bottling mine right now. aged in a Hungarian Oak barrel. I blended 2 kits and fortified with some E&J Brandy.
additional: 5 gallons bottled, what’s left in the barrel is going into the bulk aging Pyment. kinda buzzed after the fortifying & sampling to my taste. I’m just sayin’.
Which kits? Winexpert?
I was also wondering which kits you used. I’m not the biggest fan of E&J, but I bet it still turns out well.
Wine Expert & RJ Spagnols. i skipped the oak packet since I aged in the barrel. the blending tasted real good. I did 2 bottles without the brandy for a comparison.
I’m also very interested in trying Cellar Craft’s Port. Has anyone ever tried it. I really tend to like their big reds, so the port is probably a very good translation.
And unlike Winex, I believe they actually suggest fortifying it.
How much brandy to how much wine? I’m envious been wanting to get barrels for fortified wines and meads for a long time. Are you back sweetening prior to the barrel?
I have not tried fortifying mysaelf, but I have seen a few people ad a mickey of brandy to a 23l batch. Seems fair to me.
I just dumped until it tasted right to me. no back sweetening. I tried one of my 6oz bottles last week. it’s gonna be freaking nice next year!
