[quote=“Brew Meister Smith”]Just a heads up… Winex is sometimes vague in their descriptions of things and can contradict themselves at times. If you are thinking of doing an Eclipse, here are a few personal opinions:
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For best results with skins do not use the muslin bag. Just dump them in and let it fly. Winex actually used to say this themselves but had to change their tune because this meathod is not viable for most on site opperations who do not have the time to deal with this.
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Follow the fermentation instructions fairly closely, and degass very thoroughly. I might suggest an extended period in the primary to maximize contact with the skins (say up to 2 weeks instead of 1) and degass and stabilize in the third week.
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I like leaving the wine in a carboy for several extra months and adding an extra racking to remove extra sediment. I never top up with wine as instructed and have never had a problem with oxidation even up to 5 months. If you want to bulk age for a year I probably would top up, but I don’t really see the point of aging this long unless it is in an oak barrel.
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Bottle Aging: This can have as much to do with the varietal as the product line. But as a general rule I’d try to age Eclipse reds for at least 8-12 months (from staring the kit). These are supposed to mature earlier than the Estate series did, but I’m not sure how much merrit I put into that. What I like to do with most of my wines is taste a sample at bottling. Then one bottle at 3 months / 6 months (in the bottle). Then usually after 8 or 9 months I will try a bottle a month until fully mature. This really gives you an idea of the aging process for an individual wine. And I always hold several bottles in reserve to age for several years.
Again this is just my personal way of doing things.[/quote]
Thanks for the tips. I’ve done 12-15 beers or so and your tip #4 there is actually very similar to how I work with the beers I’ve made (all be it, shorter time line). I always try one after two weeks in the bottle (like it says) and then one a week after that until I think it is ready. I also always save two or three to try/share much later.
The extra racking also sounds like a good idea as I noticed that I stirred up a little sediment that ended up in the bottles.
