Ironstone Merlot 2013
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David Rocco's Dolce Vita Chianti 2013
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Growers Honeycrisp Apple Cider
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Ernest Dry Cider
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Pérez Cruz Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
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Château La Croix de Queynac 2013
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Thornbury Cider
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Brickworks Ciderhouse Queen Street 501
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Pommies Cider
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Osborne Solaz Tempranillo Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
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RJ Spagnols - La Batalla RQ 2016
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Inside the box ($140 CDN):
About the Wine:Spainish Tempranillo, Grenache & Cabernet Sauvignon "This ruby-colored blend of Spainish Tempranillo, Grenache & Cabernet Sauvignon reflects the brightly colored red wines enjoyed throughout this cheerful festival. Rich on the nose and palate, it features black currant, raspberry, sweet spices and dried fruit." From the RJ Spagnols RQ2016 Handout |
Pitch Date: April 16, 2016 |
Changes made:
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48 hours post pitch |
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Day 7
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Day 14 - April 30, 2016 |
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Bulk Aging Timeline4 Months - Aug 15, 2016 - Add 1/4 tsp potassium metabisulfite to 5 gallon carboy. 8 Months - Dec 22, 2016 - Add 1/4 tsp potassium metabisulfite & bottled. Nothing added. Solid oak and tannins.
Final Gravity Reading0.994 SG |
1 Year Tasting Notes
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Coming Soon!
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Gerard Bertrand Grand Terroir Les Aspres 2011
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Sandbanks Shoreline White 2013
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Sandbanks Cabernet Franc 2014
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Farnese Sangiovese IGT 2014
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Château Saint-Roch Chimères 2013
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RJ Spagnols Winery Series Super Tuscan 2015
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Inside the box ($150 CDN):
Next time I'll ferment in a bucket with the skins/oak chips in a muslin bag. Or posibly use two carboys and combine the results into a single topped up 5 gallon (19L) carboy. |
Pitch Date: November 21, 2015
Lalvin BM 4x4 |
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Day 2 (48h post pitch) |
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Day 3 |
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Day 4 |
No further Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) present |
Day 18 |
| Added pectinase, kieselsol, chitosan into the primary fermenter. Unorthodox but the final step will be the last before a 6-9 month bulk age. |
Day 22 |
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Racked, degassed (45 mins, drill stir), kmeta added. Rack 3 gallons to bulk age (carboy topped is around 3.5). Rack 1 gallon to a jug with 6g med french cubes and 6g french light(untoasted) cubes. Commence long term bulk aging. -Taste: plum, med oak, black cherry Full body, med to med+ tannins. Quite promising. |
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Bulk Aging Timeline6 Months - Add 1/8 tsp potassium metabisulfite to 3 gallon carboy. 12 Months - Add 1/8 tsp potassium metabisulfite & bottled. Nothing added.
Final Gravity Reading0.993 SG
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15 Month Tasting Notes
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Château Godard Bellevue 2011
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Farnese Fantini Negroamaro 2013
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Di Majo Norante Sangiovese 2013
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Wayne Gretzky No. 99 Baco Noir 2014
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Winexpert Lodi Old Vines Zinfandel 2015
I'll be reviewing and comparing three different Lalvin yeasts using this kit. The goal is to compare the taste and aromatic differences between Lalvin BM 4x4 vs RC-212 vs EC-1118. Fermentation Temperature: 70F
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Inside the box ($140 CDN):
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Pitch Date: October 24, 2015
Lalvin BM 4x4 |
Lalvin RC-212 |
Lalvin EC-1118 |
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Day 2 |
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Day 3 |
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- | - |
Day 4 |
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Day 8
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Aroma:
Flavours:
Notes:
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Aroma:
Notes:
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Aroma:
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Day 14
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Day 21 |
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oak the leftover gallon with 10g medium french oak cubes
This was racked off the oak after 3 weeks into a fresh 3g carboy for the rest of the bulk age. (Should have left them in) |
combine leftover rc-212 with the ec-1118.
