Wine in the Shower » rielsing

Yakima Synergy and Alsatian Riesling Bottling

gisela — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:31:12 +0000

The Yakima Synergy is clear enough that I’m not going to filter it for bottling. It came out great! I did leave about 700 mL at the bottom of the carboy that had some sediment and poured it off into a separate bottle to clear a little more. Tasting notes: Very faint nose of apricots and blossoms. Very clear, pale gold in color. Flavors a little harsh right now, with acidic edge that leaves the tongue feeling like sandpaper. This one will need a lot of cellar time.

The Riesling, however, did need some filtering. It just wasn’t clear, but I didn’t want to wait to let it clear with bulk aging – we’re running out of summer whites! I set up a 1 micron inline filter, but the last 6 bottles did not seem to filter completely. I actually uncorked these and tried to refilter, but the gunk would not filter out. Oh well, another lot of wine to keep for home drinking.

Response from Winexpert about Brown Stuff

gisela — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:23:32 +0000

I tossed the juice bag from the Riesling, but then thought I should go ahead and send an email to Winexpert to see if the precipitate is a bad sign, or no big deal. I have to say, I’ve been very happy with their customer service – they answered me the next day! Linda from Winexpert wrote that there are often brown pigments that settle out of the juice, and it’s OK to add in, as they won’t affect the finished wine. Good to know!

Racing Cab Sauv Kit and Starting Riesling Reserve Kit

gisela — Wed, 06 May 2009 09:19:35 +0000

It was time to rack off the cabernet sauvignon kit into a carboy. I noticed a distinct aroma of bananas, just like we smelled when the cabernet sauvignon grapes were fermenting. The color is great, this is going to be a pretty decent wine for the money.

Next I set up to start the Alsatian rielsing reserve kit from Winexpert. This rielsing should be quite a contrast to the “old vines” Canadian Riesling from last year, as this style of Riesling does not have an added “sweetness pack”, but instead should give a very light, dry, crisp Riesling. As I was pouring the juice out of the bag, though, I noticed a dark brown precipitate at the bottom of the bag.

I debated what to do, and opted to not pour out the last bit of dregs that included this dark substance. It was maybe about a cup of juice left in the bag, so I figured it would not make a substantial impact if it didn’t go in. The starting SG was at 1.088, the low end of the recommended SG range, but still in range.

Riesling 7 Month Tasting

gisela — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:01:01 +0000

After a long day of pressing, I wanted to bust into some “ready-to-go” wine. Riesling looked like a great option after a long, warm day. It has a very faint nose of peach blossoms. Distinctly sweet with nice acidity and flavors of ripe white peaches and hints of pineapple and apricots. Flavors balancing perfectly on the tongue, very nice!

Riesling Tasting

gisela — Fri, 16 May 2008 02:22:08 +0000

Light floral nose. Very clear, pale golden yellow in color. Crisp, slightly sweet flavors of apple and white peach. Tastes GREAT! Yum!

Bottling Limited Edition Riesling

gisela — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 21:03:22 +0000

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 apricots and pear. Hint of crispness, but also very mellow and round in the mouth, should even out with some bottle aging (minimum 3 months). Sweet with flavors of stone fruits with citrus blossoms and honeysuckle. Should be great for this summer, I doubt it will last to the end of the year!

Foaming Riesling!

gisela — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:27:01 +0000

This is the first Spagnols kit I’ve done, and the instructions are a little different from Winexpert. They said to stabilize and clear at the first racking; but mine was still fermenting. It foamed up and over the top very quickly!

Of course, the one time I have the wine out in the kitchen and decided not to move it to the shower first. It made a helluva mess, I lost about a liter or maybe 2 of wine I didn’t have any appropriate wine to top with, so I just added filtered water.

Time for Limited Editions!

gisela — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 19:04:12 +0000

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 British Columbia, chenin blanc from California, gewürztraminer from Wasington, and muscat from Australia. Should be a fun wine! This wine is released in March.
Chilean Carmenere/Cabernet Sauvignon: Carmenere is a south American varietal similar to Merlot. The description sounds like this will be a cellar star, but will need some serious hangin’ out time. Released in January.
Italian Brunello: Gotta love a big Italian red. This wine will also undoubtedly need a lot of aging to really shine. Released in April.
Canadian Old Vine Riesling: My first kit from RJ Spagnols. Always good to have a nice, crisp Riesling to go with spicy szechuan or Indian food. This one released in January.