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My sadlers reserve Merlot Shiraz tastes like cordial... Any thoughts

Started by Kingpuck, May 30, 2014, 10:06:11 PM

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Kingpuck

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.

LordEoin

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  :)

LordEoin

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...

Kingpuck

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

Eoin

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....

Kingpuck

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.

LordEoin

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! Or is it just sweet sweet?
if so the fermentation might have got stuck. What was your FG?
also, have a look here

Kingpuck

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.