1996 Vieux Chateau du Roi
December 2007 – I stopped into American Brewmaster to get something (probably yeast to jump start the muscadine) and decided to give this kit a try. This is the first kit I tried – previously I had used concentrates, but this was the first “everything except the bottles & corks is included” kit.
I had fun with this label. I enjoyed the expression on their faces when friends read the label for the first time. But I’m easy to amuse.
Ingredients
| Kit | WineArt Vieux Chateau du Roi kit |
| Sugar | 4 cups |
| Yeast | Lalvin KV-1116 |
Method
| Started kit. The initial gravity was quite low, so I bumped it up a bit. | 09/23/1996 SG 1.080 |
| Racked, oak chips added. | 09/29/1996 SG 1.014 |
| Racked, added kieselsol, stabilizer | 10/13/1996 SG 1.001 |
| Bottled. | 03/08/1997 SG 1.001 |
Notes
| Yield | 24 bottles |
| Alcohol | 10.7% |
| Afterthoughts | This is the first “kit” I did. At the time I don’t recall being impressed, but in terms of ease and consistency, it came out great! Prior to this kits weren’t all that good, and they’ve certainly improved in quality since. |
| October 2018 | In hindsight, the quality was low. The package was much smaller than today’s packages from Winexpert and R J Spagnols, so it was almost certainly 100% concentrate. My notes (from 2007) indicate I had the same thoughts at that time.
Reading the timeline on this – it’s also obvious that I used my fresh grapes and fruit background instead of the instructions – instead of bottling in 6 to 8 weeks, I did it in 6 months. |