National Homebrew Club Ireland

Brewing Discussions => Cider, Perry, Wine & Mead => Topic started by: Kingpuck on May 30, 2014, 10:06:11 PM

Title: My sadlers reserve Merlot Shiraz tastes like cordial... Any thoughts
Post by: Kingpuck on May 30, 2014, 10:06:11 PM
Hi all, my first post and it's about my first batch. Not sure what to expect but read reviews from people online who said their wine was quite good even a few weeks after bottling.

Well mine, while it doesn't taste like poison it does taste a bit like there's something missing. I didn't over dilute, I choose to leave each stage for longer than instructed to ensure fermentation was achieved. The sanitisation was all 100%.

Is it too early to sample this wine. Is this a normal step in the process (please say yet is)I have a sadlers sav blanc on at the moment and am hoping not to have the same outcome.
Title: Re: My sadlers reserve Merlot Shiraz tastes like cordial... Any thoughts
Post by: LordEoin on May 30, 2014, 10:40:22 PM
how old is it?
I haven't touched mine since I bottled it but from what I remember it had no off-flavors or 'cordial' vibe about it.
I'll crack a bottle open in a minute and report back later  :)
Title: Re: My sadlers reserve Merlot Shiraz tastes like cordial... Any thoughts
Post by: LordEoin on May 30, 2014, 11:07:45 PM
it's quite nice. the few months conditioning has improved it to a decent drinking wine :)
it has a good fruity nose to it, it is a little bit tart, but in a good way
for some reason it reminds me of paris and makes me want steak...
Title: Re: My sadlers reserve Merlot Shiraz tastes like cordial... Any thoughts
Post by: Kingpuck on May 31, 2014, 05:30:12 AM
Hi LE, thanks for your reply. It's about a month in the bottle. I know it's early days. It's ok in the middle but it's a bit too sweet on the nose and initial notes are very weak
Title: Re: My sadlers reserve Merlot Shiraz tastes like cordial... Any thoughts
Post by: Eoin on June 01, 2014, 12:42:28 PM
How old is your wine at this stage?

I'm not a fan of rushed kit instructions, if the kit is anyway decent it takes a few months....the shitty ones don't improve much from about 6 weeks on, cos they're well shitty....
Title: Re: My sadlers reserve Merlot Shiraz tastes like cordial... Any thoughts
Post by: Kingpuck on June 10, 2014, 10:40:34 PM
Hi Eoin, Apologies I was away. The wine is approx. 6 weeks in the bottle. There's no real bas taste but just a very sweet one, like cordial. If anything I left it a ferment a few days past the date instructed to be sure. The temp was spot on all the time as per instructions. I sanitised everything correctly. A lot of time was put into this. Not sure what to do from here. I don't want to shell out €70 for another spoiled batch. I've got my pride to think of too.
Title: Re: My sadlers reserve Merlot Shiraz tastes like cordial... Any thoughts
Post by: LordEoin on June 10, 2014, 10:48:42 PM
It's hard to tell without tasting it, maybe you were just expecting a drier wine.
I wouldn't call my sadlers merlot/shiraz sweet, more a medium wine with plenty of fruitiness going on.
Does this kinda sum it up? HERE! (http://winefolly.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/wine-description-word-cloud-of-merlot-wine-taste.png) Or is it just sweet sweet?
if so the fermentation might have got stuck. What was your FG?
also, have a look here (http://winemakermag.com/736-what-can-i-do-to-make-my-wine-more-dry-and-less-sweet)
Title: Re: My sadlers reserve Merlot Shiraz tastes like cordial... Any thoughts
Post by: Kingpuck on June 11, 2014, 06:52:50 AM
Thanks. Everything cause of failure on that post bar the temperature looks like it's outside my control if using a SR kit. The temp was constant as I had a the fermenter sitting in water with a fish tank thermostat sitting in the water. While some people recommended giving each stage more time than instructed is there such thing as too much time.
Title: Re: My sadlers reserve Merlot Shiraz tastes like cordial... Any thoughts
Post by: LordEoin on June 11, 2014, 08:58:55 AM
What was your FG?
Title: Re: My sadlers reserve Merlot Shiraz tastes like cordial... Any thoughts
Post by: Kingpuck on June 12, 2014, 08:44:24 AM
FG was .996