Cellar Craft Amarone Wine Kit

This coming Wednesday (7/25/07) we will be placing our first order with Cellar Craft International out of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. BlueStem Winery is excited about adding the Cellar Craft label wine ingredient kits to our already stellar lineup of WinExpert wine ingredient kits. I am going to spend a few days on the blog doing write-ups about the Cellar Craft kits that we will be stocking with the first being the Cellar Craft Showcase Amarone 18 liter kit (16 liters of juice with a 2 liter crushed grape pack which includes the skins from over 12 pounds of varietal grapes).

Amarone is a legendary wine from the Valpolicella region of Italy. Its unique character comes from the addition of dried grapes during fermentation. The depth that results is similar to a Port or Late Harvest wine but without the sweetness.

The Cellar Craft Showcase Amarone ingredient kit received 9 medals in the 2006 Wine Maker Magazine competition. The wines foundation is Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara grapes from the Veneto region of Italy. The must is fermented on crushed varietal grapes from over ten pounds of virgin fruit plus four pounds of whole red wine grapes which have been sun-dried to perfection. A double dose of untoasted American oak is used to balance the wine and, with aging, tame the natural tannins.

This wine is very full-bodied with a deep red color and is richly dry. It features notes of plum, sour cherry, raspberry and vanilla which blend with flavors hints of anise, bitter chocolate, coffee, tobacco, leather and fig that develop with age. This wine features a long, lingering finish and alcohol that should exceed 15%. To enjoy this wine to its fullest this wine should be given at least 12 months to age.

This wine kit and many others from Cellar Craft International will be available at BlueStem Winery within a few weeks and will also be available on our website at www.bluestemwine.com.

Enjoy!