French Oak Cubes (rate 10g/gallon): 2 grams light3 grams medium 5 grams heavy |
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Tasting Notes for the un-oaked bottles 1 month after bottling |
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| This yeast certainly takes over and imposes it's own flabour profile. Currently overwhelming and I wouldn't use it again. |
Preferred the rc-212 & ec-1118 blend |
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Bulk Aging Timeline4 Months - Feb 24, 2016 - Add 1/8 tsp kmeta to 3 gallon carboy. 7 Months - May 24, 2016 - Add 1/8 tsp kmeta to 3 gallon carboy. 8 Months - June 24, 2016 - Bottled and added 1/8 tsp kmeta. (needed the carboy, should have really bottled at last addition) 12 Months - Oct 24, 2016 - Drink. Tasting Notes from the BM4x4: -Taste: berry, cherry, concentrate juice Personal Rating: 2/5 |
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Château de Lisennes Cuvée Tradition 2010
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Beronia Tempranillo Rioja 2012
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Ciao Sangiovese
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Pelee Island Pinot Grigio 2012
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Hermanos Lurton Tempranillo 2012
Update: 6 Months Later (2016-03): Taste: cassis, black tea, plum Smell: mulberry, blackberry, blueberry, cedar, tobacco
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Copper Moon Riesling
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LeRoisier Reserve Merlot
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Muriel Reserva Vendimia Seleccionada 2008
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Winexpert World Vineyard Washington Riesling 2015
Since my first kit of RJ Spagnols Aglianico 2015 tastes very good at 2 months (should be excellent with age), I figure it's time to start on a white wine. I've chosen an off-dry Riesling with juice coming from Washington, USA. Of course I'll be tweaking the kit. It's what I do (or can't not do)
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Inside the box ($75 CDN):
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This will be a split batch to try two different yeasts. One fermenter will receive Lalvin ICV D-47 and the other Lalvin QA23. Each will receive a 1/2 tsp dose of Wyeast yeast nutrient blend on day 1 and a 1/2 tsp dose on day 3. I will try and ferment these around 65F. Since there is an F-Pack (this wine is off-dry) I cannot skip the potassium sorbate addition as I do with wine that is fermented dry.
Pitch Date: August 15, 2015
Lalvin ICV D-47 |
Lalvin QA23 |
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Day 11 |
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Week 2 |
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Week 3 |
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Bottled on Week 7
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Tasting Notes
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The aroma on this version is much better than the flavours. While it has a medium body the finish was a touch warm even though ferm temps stayed below 70. Try for 65F or less next time. I perfer the wine D47 made. Taste: mild peach, mild orange Food: pork cutlets, shrimp Sweetness: dry to off-dry What I'd pay per bottle: $8 |
Oak Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon
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Trius Rosé 2012
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Magnotta Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
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Frescobaldi Castiglioni Chianti 2011
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Megalomaniac Homegrown Riesling VQA 2013
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RJ Spagnols Aglianico 2015
We're all about good wine for a great price here, so what better way is there to get the price of wine down than to make your own? I visited my local brew-your-own wine shop and chose one of their premium boxed kits.
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Inside the box ($140 CDN):
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What makes this kit a premium kit besides the price? The fact that you get more grape juice and therefore need to add less water to reach your target volume. There are other factors such as varietal, grape skins, oak chips etc... but I believe the type of concentrate plays a big factor. You'll need some equiptment listed in the instructions but it's fairly inexpensive and lasts decades if treated properly. If you're not looking to put in the elbow grease, the brew-it-yourself shops can do it for you (for a small fee) and then you come back in about 2 months to bottle it up and take it home.
As a 3rd year beer homebrewer (all-grain) I figure that the manufacturer of this kit wants to make it easy for the masses to produce palatable wine, but since I can never leave well enough alone, I've made the following (warranty breaking) tweaks to my kit:
Alteration #1: Replace the provided yeast with one that's designed only for red wines (Lalvin RC-212 Bourgovin) and instead of sprinkling the yeast on the must (grape juice) I re-hydrated it in 95F water for 15 minutes. This allows the yeast to wake up in a mild environment and not be shocked by diving into sugary juice while dry and thereby killing off a percentage of cells. Substituting yeast is a huge change and can really make or break your wine. Yeast plays a huge factor in fermentation and thus your end result. Extra 3/4 tsp nutrient added on day 3.
