2006 Chenin Blanc
November 2006 – Instead of starting the Fume Blanc and seeing how it went, I said “the heck with it!” and bought this one as well, starting them at the same time.
Of course, I had to make a joke label:
Ingredients
| Kit | Vino del Vida Wine Chenin Blanc Kit |
| Bentonite | yes |
| Yeast | R J Spagnols generic yeast |
| Sulfite | yes |
| Sorbate | yes |
| Isinglass | yes |
Method
| Followed directions: Put 1 gallon warm water in primary; added bentonite and used drill mounted stirring rod to carefully mix it in. This worked far better than a spoon!
Added juice concentrate and rinsed bag with hot water. Filled primary to 5-1/2 gallons (instead of the 6 the directions call for). Used the stirring rod to mix the must. Sprinkled the yeast on top. Yeast is Spagnols generic. No clue what it is. |
11/01/2006 SG 1.096 |
| Racked the wine and moved to a carboy. | 11/15/2006 SG 1.000 |
| Racked the wine. Added package #2A (sulphite) and package #2B (potassium sorbate), stirring vigorously after each. Gotta love that stirring tool!
Added package #3 (liquid isinglass) and stirred vigorously. Instructions called for 5 minute stir, wait 15 minutes, stir again for 5 minutes. According to stirring rod directions I didn’t need to stir that much. Did about 30-45 seconds for each — LOT of gas emitted! |
12/11/2006 SG 0.998 |
| Racked the wine. There was more sediment than I expected.
Note: I’ve been following the directions for the kit with no improvisation, but haven’t been using their time frames. If I had done that the wine would have been bottled at the end of November … I’m a bit behind that! |
03/19/2007 SG 0.998 |
| Bottled.
Note: The sink in the wine area has been a pain. Had great difficulties in seating the traps so they didn’t leak. Got that fixed this week so I’m bottling wine! |
05/18/2007 SG 0.998 |
Notes
| Yield | 24 bottles |
| Alcohol | 13.3% |
| 05/18/2007 | At bottling the wine has a mild flavor. Not as acidic as I might want — when I think of Chenin Blanc I think of Vouvray, crystal clear white wines with an “appropriate” bite that go great with fish and seafood. This one isn’t there, but I’ll check again after a few months in the bottle. |
| 04/28/2008 | This one has turned out to be a nice sipping wine. |