William Frazier wrote:

>
> Scott Lindner wrote "I made my first wine not
> long ago and after three months in the bottle I
> don't like it very much.....I've been brewing
> beer for 14 years....We love
> cabernets....To us, the wine tastes
> cheap, a pinch fruity, and thin.....I used a
> Vintner's Reserve juice kit."
>
> Scott - I'm no fan of red wine kits (white wine
> kits make pretty good wine). It will be hard to
> produce a proper tasting Cabernet without using
> whole grapes and a fermentation scheme that
> includes primary fermentation in
> contact with the skins. With your experience
> brewing you know a lot of
> what you need to make good wine. You already
> know about the influence of
> yeast on the taste and mouthfeel of finished
> beer. Rather than use yeast that comes with the
> kit select a yeast that builds body (I like BM45
> for
> Cabernet).

Just curious, how does the BM45 build body?
I know that an increase in glycerol can have the
sensory effect of increased body. Is this how
BM45 does it?


> Also, read up on enological tannins
> such as Tan'Cor Grand Cru
> and Grap'Tan S. Addition of small amounts of
> these tannins during bulk
> aging can add body to thin wines. Plan on
> buying some Cabernet Sauvignon
> grapes for your next attempt. Include a 3 or 4
> day cold soak (at 40F)
> before starting fermentation. That step will
> extract a lot of what the
> grapes have to offer before fermentation. Good
> luck.
>
> Bill Frazier
> Olathe, Kansas USA