# could my wine be finished???



## marleycat (Sep 18, 2010)

Just started 216 lbs of Zin grapes on 9/13. Added yeast on 9/14, worked like crazy for 3 days, today (9/18) seems to have stopped, so I checked the S.G. it is .99 starting SG was 1.10... Could it be finished already?? I have never seen it work so fast. Should I press it or wait a few more days? Also we have considered adding some oak chips for flavor. When is the best time to do this?

We only have 1 10-gallon oak barrel and it is in use right now... do the oak chips work? When do most wine makers put the wine in a barrel and for how long? Thanks you all for your input!


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## djrockinsteve (Sep 19, 2010)

marleycat said:


> Just started 216 lbs of Zin grapes on 9/13. Added yeast on 9/14, worked like crazy for 3 days, today (9/18) seems to have stopped, so I checked the S.G. it is .99 starting SG was 1.10... Could it be finished already?? I have never seen it work so fast. Should I press it or wait a few more days? Also we have considered adding some oak chips for flavor. When is the best time to do this?
> 
> We only have 1 10-gallon oak barrel and it is in use right now... do the oak chips work? When do most wine makers put the wine in a barrel and for how long? Thanks you all for your input!



Starting at 1.1 is high. If your gravity hasn't moved over a day or two and it's down to .990 it's finished.

Rack it into a carboy with a quarter teaspoon sulfite, degass and add clarifer if you want and let it clear 4-6 weeks.

Rack and add a pinch of sulfite, oak chips and bulk age.

I use oak chips and they work great. Some on here use the spirals or chunks. Personal preference. I leave oak in reds 10 months, whites 5 months. 1 cup per 5 gallon for some. More or less others.


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## Luc (Sep 19, 2010)

It is possible and I have experienced it once.
Consider yourself lucky, normally fermentation takes longer.

Like stated before, press and bring to secondary.

Oak chips work like a charm.

Luc


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## PatL (Sep 19, 2010)

Yes you should press and rack to a carboy. After 1 or 2 days rack off the gross lees. The gross lees can lead to H2S production.

From this point you can add oak spirals, cubes, or chips. You can add Tannins if desired. MLF may be in your plans also.

Suggest you read red wine making manual on this site. morewinemaking.com/content/manuals


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## SovereignSons (Sep 19, 2010)

Your primary is must, correct? My understanding is that the disadvantage of pressing and going straight to secondary after only a few days is that you won't extract the full color and body from the skins. 

Regardless of how long it takes for primary fermentation to complete, I continue to plunge my must twice daily for 10-14 days to get all that rich color before pressing. 

IDK, have I been going about this all wrong? There seems to be a consensus here that once primary finished up the pressing begins.


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## Wade E (Sep 19, 2010)

6 days is a decent amount of time for color and tannin extraction if you have used enzymes. At this point I would begin malolactic fermentation if needed, in other words do a malic aid test to determine if it is needed. Must is unfermeneted wine, once your fermentation begins you have now transformed your must into wine.


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## SovereignSons (Sep 19, 2010)

Wade E said:


> 6 days is a decent amount of time for color and tannin extraction if you have used enzymes. At this point I would begin malolactic fermentation if needed, in other words do a malic aid test to determine if it is needed. Must is unfermeneted wine, once your fermentation begins you have now transformed your must into wine.



Enzymes? Such as?

We sulfite at the crush/destem stage, add yeast the next morning, and that's when the 10-14 days for us starts. ML cultures get added once we press and transfer to carboys. 

As far as the term "must" goes, I thought that referred to the solids/liquid pre-press mixture, regardless of its place in the fermentation process. But anyway, if I'm not adding enzymes, is the 2-week plunge period necessary?


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## Wade E (Sep 19, 2010)

The plunge process is needede for as long as the fruit is in your wine. Must is unfermented wine. Enymes should always be used to help break down the cellular structure of any fruit to extract etter color and better flavor. For red grapes Lafase HE Grand Cru, here is a link to the manufacturer of it and its description. You should use enzymes in all your winemaking as it also prevents hazes that can be very hard to get rid of otherwise.
http://www.scottlabsltd.com/products/fermentation/enzymes.asp


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## SovereignSons (Sep 19, 2010)

Wade E said:


> The plunge process is needede for as long as the fruit is in your wine. Must is unfermented wine. Enymes should always be used to help break down the cellular structure of any fruit to extract etter color and better flavor. For red grapes Lafase HE Grand Cru, here is a link to the manufacturer of it and its description. You should use enzymes in all your winemaking as it also prevents hazes that can be very hard to get rid of otherwise.



I've never had any problems with light color, body, or haze. But I suppose it can't hurt to start adding enzyme, and if it'll cut down on the plunge time that's a good thing as the wine will make it into the carboys more quickly. Thanks for the info.


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## danielpego (Sep 19, 2010)

you can use oak chips during primary fermentation, but it sounds like you've already passed that. not to fear though, you can add it to the wine afterwards as well!! i did that with my sangiovese last year that i kept in a demijohn and it added a nice flavor! i was also able to remove them after the first racking!!


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## Flame145 (Nov 4, 2010)

Wade E said:


> The plunge process is needede for as long as the fruit is in your wine. Must is unfermented wine. Enymes should always be used to help break down the cellular structure of any fruit to extract etter color and better flavor. For red grapes Lafase HE Grand Cru, here is a link to the manufacturer of it and its description. You should use enzymes in all your winemaking as it also prevents hazes that can be very hard to get rid of otherwise.
> http://www.scottlabsltd.com/products/fermentation/enzymes.asp



I never released that I should be using a pectic enzymes on wines made with grapes. I always that it was only to be used with wines made from fruit. I have been doing wine without. Well just another thing that I learned. Next year I will try with enzyme.


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## JohnT (Nov 5, 2010)

danielpego said:


> you can use oak chips during primary fermentation, but it sounds like you've already passed that. not to fear though, you can add it to the wine afterwards as well!! i did that with my sangiovese last year that i kept in a demijohn and it added a nice flavor! i was also able to remove them after the first racking!!




Question: Were you planning on adding oak just after crush/destem? 

To get the full benefits from oak, you need to have your wine sitting on oak for 6 to 8 weeks. This is how long it takes wine to penetrate the wood and extract the preferred flavor compounds. Since most primary fermentations run about a week (4 to 11 days), I am afraid that your wine will not have enough exposure to do any good. IMHO, you should wait until after the second racking. 

Also, I prefer oak beads over oak chips. I find that I can get the nice "Vanilla" compounds from beads and have never been able to get them from chips. If you are in an experimenting mood, and if possible, why not split you batch and do half using chips and half using beads. See which one you like better.


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