2019 Vieux Chateau du Roi
May 2019
I stopped in American Brewmaster yesterday to purchase oak cubes, as I decided to add a bit more oak to the merlot I started last week. An R J Spagnols kit — Vieux Chateau du Roi — was on clearance. Of course I had to buy it.
The date on the kit is 03/03/2016 … yeah, it’s 3 years old. The owner was honestly surprised at the date.
I’ve done kits that were 2 years old with excellent results, so I’ll take a chance on this one … at 25% off …
Ingredients
| Kit | R J Spagnols Grand Cru Vieux Chateau du Roi kit |
| Bentonite | 30 g |
| Yeast | Lalvin EC-1118 |
| Oak | oak chip infusion bag |
| Sulfite | 4 g |
| Sorbate | 5.5 g |
| Kieselsol | 1 bag, size unspecified |
| Chitosan | 125 ml |
Method
| As per instructions, put 1 cup hot water in a large cup and added the oak chip infusion bag.Added 3 cups hot tap water to the primary fermenter and sprinkled the bentonite on a bit at a time. This method is working great — no clumping.
Added contents of grape juice bag. Rinsed it with warm water and added to fermenter. Topped up to 5.5 gallons, as my per usual method. Stirred for 4 minutes with powered stirring rod, reversing direction every 30 seconds. As per instructions, poured infusion bag into fermenter, then sprinkled yeast on top. |
05/20/2019 SG 1.082 |
| Racked into carboy. | 05/28/2019 SG 1.002 |
| Racked. Stirred for 4 minutes, reversing direction every 30 seconds.
Added sulfite and stirred 1 minute. Added kieselsol, stirred 1 minute. Waited 5 minutes then added chitosan, stirred 1 minute. Like with my other reds, I”m skipping the sorbate as it’s unnecessary in a dry wine. |
06/05/2019 SG 0.997 |
| Racked. Added 1/4 tsp K-meta. Bottled. | 09/06/2019 SG 0.996 |
Notes
| Yield | 27 bottles |
| Alcohol | 11.7% |
| 05/21/2019 | This kit is dated 03/03/2016 … so it’s 3 years old. I suppose I’m taking a chance on it, but it’s a good risk. The juice was bright purple and smelled great, so I have great expectations. |
| 09/06/2019 | The wine tasted great at bottling time. I think it’s going to be a fast ager, but that’s ok as it gives me something to drink while other wines are aging. |
| 02/29/2020 | I had to open a bottle last week as I was curious how quickly this one aged. I was pleasantly surprised as the wine is heavier than expected. Previous kits of this name were lighter bodied. It’s still a relatively fast aging wine, but I expect it will be fine 5 years from now … not that I’m expecting I’ll have any left. Which isn’t a problem, as the plan was to make this one to drink while other reds are aging. |
| 07/16/2020 | This wine is 13 months old, been in the bottle a bit over 10 months. Unaerated, it has nice fruit flavor. Aerated? This really brings out the fruit on the finish. It’s also got a pleasant acid bite on the finish, that I like. This is a tough one. It’s too heavy for oily fish like salmon, but the acid bite would go good with fish. I’ll have to experiment as my impression may be wrong. |