Savage Oaks White Rose: Tasting

[12/9/18]

Savage Oakes White Rose

I purchased this bottle while on a trip to Maine back in March 2018. It is the Savage Oakes White Rose, from the Savage Oakes winery in Union, ME.

• Pink Catawba
• 2% residual sugar.

• Starts off with fragrant white table grape aroma.
• Medium body, low tannins
• Medium viscosity
• Medium-high sweetness, the lightness of the fruit resonates through the sweetness
• Medium to medium-high acidity. Cuts through the sweetness to give a balance to flavor
• Grape-fruity aftertaste

Overall, I had served this too cold. Would've liked to try it at ~10°C, instead of around 7- it would have brought out the sweetness and flavor better. This is undoubtedly the best wine I've had that is made from non- vitus vinifera grapes. The Catawba sat so well on the palate, it makes you wonder how it's not yet a common varietal. There were only very small, subtle hints of "foxiness", only if you were looking for it. 

Tasting Notes Archives

I've been too busy with work and such, and haven't had time to upload content. Here are some archived wine notes I found from around summer 2017:

Opi Malbec 2016 5.5/10
- medium high dryness
- med high acidity
- very fruity, blackberry, -- almost to a mulling wine (this literally jumps out at you, with a dry finish)
- back tone of spices (italian spices- thyme, oregano)
- dry finish
- scent VERY fruity
- no viscocity
-spicy back throat
- weak body

PAIR WITH
CHINESE SAUSAGES (sweet sausages)
juicy steak
edamame


Giesto Dao 2014 7/10
- not aromatic
- medium dryness
- med acid
- dry fruit, ever so slight spice (back of tongue).
- dry sweet first touch of the tongue
- deep fruit barrel (oak) smell
- succulent, turns dry
- tannins that get rougher towards the back of throat
- low body, med-low viscocity
- grows on you

PAIR WITH
Heavy seafood dishes, greasy flavorful shellfish
egg tart- flan
braised lamb shank
stewed chashu (for tonkatsu)


Marqués de Villanueva Reserva 2012 4.5/10
- fruity, slight dry at touch of tongue and gets fruitier
- med low acid
- dry leaves, dry tobacco [?], slight old oak flavor
- dried prunes, plums minus sour, dates minus sweet
- rioja style, carinena
- med high tannins
- smooth long (tannin-y) finish
- medium viscous
- medium low body

PAIR WITH
cook with it (will make good marinade)
mushrooms




chateau pavillon de villenouvette 2013 corbieres 6/10
- solid body
- medium low tannins
- sharp but mellow acid
- medium low oak
- plum color, medium high viscosity
- almost sweet, medium low fragrance
- classic full character red wine (albiet not perfect) but hits most spots

PAIR WITH
meat, steak
meaty pasta
brie, camembert


Collezione di Paolo Chianti 2015

- rosy, non fruity
- acidic, almost citrusy
- sour in a good way
- medium low tannins
- Sangiovese grape, italy

PAIR WITH
tomato sauce based pastas
anything sour to bring out sweetness

Vecciano 2013 8.5/10
- solid italian red
- very solid body, tannins
- medium acid
- medium high viscous
- medium oak
- full body, succulent

PAIR WITH
Italian pasta
steak/ meats

Le Bordeaux de Tour du Roch-Milon 2015 7.5/10
- solid table wine
- not too complex
- medium acid
- good drinking, not sipping
- pair with anything that goes well with reds, its B-rated red.


Grande Fleur de Lyeth Reserve

Updates [6/17/18]

Wine Updates:

Both apple and grape wines were bottled after the last posts. Due to me transitioning into a new job, and working weekends, I had not been able to update the blog with the status updates. Hopefully on my next wine, I can document it better.

I bottled both around the middle of December (around 21/22nd?). Managed to get 4 bottles of each.

In March, I opened a bottle of both Concord and Apple, and both tasted horrible. I smelled the yeasty scent still present in the wine, and both had sharp unpleasant acid on the tongue.

