeast fermentation. this is not recommended in a kit but with fresh juice or grapes.

 

[sour_grapes]

What Sal says is true. However, the WE Selection Luna Bianca kit will be in the ballpark of what your wife wants. It has lots of oak (and the concomitant vanilla notes) and lots of tropical fruit notes. Not super buttery, but I think "creamy" is an apt description. It is a 6-gallon kit, but it is not that expensive ($78 at Label Peelers).

 

[Jared77]

Good to know about the malolactic fermentation.

I'll look into the kits thank you for the suggestions.

What about bulk aging a white in a carboy? There a recommended time? 6 months, a year or longer?

 

[GaDawg]

I’ll second the WE Luna Blanca kit. We like it enough to make 2nd kit!

 

[sour_grapes]

What about bulk aging a white in a carboy? There a recommended time? 6 months, a year or longer?

In that ballpark. I bottled mine 8 mos. after starting it. I left it on the fine lees (i.e., aged sur lie) for about 5 mos., as a "substitute" for MLF. This is said to promote creamy mouthfeel by allowing the yeast to break down and provide some so-called mannoproteins. (D47 is a recommended yeast for this.)

Also, this kit is meant to be off-dry, and so comes with an f-pack to sweeten at the end. I chose to add about 3/4 of that to primary (and hence fermented it), and only sweetened it a bit with the remaining 1/4 f-pack.

My notes:

Used D47 yeast. Added ~3/4 of f-pack to primary. SG before adding was 1.102, and after adding was 1.104. Kit came with 120 g (!) of oak powder. I skipped bentonite in primary. Performed battonage at ~6 weeks intervals through winter. Finally racked off fine lees on 2/21/16; added chitosan at that time. On 3/5/2016 (after clearing), added k-sorbate and 1/4 tsp k-meta, and added ~8 oz of f-pack. This raised SG from 0.992 to 0.995. Racked off sediment and added 1/4 tsp k-meta on 5/10/2016 in prep for bottling. Bottled 5/11/2016. Very nice at bottling!