Kit Eight: Cru Select Tango

I can’t believe it! This is the eighth kit I’ve made in this series of special edition wine kits and the final one from RJ Spagnols’ Restricted Quantities. It seemed like a daunting task when I began this project ten weeks ago but here I am almost to the finish line with only two more kits to go. My goal was to have all kits made by the end of April so barring any unforeseen incidents the deadline should be easily met.

The Tango is now happily bubbling away as I write this in the wee hours of the morning. And just what is Tango?

“Tango is a silky blend of three beloved Argentine white wines: Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Torrentes. A perfectly balanced expression of style, notes of apricot and apple with a hint of spice dance on your palate. Graced lightly with toasted oak, this wine has a dramatic flair that will have you and your partner reaching for another glass.”

That’s how RJ Spagnols introduces their Tango. If you would like to read more about Tango along with food pairings and a recipe you should visit the Cru Select Restricted Quantities website.

I prepared the Tango as I did with other kits in this project. It contained two tea bags of lightly toasted oak which I soaked in a cup of hot water for ten minutes before putting them into the fermentor. I wanted to start this kit at a slightly higher temperature than previous kits I’ve made so I mixed in enough hot water to bring the temperature up to 28º Celsius. I’m doing this as an experiment. I want to see what effect fermenting at a higher temperature will have on degassing and the overall character of the finished wine. I expect this to be a fast fermentation. The lag time was short. I checked the wine five hours after I pitched the yeast and it was already well into the growth stage. I’m going to maintain the temperature near the mid twenties throughout the fermentation as I did with the last two reds I made. I’m hoping this will making degassing easier. I’ll soon be ready to degas the reds so I’ll let you know then if fermenting at the higher temperature made a difference.

I replaced the stock yeast in this kit as I have done for all the kits in this project. Again I used Lalvin D47. It has given me good results in previous kits I’ve made. It has fermented dry and so far the wines seem to be exceptional—especially the Pacifica which I think has award-winning potential.

The Trek is waiting patiently to be bottled as is the Pacifica. This is my planned project for this weekend. Next up is the Selection Austria Grüner Veltliner. So you will have to excuse me while I go sanitize my equipment and get ready for my next instalment.