A couple days ago on June 10, 2018. I opened a bottle of each again. This time, the apple was amazing. It was the perfect sipping wine, with subtle nuance in flavor, that was not too overpowering in either acid, tannins, or alcohol level. The scent was of apple, and apple wood. Would rate this wine 8/10, a solid wine I would have no problem paying ~$18 for. I would try other types of yeast for apple, although this one worked wonders. Maybe Lalvin 71B or Red Star Premier Curvee.

On the other hand, the concord wine still tasted horrendous. The yeasty-ness had not gone away. The acid was tart, as I had not managed to sediment the lees completely. It tasted foxy (like concord grapes, fur of fox) and was a reminder of why concord grapes are not a popular wine varietal. Next time I try a concord wine, I would use super-dry yeast like EC-1118, fermenting it to bone dry, and maybe even sacrificing some natural aromas (as concord grapes lack them anyways). Trying the wine after 5 weeks of bottling, and after 5 months, and then 8 months should be done next time.

Tasting Notes #3

[12/10/2017]

Sarcosa Toscana 2015

• Weak body
• Bouquet of sharpness, almost like a mango gone sour
• High acidity, very sour
• Almost an "empty" flavor, from lack of body
• Has strong mouth feel of dry leaves, high astringency 
• Trace flavors of fruitiness
• Verdict-
• 4.5/10
• pair with something sweet or something with body but not too much flavor.

Chaucer's Mead

• First taste of honey sharpness, not in an unbearable way, but a pleasant kick.
• Aftertaste starts off very sweet. This mead seems to have a high residual sugar, enough to hinder flavor profile..
• Tingles the tongue a little but not too much.
• Back of throat has honey aftertaste
• Too sweet to drink constantly, but nice in 1oz (30ml) quantities.
• Verdict-
• 5/10
• pair with something strong and heavy so that it won't get shadowed
• Definitely serve chilled

I've been super busy lately and haven't gotten around to posting more things. The concord grape wine has been racked into a secondary and I visited Russel Orchards a couple weekends ago. They had really nice wines. Would recommend their heirloom apple wine; on a tangent, I would be very happy if my apple wine turned out anything like that. The apple cider was solid but not memorable. The berry wines (esp. the blueberry wine) were memorable but tastes average..

Apple Wine Part 3: Re-racking [11/11/17]

[11/11/17]*

*Apple Wine was re-racked today before I started the grape wine

The apple wine was last racked on 10/31, over one week ago. There was only a slight buildup of lees, barely any volume. Clarity has gone up, and standard racking procedures were followed to rack from carboy to carboy.

Bottom carboy foaming up from the residual Star San used to clean:

Auto Siphon in the top carboy. 

Lees remaining in the carboy: 

Campden tablet was not added as 1 tablet had already been added in the prior racking. Specific gravity was also not measured as wine was at 0.995 last time, and should be very close, if not already, to completely dried wine. This wine should probably sit for 1 month, in order to clear more and fine up. It seems to be taking longer as no fining/ clearing agents were used. Carboy was put back into insulation like so. Next check should be after New Year.

Concord Wine Part 1: Starting from Grape Juice [11/11/17]

[11/11/17]

Making Concord wine from 2 bottles of grape juice from concentrate, and 1 can of frozen grape concentrate. Time: 11am

Juice Details-

• Market Basket 100% Grape Juice from Concentrate (1/2 gallon bottles) x2
• Market Basket 100% Frozen Grape Juice Concentrate (12oz can)
• Sugar: 870g total
• Vitamin C (ascorbic acid): ~2 to 3 grams
• Concentrate and juice made from concord grapes.

