Just wanted to tell everybody about a pyment that I bottled the other day. This made a great wine/mead, and I will definitely be experimenting with the concept more. I made a nine gallon batch from a Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay wine kit and ten pounds of honey. Here's what I did...
Take two carboys, and divide the wine juice evenly between the two. Dissolve 5 pounds of honey in a couple gallons of warm water, add to one carboy; repeat adding to other carboy. Top both carboys up to 4.5 gallons, to make a gravity of 1.100. Ferment with Premier Cuvee wine yeast. I added 1.5 oz of medium toast French Oak cubes to one fermenter near the end of activity after sanitizing them in hot water, and left the other one alone. Let them sit for another two weeks, and transfer to secondaries. Let sit another few months until clear and bottle.
The one that I oaked is quite aggressive in its oak character, and I only enjoy it at this point when it is blended with the other non-oaked batch. I hope the oak character ages out a bit and becomes a more round soft character as I suspect it will. I figure on this one being around for a couple years before I really get into it. Next time I will try and use less oak, and let it sit on it longer and see what that does.
The non-oaked version is a nice clean crisp wine that is quite the crowd pleaser. I brought a small bottle to a NYE party, and it was a hit. Notes of honey are in the front, while the grape stands firmly in the background. The final gravity was about 1.000, so it finishes dry, but the honey character gives the perception of a sweetness.
I am very excited about these wines, and as I said, am looking forward to making more. I have started on a melomel pyment. I took a Vintner's Reserve Island Mist series kit, the Mango Citrus Symphony, and am making a batch with it. These kits are designed to be like a wine cooler that is not carbonated. I made it to seven gallons instead of the suggested six, and added 11 pounds of honey to it to make an OG of 1.105. I'll post later on how that one goes.