The rewards and frustrations of home winemaking

Tag archive: carmenere

Bottling Chilean Carmenere on TV

I had the opportunity to show off my new shop on Fox morning news today. It was really fun, except for the 5 am starting time. In the first segment I demonstrated how to start a wine kit, then in this second segment I bottled my Winexpert Chilean Carmenere. The camera guy got a little […]

Carmenere WE Limited Edition 2 1/2 Year Tasting Note

It has been about 6 months since we broke out a Carmenere, which is over 2 years post bottling now. There are no more soapy aromas or flavors! It has big aromas of ripe red fruits, spice, and brambles. Big, bold flavors of roast cherries, plums, currants, and mild spice with hint of burnt toast […]

Chilean Carmenere Not-Quite-2-Year Tasting

I’ve been looking for an excuse to open my 2008 Winexpert Limited edition Chilean carmenere, and Moroccan Braised Beef (recipe courtesy of Chef Jenn Felmley!) sounded like just the ticket. Today is  just short of 2 years in the bottle. I decanted about an hour.  There is  some foam, but not too bad.  Slight soapiness on the […]

Carmenere/Cab Sauv 8 Month Tasting

Did not decant, probably would benefit from decanting at this stage. Not foamy, seem to finally have that under control. Big nose of red ripe fruits with sour edge. Very clear, dark garnet in color. Slightly fizzy on the tongue, with very tart flavors of sour cherry and pomegranite. Mainly fruity, very light spice, medium […]

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 […]

Time for Limited Editions!

I have discovered that the wine kit companies make special limited edition wines every year that are supposed to be “exceptional quality.”  I’ve been pretty impressed with the quality so far, so these should be really exciting!  Here’s what I got: Pacific Quartet:  A blend of very cool whites from the Pacific, including Vidal from […]