Still being relatively new to wine making, in February 2016, we discovered that Winexpert offered a Bordeaux Blend called Trinity Red. Although by this time we had ventured into making wine from fresh juice, we were still learning. This kit intrigued us so we thought we would give it a try.
The process of making a kit wine is pretty foolproof. Essentially, you just follow the directions. Everything you need is included in the kit.
We started with preliminary preparations: Adding bentonite to hot water…
…and then adding the oak chips to the nylon straining bag. While the chips could have been added directly to the must, the bag makes it much easier to remove them when fermentation is complete.
Next we added the concentrated juice and water to the fermenting bucket containing the bentonite solution.
The bag of oak chips followed and we waited until they were saturated with liquid and submerged.
Finally we pitched the yeast. Primary fermentation took seven days. After racking, secondary fermentation lasted 13 days.
During the stabilization and clearing process, we racked the wine three more times. Each time, more and more sediment was left behind.
Our yield was 25 bottles, which are shown here occupying the bottom of the storage rack. Following recommendations, we aged it for one year.
Brody’s Bodacious Bordeaux finally made its debut at our uncorking party with friends!
We were pleased that it was well received. While not the best wine we’ve ever had, it turned out to be smooth and easy drinking. However, as the title of the blog suggests, this will be our last kit wine. The oak did give it a different quality, but we were disappointed that the wine itself was not that distinctive from the Pinot Noir we had made previously which was also from a Winexpert kit.
We both agreed that there is an element of taste we detect from the finished wine that makes it stand out as being from a kit. While the process is “safe”, there is little challenge to the wine making itself. What appeals to us most with our wines is the ability to experiment and to create a wine that is distinctively ours. We much prefer working with fresh fruit or juice which we feel has the ability to result in a better quality product.