Must Details-

• 1 whole packet of Red Star Montrachet yeast.
• 1 gal Juice from bottle
• 1 12oz can concentrate
• 12oz water to rinse out can
• 1 tsp Yeast Nutrient
• 1 tsp Pectic Enzyme
• 1/4 tsp wine tannin
• 1 cup sugar diluted in 0.5 cups water (only ~75% of solution used to sweeten)
• 1.096 original SG (Approx 13-14% potential ABV)

Frozen concentrate was thawed and poured in first. 1 more can of water was used to rinse out concentrate. The bottled juice was added in on top afterwards. Pectic Enzyme was added at this point and left for ~15 minutes to work. Specific gravity reading was taken and sugar solution was added gradually to reach 1.096 SG. about 1/4 of the sugar solution remained. Yeast nutrient was added right afterwards and stirred lightly.

Yeast is then pitched by sprinkling on top:

At this point, I realized that there was no tannin added yet. After some research suggesting that Concord grapes have low levels of tannin, it was decided that 1/4 tsp of tannin (the same amount as the apple wine) should be added. The tannin was added to the wine and stirred lightly.

Wine is currently under cheese cloth. Airlock should be fitted in about 4 days time (11/15/17), and first racking into secondary should be in 1 week (tentatively 11/19/17).

Grape Wine Prelude

Tomorrow, I will be making wine from concord grape concentrate, and grape juice from a recipe derived from Jack Keller's Welch concentrate wine recipe (below).

Welch's Frozen Grape Juice Wine

• 2 cans (11.5 oz) Welch's 100% frozen grape concentrate

• 1-1/4 lbs granulated sugar

• 2 tsp acid blend

• 1 tsp pectic enzyme

• 1 tsp yeast nutrient

• water to make 1 gallon

• wine yeast

Bring 1 quart water to boil and dissolve the sugar in the water. Remove from heat and add frozen concentrate. Add additional water to make one gallon and pour into secondary. Add remaining ingredients except yeast. Cover with napkin fastened with rubber band and set aside 12 hours. Add activated wine yeast and recover with napkin. When active fermentation slows down (about 5 days), fit airlock. When clear, rack, top up and refit airlock. After additional 30 days, stabilize, sweeten if desired and rack into bottles.

For my wine, I will be using 2 64oz bottles of Market Basket's 100% concord grape juice from concentrate, in addition to 1 can of Market Basket's frozen grape juice concentrate. This additional can will compensate for flavor lost through adding syrup initially, and will also bring total volume up to at least 1.2 gallons. This is so that we will end up with 1 gallon after the first racking, with a bit more to taste.

Grape Juice details-

• 2 bottles of 312g sugar + 1 can of 246g sugar = 870g sugar 
• Acid is unknown. According to nutrition facts, total should be around 2800% of daily intake on a 2000 calorie diet, according to Market Basket. This could be anywhere between 2 to 3.3 grams of Vitamin C (ascorbic acid).
• Frozen concentrate comes in 12oz cans, and makes 48oz of juice. Ascorbic acid added.

To start this wine, no acid will be added as people have complained about concentrate wines being too tart, and we are adding an additional can of frozen concentrate. Grape juice is also more sweet than our previous apple wine, and less sugar should be needed to get to the 1.090 SG mark.

Tentative Procedure:

1. Pour juices into plastic fermenter, after thawing out frozen concentrate.
2. Rinse out concentrate container with water and throw into pail.
3. Add 1 tsp pectic enzyme to mixture. Not heaped, but better to be over than under.
4. Make sugar syrup by mixing 1 cup of sugar into 1/2 cup of boiled water. Add slowly into wine to get it to 1.090 mark. It should not need the entirety of the solution, maybe only three quarters. (note: record the amount of sugar used)
5. Add 1 tsp yeast nutrient, make sure must is at a good temperature (60-80 degrees F)
6. Pitch 1 packet of Montrachet yeast by sprinkling on top.
7. Cover with cheesecloth and let primary ferment for 1 week. Airlock should be fitted after 3-5 days.

I will also be include wine tannin, as concord grapes naturally have low tannin content. 1/4 tsp wine tannin as per the previous apple wine should do. Concord grapes have a low tannin content and high levels of Methyl anthranilate, which is the taste of grape juice or jelly. This is the difference between concord grapes (Vitis labrusca) and typical wine grapes (Vitis vinifera).

