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Trying an ice wine kit

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I have had Wine Exchange red and white kit ice-wines and I liked them. The Zinfandel blush ice-style wine I made by not diluting to the full 5 gallons is actually not terriffically sweet (except maybe for AToE). Brewlog's downstairs though so I don't have its final SG on hand.
 
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Ha, hey! Rose/pink is actually one of the few wines I can tolerate being sweeter, probably due to the tannin from the red-wine part. That said, pretty much every one I buy I think to myself... if this were sweeter it would rock even more! So many you DO have me pegged!
 
Checked the log, it finished at 1.010. Which was a little on the sweet side for my pear wine but just about right for this one.
 
Mine is down to 1.058 already, that's a 0.050 drop in about 24 hours. You would never know it by looking at it, there has never been a bit of foam. Just some bubbles. Strange.
 
It's at 1.010 right now, tomorrow might be the day to rack it into secondary. I had to sneak a tiny taste... I can already tell that I'm gonna love this, and I'm glad things worked out to get a second 3 gallon kit free!
 
Does ice wine have a guideline for it's final SG at all? I thought they were pretty much all supposed to end up between 1.030 and 1.060 kinda range?
 
I haven't made an icewine kit but my sherry kit starts at 1.120 and probably goes dry, then you stabilize and add a fruit pack and essence and other stuff... Was there just the one fruit bag in the kit? I'd think it should go dry with the starting SG of 1.117 you reported...
 
So I also bought one of these Diamanti icewine kits from Amazon. The instructions say to just sprinkle the EC-1118 yeast onto the surface of the must. Is that OK (i.e. winemaking for dummies), or is it better to follow the instructions on the packet and do the recommended warm water preparation instead?
 
Every wine kit I've ever bought contained EC-1118 and the instructions were to sprinkle on top or follow the instructions on the packet... I sprinkled for years, now I rehydrate as per the packet, I honestly haven't noticed any difference yet. Maybe a yeast-abuse test is on my to-do list already, I can't remember.
 
I racked mine into secondary last night, with an SG of 1.002. Airlock is slowly bubbling away. I'm used to making JAO so the relatively tiny amount of sediment surprised me.
 
Chevette Girl said:
Every wine kit I've ever bought contained EC-1118 and the instructions were to sprinkle on top or follow the instructions on the packet... I sprinkled for years, now I rehydrate as per the packet, I honestly haven't noticed any difference yet. Maybe a yeast-abuse test is on my to-do list already, I can't remember.
Click to expand...

I think it's just a general cleaner ferment thing, less chance for spoilage organisms to do any work (such a thing as subtle spoilage I think...), less fusels being produced by the yeast, needs less aging, tastes just that little bit cleaner once it has aged... I think it's a subtle thing, just an overall slightly better product that is better younger.
 
I think I'll rehydrate, just as good policy, when I get around to making this icewine kit. Gotta wait for a batch of mead to get out of my fermenting bucket first!

But yeah, the EC-1118 seems to be pretty foolproof. :)
 
You should also check out botrytis wines if you like ice wines. They're a bit cheaper and every bit as good.

I had a Sauterns region botrytis wine on my wedding night :)
 
It stayed at 1.004 for a good while, so I racked it and added the sweetener juice pack plus all additives they provided. It brought it to 1.050, and it tasted pretty good. I think some aging will benefit it. After all the fining agents I added, it's clearing nicely.
 
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