This is my third kit in the Selection Limited Edition Series. Here’s how the manufacturer describes it.
“Italian Primitivo is medium red in colour veering to brick, rich, and concentrated, exuding aromas of blackberry, plums, tobacco, prunes and red cherries, with the Italian signature of firm tannins and a long, gripping finish with notes of vanilla and toast. Like most Italian reds it retains acidity to balance fruit character and marry well with food.”
It sounds like my kind of wine. This kit had four packages of medium toasted oak powder. The juice was rich in colour and like all of the kits in this range the varietal aroma was intense. In this kit I substituted the EC-1118 yeast for Lalvin KI-V1116. This yeast is a fast starter. I added the yeast late in the evening on March 31 and now less than 48 hours later the wine has completed half of its fermentation. I started my Hang Ten at the same time but used Lalvin RC212 and it has completed one third of its fermentation. So it’s quite a difference in the two yeast. I am fermenting these wines at an elevated temperature. It’s hovering around 28º Celsius. I intend to keep it at this temperature during the fermentation and stabilizing process. I’m hoping this will make degassing easier.
