Cigar Weekly

MalkavianX · 05-31-2006, 10:48 AM

I'm several months into a very nice Santa Ynez Syrah wine kit (mfr'd by WinExpert) and I have to say...I'm still amazed by this stuff. It's nowhere near ready yet, but it tastes great. Little bit of bite from dissolved CO2 and general youngness, but lots of potential.

What still kills me is that this stuff is BLACK. I'm used to not being able to see through a bottle of red wine, but that's half cause it's in green glass most of the time. This stuff, even in a clear plastic carboy, is totally opaque, with the barest purple-red highlights around the edges. If I didn't know ahead of time what it was, I'd be inclined to guess it was a batch of Stout or Porter.

Last night I racked it over for the second time, checked the gravity (.998 or so, right on target) , stirred the crap out of it to outgas some of the CO2, then stabilized and cleared it, then added 2 oz of steamed oak chips. A week or two on the oak and I"ll siphon it off again and either bottle it on the spot, or let it sit some more to clear further.

The Chitosan based clarifier I used is supposed to be dang near magic, I'm wondering if that'll make it any more transparent, but I have my doubts--it didn't look cloudy to me, just dark dark red.

The take on it oughta be around 25 bottles. 9 of those go to my boss, cause he hooked me up with the kit.

Can't WAIT, but it'll be worth it to let this get a good 8-12 months on it before I start knocking it back.

jazznut · 06-01-2006, 05:17 AM

Your wine probably still contains a considerable degree of skin pigment extraction at this point in time. Eventually, this will deposit itself as very fine sediment in the bottle, though the wine is likely to retain a deep hue.

I remember a batch of Carignan a friend's father made back in the mid to late 1980s. He had vinified it from grapes that had begun to shrivel from moisture depletion. The wine was as black as the night and practically as sweet as Port. Goodness knows what the alcohol content was!

It drank great for years.

MalkavianX · 06-01-2006, 05:50 AM

I dont doubt that there's a lot of suspended pigments still in there. It did surprise me though how little sediment there was on the bottom of the bucket after I had racked it off.

The clarifier I used is a combination of chitosan and kieselsol, which supposedly works very well from what I hear at work, so I'm thinking that'll do a lot to pull everything that's left outta suspension. Time will tell, that stuff works fast

05-31-2006, 10:48 AM	#1
MalkavianX Guest Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 1,987	Think I'ma' call it "Black Death" (A wine disserta I'm several months into a very nice Santa Ynez Syrah wine kit (mfr'd by WinExpert) and I have to say...I'm still amazed by this stuff. It's nowhere near ready yet, but it tastes great. Little bit of bite from dissolved CO2 and general youngness, but lots of potential. What still kills me is that this stuff is BLACK. I'm used to not being able to see through a bottle of red wine, but that's half cause it's in green glass most of the time. This stuff, even in a clear plastic carboy, is totally opaque, with the barest purple-red highlights around the edges. If I didn't know ahead of time what it was, I'd be inclined to guess it was a batch of Stout or Porter. Last night I racked it over for the second time, checked the gravity (.998 or so, right on target) , stirred the crap out of it to outgas some of the CO2, then stabilized and cleared it, then added 2 oz of steamed oak chips. A week or two on the oak and I"ll siphon it off again and either bottle it on the spot, or let it sit some more to clear further. The Chitosan based clarifier I used is supposed to be dang near magic, I'm wondering if that'll make it any more transparent, but I have my doubts--it didn't look cloudy to me, just dark dark red. The take on it oughta be around 25 bottles. 9 of those go to my boss, cause he hooked me up with the kit. Can't WAIT, but it'll be worth it to let this get a good 8-12 months on it before I start knocking it back.

06-01-2006, 05:17 AM	#2
jazznut Managing Editor Emeritus Herf God Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Montreal, Canada Posts: 25,991	Your wine probably still contains a considerable degree of skin pigment extraction at this point in time. Eventually, this will deposit itself as very fine sediment in the bottle, though the wine is likely to retain a deep hue. I remember a batch of Carignan a friend's father made back in the mid to late 1980s. He had vinified it from grapes that had begun to shrivel from moisture depletion. The wine was as black as the night and practically as sweet as Port. Goodness knows what the alcohol content was! It drank great for years. __________________ My whisky adventure began at the age of nine. Good things DO take time!

06-01-2006, 05:50 AM	#3
MalkavianX Guest Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 1,987	I dont doubt that there's a lot of suspended pigments still in there. It did surprise me though how little sediment there was on the bottom of the bucket after I had racked it off. The clarifier I used is a combination of chitosan and kieselsol, which supposedly works very well from what I hear at work, so I'm thinking that'll do a lot to pull everything that's left outta suspension. Time will tell, that stuff works fast