This year RJ Spagnols has decided to forgo the traditional naming of their Restricted Quantities wine kits. They’ve given the kits unique names that indicate a life style rather than the grape variety that they’ve used in past years. I like the idea. It’s fun and adds an aura of excitement and playfulness to the Restricted Quantities series. So let’s get started.
The first kit I’m making is the Cru Select Piazza. The grape varieties used in this wine are Chardonnay and Garganega from Italy. Here’s how RJ Spagnols opens the description of this interesting wine. “Found in the heart of every town in Italy, a piazza is where locals and tourists alike gather to enjoy a glass of wine and unwind after the stress of the day.” Then they go on to write.“Enjoy this full-bodied white wine, which receives its luscious mouthfeel from fermentation on raisins in a white amarone-style experience.”
I started my Piazza two days ago. The kit contains 15 litres of fresh grape juice ameliorated with grape concentrate. The juice was light in colour and aromatic. The addition of raisins was intriguing since I have never seen or used raisins in a white wine kit before. There was also a small 125 ml packet of finishing blend included as well as yeast, bentonite, finings, stabilizing packets and a packet of attractive labels. I have one beef about the packaging. The raisins for some reason were at the bottom of the box under the large bag of juice. Most people pour the wine from the box so it’s a good chance they might have missed the raisins and thrown them out with the empty box. I’m familiar with RJ Spagnols kits and I knew that this particular one included a packet of raisins so I lifted the bag to find them. Others may not be so lucky.
I used pink chlorinated cleaner (sani-brew) to clean and sanitize all the equipment that I would be using. After 20 minutes I rinsed and sprayed everything with a sulphite sanitizing solution. I used bottled water. I prefer reverse osmosis water because I know that I’m not adding anything to my wine that shouldn’t be there. I boiled a kettle full of water and poured it into the bucket then added the packet of bentonite and stirred to dissolve. I then poured the bag of juice into the bucket, stirred it well and added more water to bring it up to about 21 litres. The raisins had been soaking in a bowl of hot water and were ready to go so in they went. Next I added hot water to the juice bag, rinsed it, poured it into the bucket and more water to make up 23 litres.
RJ Spagnols uses Lalvin EC-1118 yeast exclusively in all their wine kits. There is a good reason for this. EC-1118 is a forgiving yeast. It is a fast fermenter and can tolerate a wide range of conditions which is an important consideration if you are marketing a product that will be used by novice wine makers. But I’ve set out to make the best wine possible from this kit so I’ve opted to use a yeast that is more suited to the style of wine I’m making. From Lalvin’s recommendations and information found in their fact sheet ICV-D47 seemed to fit the bill.
ICV-D47 is a more demanding yeast than EC-1118. The fact sheet recommends a 5 gram packet of yeast per 20 litres of wine. Since the kit will produce 23 litres of wine I added two packets of yeast. Adding the extra yeast will shorten the lag time before fermentation begins. Long lag times can produce unwanted flavours and sluggish fermentation. I rehydrated the yeast as per instructions on the yeast packet. ICV-D47 requires fermentation in a fairly narrow temperature range between 15º and 20º Celsius. The must was at 22º when it was time to add the yeast. The rehydrated yeast temperature was 35º Celsius so I added 1/2 cup of the must to the yeast to help it adjust to the cooler temperature. I waited 5 minutes and repeated. This brought the temperature of the yeast solution within range of the must. I waited another 5 minutes then added the yeast to the must. I gave it a good stir and said goodnight.
The next morning the fermentation had already begun. The raisins had rehydrated and looked like tiny grapes (which they are) floating on top of the must. The temperature had fallen to 20º so I was quite happy. I gave it a good stir and left for work. When I came home for lunch I added 3 grams of Fermaid-K. This is a nutrient made by Lallemand which they recommend for wine fermentations. Their fact sheet says that you should add 1/2 of the recommended dosage at the beginning of fermentation then the remainder about 1/3 of the way through.
The wine is really cranking it out this morning. The smell of fermentation is all through the house. I’ll be taking a gravity reading tonight and making some observations. I’ll let you know all about it tomorrow.
