WineXpert Yeast swap for SE Brunello w/Skins

[jgmann67]

Pulled the bag of skins and gave it a good squeeze. Then racked over to a clean carboy, along with a Kmeta dose, 90g of oak cubes and 2g of tannin extra riche.

The racking produced some good foamy co2. I'm short of the top of a 6 gallon (which is really like 6.4 gal) carboy, though. Ive got one of Steve's vacuum caps on it for now. But, I'll need to find a decent Sangiovese to top it up. Doubtful I'll find a good Brunello for "top up" price.

 

[ceeaton]

Pulled the bag of skins and gave it a good squeeze. Then racked over to a clean carboy, along with a Kmeta dose, 90g of oak cubes and 2g of tannin extra riche.

The racking produced some good foamy co2. I'm short of the top of a 6 gallon (which is really like 6.4 gal) carboy, though. Ive got one of Steve's vacuum caps on it for now. But, I'll need to find a decent Sangiovese to top it up. Doubtful I'll find a good Brunello for "top up" price.

I could give you one of mine if you give one of yours back in the future. Think of it as an investment on my part.

 

[jgmann67]

I could give you one of mine if you give one of yours back in the future. Think of it as an investment on my part.

Sounds like a plan!

 

[ceeaton]

Sounds like a plan!

I'll drop it off with the slurry.

 

[jgmann67]

I racked the Brunello off the oak and fine lees this weekend. Got a bit of CO2 out of it with the AIO. Tasting like an older wine. Another six months in the carboy and it'll be ready for the bottle.

 

[jgmann67]

Well, another three months passed and I needed a free carboy.

I racked and dosed the wine and left it overnight. Early the next AM, I put my 1 3/4” #9 corks in a corkador and sanitized enough bottles to get the job done. Then left to get the rest of my honey do chores for the day done.

The wine was bottled after dinner, giving the sanitized bottles time to dry and the Kmeta gases time to kill any errant bacteria in the bottles (can’t be too clean).

This has become my ritual on bottling weekends.

We kicked out a 1.5 (the holiday/family dinner bottle), 6 tasters (375’s) and 26 standard 750 green bordeaux bottles.

The bottles sat upright for a day and then got stacked on a shelf. This weekend, they’ll get capsules and labels. Then, nap time for them.

 

[Swedeman]

We kicked out a 1.5 (the holiday/family dinner bottle), 6 tasters (375’s) and 26 standard 750 green bordeaux bottles.

How much have you been topping up as these numbers corresponds to 31 bottles? Y

 

[jgmann67]

How much have you been topping up as these numbers corresponds to 31 bottles? Y

Yep 31. I do my best to lose as little wine as possible during the process.

I have 6.5 gallon Italian glass carboys and 5 gallon carboys.

With the 6.5’s I’ll sometimes I use a 750 bottle of campatible wine to top up the first time. And a 375 at the second racking. With enough of my own wines made, I can usually avoid buying commercial wines to top.

 

[jgmann67]

Correction. I only got 30.

 

[jgmann67]

Finished product. Thanks to Craig (ceeaton) for the naming idea.



The first taster was very satisfying. Soft and round with lots of potential.

 

[Dom Lausic]

Looks fantastic! Where did you get your labels from?

Also, what type of vessel did you use for primary? I noticed you had noted a couple of observations during EM, so I'm guessing it was a clear vessel?

 

[jgmann67]

Looks fantastic! Where did you get your labels from?

Also, what type of vessel did you use for primary? I noticed you had noted a couple of observations during EM, so I'm guessing it was a clear vessel?

Thank you! I use an HP color laser printer and labels from online labels.com. Simple and it generally looks good... so, I’m a happy camper.

I do my EM’s in a 7.5 gallon fermonster. Yep, clear. Makes it easy to keep track of what’s going on inside.

 

[ceeaton]

Finished product. Thanks to Craig (ceeaton) for the naming idea.

I wasn't sure that name would stick, I like it!

 

[jgmann67]

This wine is now about a year old. The EM did nice things to the Brunello. It’s a very competent Sangiovese, Chianti kind of Italian. Maybe another year till it’s prime.

We’ve plowed through most of the tasters, unfortunately.

 

[ceeaton]

I

This wine is now about a year old. The EM did nice things to the Brunello. It’s a very competent Sangiovese, Chianti kind of Italian. Maybe another year till it’s prime.

We’ve plowed through most of the tasters, unfortunately.

I think I brought one of those along. I'll have to twist @heatherd's arm to give it a try tonight if we meet up after the festival. I think that one will be a little too dry for my better half. If not, I haven't invited myself over to your place for a while, I'll have to bring one over to share (though I didn't do an EM on that one, it was started 2-22-2016).

 

[jgmann67]

I

I think I brought one of those along. I'll have to twist @heatherd's arm to give it a try tonight if we meet up after the festival. I think that one will be a little too dry for my better half. If not, I haven't invited myself over to your place for a while, I'll have to bring one over to share (though I didn't do an EM on that one, it was started 2-22-2016).

You’re always welcome, old man.

I’m bottling the meritage in July. Finally.

 

[jgmann67]

Had one of the last sample bottles of this wine last week. Tasty. Almost ready. Maybe 6 more months till prime time... fingers crossed.

 

[motherofgallons]

Had one of the last sample bottles of this wine last week. Tasty. Almost ready. Maybe 6 more months till prime time... fingers crossed.

@jgmann67 I'm about to start this kit with an 8 week EM and BM4x4. How is it coming along? I'm interested in tasting notes if you have some nice detailed ones. Any tips otherwise for this kit?

 

[jgmann67]

@jgmann67 I'm about to start this kit with an 8 week EM and BM4x4. How is it coming along? I'm interested in tasting notes if you have some nice detailed ones. Any tips otherwise for this kit?

The wine came out very well. I dip into it every once in a while, trying to make it last. It’s got a bright and fruity taste with just a touch of graphite, medium bodied, dark, black cherry coloring. Really a charming wine.

It’s hard to know when it will hit prime time. It drinks very well now. But, I’d bet another year.

Looking back at the mods I did to this wine, I wouldn’t do a single thing differently.

* tannin in the primary.
* yeast swap from the E1118 to BM4x4.
* EM.
* no sorbate or clarifiers.
* added oak (90g instead of 60) and tannin (Tannin Riche Extra) in the finish.

Maybe I’d have left this in the carboy to bulk age another 6 months. But that would have been to keep my grubby mits off of the wine before it was time.