WineXpert WineXpert Selection Estate 3 CONTINENTS MERITAGE

[AquaCom]

Purely by accident I came across details about WineXpert releases a Ltd Edition red and white wine this year. I quite often buy the "normal" Ltd kits, but this one really caught my eye.

Selection Estate Small Lot Series
3 CONTINENTS MERITAGE


I have ordered one up (a red) but as I am in the UK it is not here yet. I wondered if anyone in the US or Canada has ordered or recieved one yet, as I gather they are in short supply?

On paper, it looks a good wine. Here are the details (the red) for those that haven't heard of this kit yet....

Winexpert’s 3 Continents Meritage combines Petit Verdot from Australia, Cabernet
Sauvignon from California and Merlot from Chile to make a unique, globe-spanning vision
of the quality a wine of the best varieties can truly possess.
The 3 Continents Meritage will only be available in small quantities for a limited time, so
don’t miss this rare opportunity to stock your cellar with this fabulous wine.
Aromas of bright black cherries and blackcurrant with soft notes of licorice, hints of
cedar and herbs accented by a touch of mocha and vanilla complement rich flavours of
chocolate dipped black fruit and notes of sweet oak. Structured, ripe tannins are followed
by a long, fruit-driven finish.
Harvest Conditions: Brix 23.2, pH 3.5, TA 5.5 g/l
Similar Styles: Selection Estate Series Napa Valley Stag’s Leap District Merlot,
Selection Estate Series Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Food Pairings: Delicious with a hearty meal--grilled steak, pot roast or even a juicy
cheeseburger.
Sweetness Code: 0 (completely dry)
Alcohol by Volume: 13.5%
Oak: Heavy, 60g French,

 

[Ronnied]

Never heard anything about this one but it sounds yummy!!

 

[AquaCom]

Hopefully should be good! It's part of the "Estate" series, which I hear excellent reports on
Not sure if WineXpert having started shipping them in the US yet. My Ltd Edition Portugese Duoro Tinto has arrived today though, so that will keep me busy

 

[Dugger]

I believe they came out here a month or two ago but haven't heard much about them. The Estate series are usually very good so I am sure it will be. I have made 3 meritage kits but they were the RQ kits from Spagnols and are very good. Good luck with yours.

 

[diggerdan17]

Purely by accident I came across details about WineXpert releases a Ltd Edition red and white wine this year. I quite often buy the "normal" Ltd kits, but this one really caught my eye.

Selection Estate Small Lot Series
3 CONTINENTS MERITAGE


I have ordered one up (a red) but as I am in the UK it is not here yet. I wondered if anyone in the US or Canada has ordered or recieved one yet, as I gather they are in short supply?

On paper, it looks a good wine. Here are the details (the red) for those that haven't heard of this kit yet....

Winexpert’s 3 Continents Meritage combines Petit Verdot from Australia, Cabernet
Sauvignon from California and Merlot from Chile to make a unique, globe-spanning vision
of the quality a wine of the best varieties can truly possess.
The 3 Continents Meritage will only be available in small quantities for a limited time, so
don’t miss this rare opportunity to stock your cellar with this fabulous wine.
Aromas of bright black cherries and blackcurrant with soft notes of licorice, hints of
cedar and herbs accented by a touch of mocha and vanilla complement rich flavours of
chocolate dipped black fruit and notes of sweet oak. Structured, ripe tannins are followed
by a long, fruit-driven finish.
Harvest Conditions: Brix 23.2, pH 3.5, TA 5.5 g/l
Similar Styles: Selection Estate Series Napa Valley Stag’s Leap District Merlot,
Selection Estate Series Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Food Pairings: Delicious with a hearty meal--grilled steak, pot roast or even a juicy
cheeseburger.
Sweetness Code: 0 (completely dry)
Alcohol by Volume: 13.5%
Oak: Heavy, 60g French,

Thats last years description, I did make this kit and its quite nice.

Here is this years description

Varietals: 70% Spanish Valencia Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Washington Red Mountain Cabernet Franc,
5% Washington Red Mountain Petit Verdot, 5% Chilean Isla del Maipo Merlot and 5% Chilean Isla del
Maipo Carménère

Style: Three Continents Red Meritage is the New World expression of the tradition of red Bordeaux wines,
blending the gripping tannins and structure of Cabernet Sauvignon, the violets and cedar notes of Petit
Verdot, the raspberry and cassis of Cabernet Franc, the cherry and plum fleshiness of Merlot and the red
fruit spiciness of Carménère into a uniquely ripe and boldly warm wine.


Digger

 

[AquaCom]

Thanks Digger. Must have had an old link

 

[davewaz]

I'm a newb, but after playing with a few red kits, I ponder whether or not you can make a good red without the grape skins? For the same price, or cheaper you can get a cellar craft or RJS kit, with the skins and I tend to think they may be better. Perhaps someone with more experience can chime in. I just hate to see someone dump a ton of money on something when you can get something better for less.

 

[BabaPerson]

Three Continents White Meritage

I have bought and plan to make the 3 Continents White Meritage kit. It is 90% Sauvignon, and only 10% Semillon. White there are white Bordeaux that are this light on Semillon, I thought I could address this in the topping off. The only problem is there isn't much inexpensive Semillon wine around.

