Yarrawanga Creek - Australian Blend Pinot Grigio.

[damienair]

I am not a wine connoisseur, but I enjoy a glass of red or white wine, I'm not fussy. To me wine is an alcoholic beverage made from grapes. That's it, some I like, some I don't. I started brewing beer kits in December and had done two beers which turned out lovely. My good wife enjoys a glass or two of wine at the weekends and I usually have a few beers. She likes Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc white wine. So I decided to make her a Pinot Grigio wine kit. I did not know which one to select so I rang the Homebrew Company who advised that the Yarrawanga Creek - Australian Blend Pinot Grigio was a good kit. He said that the customer reviews were very good and he had done it himself. This is my first wine attempt after doing two beer kits.
It is advertised as a 7 day wine kit and cost €45.95, 23 liters. I started the wine on the 13/01/2021 OG = 1.070 @ 23 degrees C.
Took a hydrometer reading on the 20th and 22nd of January and the FG was 0.995 @ 22 degrees C.
I then moved the Fermentation bucket down to the Kitchen so as to rack and degas. I racked the wine and degassed it on the 22/01/21, I also added stabilizer and finings 3. Added finings 4 on the 23rd of January and left it for a couple of days to clear. On the 25th I racked the wine off to the bottling bucket, I did another degassing several times and left it for 24 hours before bottling.
I bottled the wine on the 26th and had a yield of 29 bottles of Pinot Grigio. I had asked my neighbors to save their wine bottles for me after Christmas and had about 21 wine bottles which required corks and 8 screw top bottles. It was also my first time to cork a bottle and it was straight forward. On the 30/01/21 I added the heat shrink caps and labels on the bottles. I left them in a cool room, utility room beside the garage, in a press to condition.
We opened a bottle to try it out with dinner on Wednesday evening the 10th of March. I was going to leave it until April, but we gave it a go. We had a glass of shop bought Pinot Grigio which retails at around €10 to compare against. The Yarrawanga Creek - Australian Blend Pinot Grigio turned out lovely. Very drinkable which is all that matters and compared very well against the shop bought Pinot Grigio. I had 2 glasses that evening and felt a little tipsy afterwards, so too did my lovely wife. ABV from my hydrometer readings should have been left at 10.32%. But I think it has matured a little stronger. It is a lovely Pinot Grigio, as good as any shop bought bottle in the €10 range and was an easy kit to do. I am happy with my first attempt and look forward to the enjoying a few glasses during the summer BBQ season.

 

[damienair]

Just a quick update. It’s been a few weeks later since we opened our first bottle. The Pinot Grigio has turned from a nice drinkable wine to a very very nice and very drinkable white wine. It is genuinely really good and nicer than anything in the €10 shop bought range. We opened a bottle last weekend with dinner and I was very impressed. I also gave a bottle to my Mum, and my Sister helped her with it. My Sister is a wine drinker and loved it. She said it was more like a Sauvignon Blanc than a Pinot Grigio, but she really enjoyed it and is looking forward to visiting us once restrictions are lifted so as she can have some more. Time is improving this wine. I’ve a few beers ready and conditioning which I am leaving until mid May to enjoy. I’ve 26 bottles of this Pinot Grigio left which we will enjoy after May with a few BBQ’s. I’ll definitely be doing this kit again. My Mum has requested that I make her this kit, she is collecting bottles.