Tasting Notes #2

#2 [11/7/2017]

Alambrado Argentina
Malbec Mendoza. 2014

• Not too fragrant
• Plum/ deep red fruit start
• Medium high tannin
• Medium acid
• Slightly spicy, almost like decaying autumn leaves on the back palate
• Tartaric tartness layered with plum fruit
• Pair with-
• Larb (tested and tried)
• Any spiced, dry, fatty, (maybe fried) food
• Solid table wine 7/10

Apple Wine Bloopers

Bloopers [11/1/17]

You may remember the small sample of Apple Wine I put aside from racking primary into secondary. This value amounts to about 350ml, judging from the size of the cup. To this, I added one heaped teaspoon of table sugar (cane sugar), so simulate a backsweetened wine. The solution was poured it into an empty bottle of Old Overholt rye whiskey, and contained trace amounts of the remaining whiskey. The bottle was rigorously shaken to degass and left to chill in the fridge for a couple hours. Here are the notes of when I tasted it that night.

• Initially smells acidic, yeasty, very obvious fruitiness.
• Stings on first tongue contact, medium high acid. No signs of carbonation.
• Sweet, but not overpowering undertones.
• Yeasty breath (smells like live yeast)
• Fiery back palate (like a “hot” wine) - maybe attributed to age.
• Let it air out a bit to soften, makes it better.
• Does not taste like "oxidized" or reddened apple flesh. Still retains a freshness to it.
• Current level of sugar (1 heap tsp/ 350 ml) is just right to bring out fresh fruitiness, but still not overpowering or even noticeably sweet (in a sugary way).
• Lees are still precipitating onto the bottom of the glass

Color in a wine glass:

What I ended up doing for a temporary insulation solution* (should keep it warm and dark enough):

*A bunch of plastic bags to wrap the carboy, all covered with the plastic bag that the original juice was purchased in.

Apple Wine Part 2: Racking [10/31/17]

[10/31/17]

Today, the apple wine started on 10/22 was racked with standard racking procedures. Wine was racked into a 1 gallon carboy, to the brim. Carboy was then sealed with a bung and airlock. Racking was done to prevent lees entering auto siphon. Hydrometer reading taken from the top of the sample showed a reading of SG 0.995. Original SG was 1.090. Online calculator with standard calculations show a ABV of 12.5%. Alternative, supposedly more accurate calculation shows an ABV of 13.2%. Conclusion: the wine is approx. high 12% range.

Wine has ceased to bubble and fermentation has presumably finished.  Wine is noticeably cloudy and opaque, but not as carbonated as expected. 1 campden tablet was added after racking (crushed and straight into the carboy on top of the wine). Wine started fizzing when crushed campden was added.

Lees remaining in plastic pail after wine was siphoned and the remainder drained:

Racked into 1 gallon carboy: 

Drained the remainder wine into a glass, careful not to disturb lees:

The next step is to fashion a insulator for the carboy from old cardboard boxes, to prevent sunlight from hitting wine, and to regulate temperature for colder days. Possibly re-rack in one week (11/7). Next re-rack maybe the last before bottling, depending on how much wine clears.

Another picture:

Tasting Notes #1

#1 [10/23/17]

Palacio del Conde
Gran reserva 2010

• High acid
• Med-high tannins 
• Oak, cherry, dark red fruit
• Musty old oaky fruit
• High acid throughout till end
• Med low body 
• Almost vinegary
• End notes
• would not purchase to drink
• 4.5/10 table wine.

Vinha do Fava
Touriga nacional 2015

• Smells acidic, almost fruity
• Hits with dark amber caramel flavor (kind of chocolately)
• Noticeably sweet, dark plum, cherries. Very fruity (hits you in the face with fruit)
• Chalky mouthfeel towards the end 
• Solid med body
• Med high acid
• End notes
• use in Sangria (for fruitiness)
• 7.5/10