The rewards and frustrations of home winemaking

Tag archive: wine kit

Try MLF on Merlot Again and First Reserve Kit for 2009

Time to rack and check the home merlot.  I splash racked again, and tested/tasted it.  The Free SO2 seemed to be below 20 ppm, so I’m going to try to restart MLF with the dried bacteria I got in December.  I’m not optimistic, because I’m pretty sure the bacteria is no good after this long, […]

Italian Brunello 6 Month Tasting

Nose of raspberry and cherry, with hint of the soapiness. Still foamy. Tasting very young. Sour cherry and oak. More integrated and tasty, but not ready yet.

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 […]

Bottling with Enolmatic Bottling Pump

I rationalized that I needed a bottling pump, since we would have SO much wine to bottle from the barrels, and also then I could bottle solo and not pester my hubby.  This is one of those investments that I really hope pays off, because I have high hopes for it.  I did a lot […]

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 […]

One Year-ish Tasting of Bourg Rouge

This wine is just fizzy, definitely a freshman mistake on my part. Anticipating fizz, I vacuum pumped the wine before pouring into glasses (no decanting), which might have helped the wine. We will just have to drink another bottle to find out. The wine was definitely better, very well integrated and no soapiness. This wine […]

Riesling 7 Month Tasting

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 […]

Italian Brunello 2-Month(ish) Tasting

Almost 2 month tasting of the brunello. A LOT of oak in the nose, with a weird fruity off-smell. Not outrageously tasty, not quite integrated. Needs to sit. Will decant and taste again.

One Year Plus Tasting of Cab Merlot

Still very foamy. Decanted, tasted shortly after decanting. Nose of sour cherry and herbs. Tart flavors of cherry, strawberry, raspberry with nicely integrated oak toastiness. Coming together very nicely.  Quite drinkable now, but I think time will make it even better.  It still tastes very young.

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!