The rewards and frustrations of home winemaking

Monthly archive: 03 2008

Bottling Chilean Carmenere/Cab Sauv

This kit came with 60 grams French oak AND 60 grams toasted oak.  I “let” this one bulk age for an extra month (i.e., really didn’t have time to deal with it).  14.5% final alcohol.  Got 30 full bottles + 2 full glasses! Not filtered. A little soapiness on the nose. Very dark garnet in […]

Australian Chard Retasting

Even though it’s only been a few weeks, I wanted to pop another one to try.  Still not quite ready. However, after a few days in the fridge it did mellow out and was quite drinkable. It’s close!

Australian Chardonnay 4 Month Tasting

Coming together very nicely, almost there. A little off odor in the nose, strong scent of oak with nectar. Nice flavors of peaches, apples, and some pear with oak integrating nicely. Actually, tastes a lot like a caramel apple. Doesn’t taste quite like chewing on a stick like it did when younger. Should be ready […]

Bottling Limited Edition Riesling

After the foam mess, I skipped the optional second racking of this wine, since I already lost so much volume in that debaucle.  As a result filtering was definitely necessary.  But, it all seems OK after everything that went wrong. Very nice at bottling, should need about 2-3 months to be more drinkable. Nose of […]