Riesling Ice Wine

[russki]

I stopped at my LHBS this morning, and they were running a wine kit promotion - spend $75 and get 50% off any wine kit. I needed a bunch of stuff anyway, so I ended up getting a 3-gallon WineXpert Riesling Ice Wine kit. Made it when I got home - dang, this is even easier than Mr. Beer - basically, just dissolve some bentonite, dump the must into the bucket, mix it up, pitch yeast. According to the instructions, it's supposed to be done and ready for stabilizing and fining in just a couple weeks... Wonder if I should apply "Mr. Beer" logic, and double the times from the instructions

[BlackDuck]

I would use the MB logic. You can't go wrong. Since you won't be adding sugar to carb the wine, it will either age in the bottle or the carboy, might as well keep it all together to age for a little bit. If you decide to let it ride in the carboy, I would rack to get it off the yeast cake. And you can also add a little bit of metabisulfite to keep any wild yeasties at bay. When I buy fresh juice for wine, I rack after 10 days, then 30 days from that point, then every 90 days until it's bottled. I add some metabisulfite at every racking starting at the 30 day racking point.

Giving it time all together with a couple rackings will also help clarify it. And be sure to cold crash it for at least a week if you can. This long cold crash will cause crystals formed by tartaric acid to fall out in the carboy and not in the bottle. Don't worry if you can't crash, the crystals won't change the flavor, it will just change the appearance. Kind of like chill haze in beer.

I've made red wines that are in the carboy for 9 months and white wines that are in the carboy for 6 months before bottling in the past. But I'm also using fresh juice for the specific type of wine I'm making instead of a kit like yours, so there may be some differences.

Good luck with it...hope it turns out good for you.

[haerbob3]

I have done a few of the wine expert kits. Believe it or not I have not messed with a single one. The only thing I do is add a bit more sulfite at the end. we tend to keep our wines for awhile

[russki]

I think I'll follow the instructions on this one, since kits are different from making wine from fruit. This one is a whopper at 1.160 OG, and is supposed to finish around 1.055. It may be a bear to degas and clear due to such thick body, especially in the short time frame they are advocating. I think I will add more Campden for extended aging - this one will be a special occasion/gift wine, bottled in 375 ml clear glass.

It's bubbling nicely this morning - 2 packs of Premier Cuvee yeast in 3 gallons of must is a decent pitch even for such high gravity. The instructions call for transferring to secondary after 5-7 days at 1.070-1.080 - I wonder if their aim is to get it off the yeast and make sure it doesn't dry out too much, since this yeast can go up to 18%/abv.

[DaYooper]

If I didnt have a port going right now I would have to jump on that eiswein. Love that stuff!

[russki]

I'm going by the book on this one - after 8 days in the primary, the gravity was at 1.075, so I transferred to secondary (3 gallon Better Bottle) yesterday. It's now supposed to sit until the gravity is 1.050-1.055 (10-14 days according to the instructions), and then it's ready for stabilizing and fining.

[mashani]

It's giving me cavities just imagining drinking it LOL.

[russki]

It's giving me cavities just imagining drinking it LOL.

I know, it's not so much a dessert wine but a wine which is a dessert...

I personally prefer dry wines (and reds at that), but a nice syrupy Eiswein accompanied by a fruit and cheese plate is super yummy!

[russki]

The gravity is at 1.044, so I will be proceeding to the next step according to the instructions. I have to degas (have a degassing tool on order), then add the F-pack, sorbate, k-meta, and isinglass and let it clear.

Unfortunately, it's in a Better Bottle, so I cannot use my little vacuum pump for degassing the way I do with glass jugs...

[DaYooper]

Sounds great! Im getting ready to start another red over Christmas shutdown as just got another couple of cases of empties from the tasting room. Winter is usually a slow wine time for me since my Better Bottle will not fit in the fermentation chamber. With 10 or so days of being home with the heat on I should be good to go!

[russki]

In almost a week it dropped just 2 more points to 1.042, so I called it done. Degassed again, added sulphite, sorbate, the f-pack, and isinglass. Now to wait till it clears, and on to bottling!