2002 Sangiovese / Cabernet / Merlot
September 2002 – I haven’t made any wine in several years. Other than a batch of mead that is about ready to drink, I just haven’t had any ambition to make wine. Part of it is my disappointment with the grapes I’ve purchased here in NC. For various reasons I haven’t really liked anything I made. If I don’t like it, why make it???
So I went out to the WineArt site and ordered a kit. Following is my record of it …
[It appears that I purchased this kit in around December 2001, but didn’t start it until September 2002.]
Note: I assign the year of a wine based upon when I start it, not the year the fruit is from.
Ingredients
| Kit | Wine-Kitz Project Holiday Wine 2001 Sangiovese-Cabernet-Merlot Kit |
| Oak | chips, quantity unknown |
| Yeast | Yes (no idea which one) |
| Sulfite | Yes |
| Sorbate | Yes |
| Kieselsol | Yes |
| Chitosan | Yes |
Method
| Started kit (apparently a while after I purchased it!). Placed concentrate, oak chips in fermenter, filled to 5-1/2 gallons with water.
Sprinkled yeast on top. |
09/16/2002 SG 1.081 |
| Racked into carboy. | 09/25/2002 SG 0.997 |
| Racked. Added sorbate/sulphite and kieselsol. Stirred for the specified 3 minutes.
Stirred 6 times over the next 24 hours to complete the process. |
10/12/2002 SG 0.994 |
| Added chitosan; stirred for 30 seconds. | 10/13/2002 SG 0.994 |
| Racked. | 11/10/2002 SG 0.994 |
| Bottled. | 06/21/2003 SG 0.994 |
Notes
| Yield | 26 bottles |
| Alcohol | 11.8% |
| Afterthoughts | I didn’t follow the time line specified in the instructions. This one had an off taste that in hindsight I attribute to sitting on the lees too long. Too many chemicals for clearing that I think need to be removed with the sediment in the specified time frame. |
| Taste | Overall came out “ok” but had an odd after taste I didn’t like. Worked well for cooking. |