Cru Select Brunello kit

Anyone ever made this type of wine before?

Kit is $100 or so and makes 30 bottles and the cheapest Brunello at Total Wine is about $50. Seems like a great deal. Takes over a year, which is a long time for a kit wine, but while I'm waiting, I can make a few other kits that are drinkable in 3 to 6 months.

I'd really like to try the Brunello...

Doctor, I'm considering the kit myself as I like Brunello and have had them in the $50 to $65 dollar range. For my 40th B Day this June I'm splurging for at least $100 bottle if not more, stll researching the best years of the harvest. I'm finding that noone I've talked to who is making the kit has ever had a real Brunello to compare it to, have you? if so I'd love to keep in touch to see what you think after you age the kit for a bit and see if it tastes close to a real Brunello. I'm having my doubts but people on here who have made the Amarone kits say it turned out awesome and a decent bottle of that is $40 a crack too so maybe I'm wrong. Good Luck and I hope it works out well for you, Ken

Hello Doc, I have a Selection Limited Edition Brunella that has just gone from the Primary Fermentor to a carboy-so has a long way to go. It sure smells good though and I did sneak a small taste after I checked the SG and it wasn't bad.

Ken, I don't want to hijack the Doc's thread, but stay in touch with me and I will ship you a bottle of mine when the time comes. Who knows, there might be something special coming out of your cellar someday I could have a taste of.

Textron, sounds great, I currently have from California juice pails Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Syrah. From kits I have Italian Sangiovese and Crushed grape pack GSM from cellar craft. I also have on order the new Australian trio so just name your pick. I wont be bottling until September though as l bulk age for 1 year except maybe the kits I'll bottle after 6 months, Ken

Hi Ken-PM sent.

Texron said:

Hello Doc, I have a Selection Limited Edition Brunella that has just gone from the Primary Fermentor to a carboy-so has a long way to go. It sure smells good though and I did sneak a small taste after I checked the SG and it wasn't bad.

Ken, I don't want to hijack the Doc's thread, but stay in touch with me and I will ship you a bottle of mine when the time comes. Who knows, there might be something special coming out of your cellar someday I could have a taste of.

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Let me know how it goes through the next steps.
I need to wait until warmer weather, the last kit I made sat in the bathtub and was a bit too cool. Took forever to finish fermenting. If I'm going to make a high-end brunello, I want everything to be right.

I hope it comes out good, a brunello is generally so full of flavor that I think a less-than-perfect one will be a disapointment.

All this brunello talk has me wanting to make a trip to Greenville this weekend for a wine fridge stocking!

On the first I racked it from the primary to the carboy. In the short time it was in the primary fermenter it went from an OG of 1.084 to 0.994. It been sitting quietly since and is a beautifull, deep, deep red, almost black color at present. About the middle of next week I will stir it well to degas a bit and the put the stabilzers in. I plan to bulk age this one for an extended period. I am hoping I can leave it alone until this time next year and then bottle it.

Have you tried to vaccum the gas out instead of stirring it?

I bought a $30 battery operated Vacu-Seal unit at Walmart. I pull the airlock out and insert the (sanitized) tip in the hole in the stopper. I do about 5 minutes of pulling vaccum and waiting until the foam subsides, 4 times. I do that for 4 days while the wine is clearing and after the 4th day, very few bubbles came out.

The "fresh" wine was quite good, right out of the carboy. It had no carbonic acid bite on the tounge and actually tasted aged.

Give it a try, gotta be better than introducing all that O2 by stirring!

That sounds like a great idea Doc thats worth looking into. I will have to see if I can find a suitable vacum pump at Wally World and give it a try.

The other thing that works great for degassing is a mity vac- like the vacuum that you use to bleed brakes.

YooperBrew said:

The other thing that works great for degassing is a mity vac- like the vacuum that you use to bleed brakes.

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The battery operated device is nice, but it eats batteries.
After degassing, I had to buy a new set of batteries. I think I will get a set of rechargables...

The Mity Vac is manual.

My Brunello has been stabilized and clearing for 11 days now. It has thrown down quite a layer of lees and is a deep purplish/black color. Beautiful! I sure would like to pull a little off for a taste but just keep telling myself it would be a waste. Just wanted to wet your appetite Ken-she's really looking good.

Textron, I'm racking 5 carboys today that were started in September and bottling a carboy from a wine kit. Thank God for days off, good luck with the Brunello, my Syrah is deep purple as well and looking good,my Cab and Merlot not clearing as well, Ken