Cabernet/Shiraz Winter 2000

Current Status	Bottled	Start Date	9 February 2000
Source	Brew King Selection International Wine Series. This is a premium wine kit with 16 liters of (slightly concentrated) juice.
Initial Gravity	1.092	Initial Brix	23
Potential Alcohol	12.5%	Yeast	Premièr Cuvée
Oak	2oz untoasted and 2oz medium toasted	First Racking Date	15 February 2000
Specific Gravity	1.000	Second Racking Date	27 February 2000
Tannin	1.5 tsp	Bottling Date	30 September 2000

This was my first attempt at quality wine. A good kit was used which was mostly juice. Due to the somewhat large amount of tannins added and the youth of the wine it is rather tannic and has aged well.

Using a kit probably would have made a lot of sense from the beginning. It makes life much easier though I do not recommend following the directions provided with the kit, they try to rush the process way too much. In fact, this wine was rushed a bit anyway so it could be out in time for Christmas (with a few months of bottle aging before then). In particular the tannins will take awhile to mellow.

This is the wine that Matt and I had originally envisioned for last Christmas. Hopefully it will have been worth the wait. The quality of this wine is much, much better than my original one.


Standard front label	Standard back label

Front label designed by Matthew Donovan	Back label designed by Matthew Donovan

Carlo would be proud. Hopefully Jon and Amelia still remember why we made this label for them.	Carlo back label.

A special label for Vittoria. What more can be said.	Back label for Vittoria.

A special label made by Matt. Perhaps you would have to be an MD to understand.	Back label for Matt.

A special label for our annual winter trip(s) to the cabin.	Back label for the cabin.