2016 Petit Verdot
August 2018 – This kit caught my eye as it included grape skins. I hadn’t tried one of these kits before …
Ingredients
| Kit | Winexpert International Australian Petit Verdot kit |
| Additives | bentonite, metabisulphite, sorbate, kieselsol, chitosan (included in kit) |
| Yeast | 2x Lalvin EC-212 yeast (included in kit) |
| Sulphite | As needed |
Method
| Following kit instructions, dissolved bentonite in hot water in fermenter.
Added wine concentrate. Topped fermenter up to 5.5 gallons, using several quarts of the water to rinse the wine bag. Stirred with powered stirring rod for 2 minutes. Added oak powder, stirred 1 minute. Put grape skins into mesh bag. Added to fermenter. Sprinkled yeast on top of must. |
01/23/2016 SG 1.090 |
| Removed bag of grape skins, pressing bag to remove as much juice as possible.
Racked wine. Put into carboy + additional 1 gallon jug. |
02/03/2016 SG 1.000 |
| Racked wine.
Added metabisulphite and sorbate, stirred 2 minutes. Added chitosan, stirred 2 minutes. Put oak cubes into carboy. Filled carboy plus 1 gallon jug. |
03/23/2016 SG 0.996 |
| Racked wine. Added 1/4 tsp metabisulphite and bottled. | 07/14/2018 SG 0.996 |
Notes
| Yield | 28 bottles |
| Alcohol | 12.8% |
| Winemaking Notes | Another one I let set longer than I intended. But it turned out surprisingly well, despite my neglect. |
| Tasting Notes | 1 month post-bottling, the wine is very tasty. |
| 10/12/2018 | The oak is a bit raw — it sat on oak cubes for too long. However, I’m thinking a year will make a huge difference. |
| 11/10/2018 | I opened a bottle the other night, using an in-bottle aerator. The oak is still a bit too strong.
The remaining half bottle sat on the counter overnight, with the aerator in the bottle. I tasted it, and the oak had softened tremendously. I’m going to force myself to leave this one alone for another year. |