My fifth kit and second from the Winexpert Limited Edition is the Pacifica.
“Pacifica White showcases bright fruit, excellent structure and a long layered finish running out from a veritable fruit salad of flavours and aromas. Complex pear and honey notes, grassy citrus and grapefruit, ripe apple, fig, melon, peach, and pineapple all mellow into spicy, honey, butter, butterscotch and hazelnut flavors that linger beguilingly.” So reads the intriguing description given by the manufacturer. Let’s get it going and see what we have.
My cleaning and sanitizing has been done so I’m ready to open the box. Again it seems that Winexpert has played it safe by using Lalvin EC-1118 yeast. I mentioned in a previous post that Winexpert was a bit more adventurous with yeast in recent years but it seems that now they are sticking with the tried and true. I’ll be changing the yeast as I have done in all of the kits I’ve made in this series. If you decide to do the same beware that some yeast can be tricky to use and need more monitoring. Also the wine kit manufacturer may not guarantee its product if you use a yeast other than that supplied with their kit.
The Pacifica also includes a bag of finishing blend to be added later on during the clearing stage. If you read my Piazza post you’ll remember that it also had finishing blend. The Pacifica finishing bag contains quite a bit more liquid than the Piazza but the wine is described as off dry so I assume it is less concentrated than the Piazza finishing blend.
I have to comment on the labels included with this year’s Winexpert Selection Limited Edition wine kits—they are awesome! By far the most sophisticated and eye-catching I’ve seen except for maybe on some commercial bottles. Good job Winexpert!
I’m using Lalvin D-47 again in this wine kit. I really liked how it performed in the Piazza. I use two packets and rehydrate it using Lallemand’s guidelines. As I’m pouring the juice into the primary fermenting bucket my senses are awakened by an intense grape aroma. It smells like freshly squeezed white grapes and the juice is super clear. It will be interesting to see how much of this character is carried over in the finished wine.
I’ve topped it up to 23 litres with bottled water and have given it a vigorous stirring. The temperature is at 26º Celsius so now it’s time to add the yeast.
That’s it. Another one bites the dust. Next in line is the RJ Spagnols Chilean Trek. My next post will about the Trek and I’ll give you an update on this one.