Alteration #2: You're supposed to add water so your kit reaches 6 US gallons (23L). I added less, so the kit is now 5.5 US gallons (20.8L). This will make a stronger and fuller overall wine. My specific gravity (SG) reading: 1.097
Alteration #3: When I pitched the yeast, I also added 3/4 tsp of Wyeast Nutrient Blend. This yeast is a bit weaker than the monster that is EC-1118 so this should help it out. The airlock was ripping in under 20 hours so I'm pleased with the minimal lag time.
Alteration #4: The kit says to ferment the wine in primary for 2 weeks. I'm probably going to sample it at 3 and likely leave it for 4. I like oak and tannins. These will both fade with age so a little more is better at this stage.
Alteration #5: There's a good chance I'll bulk condition this wine in secondary for more than the recommended 1 month. Target 4 months.
Pro-Tip: Manage your fermentation temperature based on the advice of the yeast strain's manufacturer. The yeast I used has a range of 68F-86F. Ambient temperature: 67F. Wine temperature: 74F on day 2 (high krausen for homebrewers). Fermentation being an exothermic process raised the temperature +7F. The temperature will calm down around day 4 so you may need to keep the carboy in a warmer area of the house.
This is what you'll end up with 1 day after assembly:
Pitch Date: June 7, 2015
3 Days Old:
- Add 3/4 tsp yeast nutrient (added to boiled water first).
1 Month Old:
- OG 1.097 -> 0.998 SG.
- Tastes very rich.
- Glad I used the RC-212, diluted less and left it on the oak and skins an extra two weeks.
- Rack wine to brew kettle.
- Add potassium sulphite (skip potassium sorbate)
- Degas it with a whip (this took almost 40 minutes with a drill mounted whip. Had to use a fast drill to get the co2 to foam out)
- Mix in clearing agents
- Rack to smaller 5 US Gal (19L) carboy [remember this kit is supposed to make 6 US Gal, but I made 5.5 and you lose wine to yeast, skins and oak].
- Top off to neck of carboy with similar wine (I used a whole 750mL bottle)
2 Months Old:
- SG 0.998 -> 0.996 FG. 13.2% ABV
- Colour: Deep rich purple. No legs
- Aroma: Cherry (youngish), bluberry, mild oak/vanilla
- Taste: Extra dry. Aroma better than taste. Full bodied. Very mild heat. Good lingering grippy tannins. Mildly tangy finish.
- Very good potential. Interested in how it ages. Wouldn't guess it was homemade.
- An extra oz of 50/50 medium/heavy oak cubes in secondary wouldn't be a bad thing.
- No detectable co2 in suspension (degassing successful)
2.5 Months Old:
- Begin cold stabilization for 2 weeks in fridge
3 Months Old:
- Add 1/4 tsp dissolved potassium meta
- Rack to bottling bucket
- Test for residual co2 and degas if needed
- Bottle
6 Months Old:
- First taste test
Thoughts & Notes for next time:
- Primary for 2 weeks (instead for 4 to help avoid any excess grape skin breakdown)
- Chips in primary are important for reds.
- Oak for 2-3 months in topped secondary if needed. Suspend a weighted mesh bag of cubes.
- Skip fining agents for reds and just cold stabilize for 2 weeks.
- Chips release their oak essense in 4-5 days fully by 7. Add 1oz per week, stir and taste.
- Cubes are better for bulk aging. Remember this is the second oak addition start slow (1-2oz per 6gal)
- I would make this to a full 6Gal (23L) next time or 5.75gal depending on must.
- Nutrients on Day 2 (1 tsp - full dose) and day 4 (3/4 tsp)
Angels Gate Merlot VQA
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