1. Anyone tried this kit?

2. Anyone have suggestions for a wine similar for topping off? I may just use a chardonnay.

 

[robie]

I'm a newb, but after playing with a few red kits, I ponder whether or not you can make a good red without the grape skins? For the same price, or cheaper you can get a cellar craft or RJS kit, with the skins and I tend to think they may be better. Perhaps someone with more experience can chime in. I just hate to see someone dump a ton of money on something when you can get something better for less.

Stuart,
A blend of Cab and Petit Verdot is a fairly consistent award winner. You should like this kit.

Dave,
Yes IMO, kits with grape packs/skins will turn out a little richer. That doesn't mean the non-grape pack kits won't make good, tasty wine. WE wines win lots of medals every year, in spite of the fact they don't produce kits with grape packs as much as in years past. I think now they only have one line that has a grape pack, but I'm not an expert on WE kits. Hopefully that will change in the future.

 

[Kev]

I have this one underway from this year, which sounds similar, but not exactly the same:


January - Washington Meritage -

A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petite Verdot, this wine features great extract, deep colour and intense aromatics of dark berry fruit, cassis, peppery spice, cedar and smoke. The seductive nose of this wine foreshadows magnificent texture and flavour, including dark berries, liquorice, vanilla and warm brown spices that glide across the palate. The texture and mouthfeel of the wine offers up silky tannins and a velvety smooth structure.

Alcohol % by volume: 12.5 - 13.5

Sweetness Code: 0

Sweetness: Dry | Body: Medium-Full | Oak Intensity: Heavy

 

[gonzo46307]

I have bought and plan to make the 3 Continents White Meritage kit. It is 90% Sauvignon, and only 10% Semillon. White there are white Bordeaux that are this light on Semillon, I thought I could address this in the topping off. The only problem is there isn't much inexpensive Semillon wine around.

1. Anyone tried this kit?

2. Anyone have suggestions for a wine similar for topping off? I may just use a chardonnay.

I just used a 70/30 White Bordeaux to top off. It turned out great...these were my Christmas gifts for last year.

Peace,
Bob

 

[CB750]

I picked up my Washington Meritage kit the other day, but unfortunately I am having some electrical work done in my wine making area and won't be able to start it until this weekend. Given the grape contained I am expecting a French Bordeaux style wine.

This will be my first WE Limited Edition kit and I can give you a run down of what is in the kit and instructions in addition to the usual things.

The wine has a higher starting SG for a red (1.095-1.100) The stabilization SG is .992-.996

Two packs of Lalvin Bourgovin RC 212 yeast are included for the higher starting SG.

The kit has a lots of Oak 1 pack 30g French Heavy Oak, 3 packages of 20g European Hungarian Oak, 1 Pack 30g Toasted Oak.

They throw in 30 wine labels.

The instructions seem to be specific for this years five Limited Edition kits but follow the usual 5 steps found in Wine Expert kits. They did have an expanded explanation of the degas process I had not seen before. They ask to to test a degased sample by filling a Hydrometer test jar 1/2 full of wine and to seal it and shake it vigorously and see if it releases pressure or a puff of gas. If this occurs you must degas and test again

Since others are making this same kit I will check back later as I progress on mine.

 

[robie]

The instructions seem to be specific for this years five Limited Edition kits but follow the usual 5 steps found in Wine Expert kits. They did have an expanded explanation of the degas process I had not seen before. They ask to to test a degased sample by filling a Hydrometer test jar 1/2 full of wine and to seal it and shake it vigorously and see if it releases pressure or a puff of gas. If this occurs you must degas and test again

I have written about this before. I think this instruction is way too vague.

If you fill a wine bottle half full of plain water, put your thumb over the bottle opening, and shack it up really well, you get two things-
1) Bubbles, sometimes lots of them.
2) A small poof when you release your thumb or finger from the bottle opening.

Plain water doesn't really need degassed, but based on their instructions, it does.

What one needs to do, IMO, is to try this with water to see the size of the bubbles (air bubbles) and the amount of "poof" one gets.

Then, do the same with your wine in place of the water. If your wine contains CO2, the bubbles will be much smaller, like the bubbles in a coke, and the poof should be much larger.

If you try this with fully degassed wine, as with water, you will still get air bubbles and a small poof. You will never get rid of these!!!

The key is to understand the difference and not overdo it and possibly ruin your wine.

I really believe "they" could do a much better job at writing their instructions. I find many different kits from several different kit manufacturers are really lacking in the clarity and completeness of their instructions.

Now, somebody help me down off my soapbox...

 

[CB750]

I have written about this before. I think this instruction is way too vague.

The key is to understand the difference and not overdo it and possibly ruin your wine.

I really believe "they" could do a much better job at writing their instructions. I find many different kits from several different kit manufacturers are really lacking in the clarity and completeness of their instructions.

...

I agree with you, the WE instructions I quoted are vague and a lot more complicated than they need to be. What I do to test the wine after I degas is to just put a cork in the carboy and shake it up a bit if I get a lot of pressure build up and CO2 coming to the top then I degas more and retest.

The important thing to remember is any degas even if it is not complete is better than no degas at all. But if you are using a drill motor device it's important to keep the blades down in the of the carboy. If you have it too close to the surface it will whip Oxygen into the wine which is undesirable.

Also different kits tend to treat the degas process differently.

I noticed that in a RJ Spangnols kit I made they instructed you to degas multiple times (stir vigorously with a spoon or drill motor) after each chemical addition in Stabilizing phase for between 1 and 5 minutes five different times) The WE kits recommend two sessions of 2 and 5 minutes.