The rewards and frustrations of home winemaking

Tag archive: rhone blend

‘La Jolla Cave’ Rhone Blend 3 1/2 Year Tasting Note

I pulled out another bottle of my ‘La Jolla Caves’ Winexpert Crushendo “Montagnac Vieux Chateau d’Oc” red rhone blend to see if it is doing anything useful in the cellar. So far, this is one wine kit that has disappointed me all along, and I just don’t think this wine is going to come around. […]

Cellar Craft Rhone White and Winexpert Spanish Rose Bottling

I bottled both the Cellar Craft 2010 limited edition Marsanne-Viognier-Roussanne and the Winexpert Spanish Rose today, getting ready for summer sipping.ย  The MVR wasn’t quite clear, which I think might be due to my use of marbles for topping up my wines.ย  When wines with marbles are moved at all from their place of rest […]

‘Chateau du Pays’ Bottling

I bottled the Cellar Craft limited edition ‘Chateau du Pays‘ today.ย  I intended to bulk age this wine 6 to 8 months, but realized I was a carboy short for upcoming winemaking and didn’t have time to get another one fast enough. As usual, there was one partial bottle left at the end, which went […]

More Limited Edition Wine Kits in Progress

A few more Limited Edition wine kits have come in.ย  I posted previously about starting the Cellar Craft Chateau du Pays; I’m going to bulk age this wine for while, but I did do an extra racking about a month after stabilizing and clearing to take out the second addition of Hungarian oak cubes, so […]

Wines in Progress

I have several wines in progress currently, besides the petite sirah and merlot that is waiting to be bottled.ย  I started a very cool Super Tuscan red blend wine kit from Cellar Craft, “Rosso Fortissimo”, which is almost ready to be bottled. This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese and comes with […]

La Jolla Caves Red Tasting Note

The Winexpert “La Jolla Caves” red rhone blend is not quite 3 years in the bottle now. This wine has been quite a roller coaster, and this bottle is just adding to the sordid history. I’m not sure if the bottle opened is flawed, but it has a nose of port or sherry, with blackberry […]

Two Year Tasting of “La Jolla Caves” Rhone Blend

It’s been 6 months since I touched my “La Jolla Caves” Winexpert Montagnac Vieux Chateau dโ€™Oc, wanting to give it time to come together better.ย  Now it’s at the 2-year mark, which sounds like a good time to test it out.ย  I did not decant this time, I wanted to see how it developed out […]

Yakima Synergy 3 Month Tasting

Nose of crisp apples with hint of vanilla. Very clear, pale yellow-green in color. Crisp flavors of green apple and peach with hint of bell pepper and vanilla. Wow, really came together VERY nicely, and sooner than I expected!

One Year Tasting of La Jolla Cave Rhone Red

One year tasting of the rhone blend. Decanted for about an hour. A little bit of the weird soapiness I get with the kit wines in the nose, also notes of plum and oak. Foamy. Sour flavors of black cherry, blackberry, and raspberry with strong oak and soapiness also. Long finish, but quite sour and […]

6 Month Tasting of La Jolla Cave Rhone Red

Opened for a party. Actually quite well developed, lovely deep, dark purple/black in color. Nice bouquet rich with fruits. A little sour, but flavors rich, velvety, and well balanced. Very happy with this one!