# After lysozyme, k-meta, and degassing, white wine is cloudy and tastes bad



## jacksmith (Jul 13, 2011)

I have a batch of 2010 Lake Erie Traminette from juice still in carboys. I thought it was getting close to bottling time as it was tasting pretty good and had already gone through cold stabilization.

Up 'till now, I did not add lysozyme at any point. Recently I was running a paper chromatography test for MLF completion of my 2011 Chilean Syrah, and I decided to throw a sample of the Traminette into the test. The test revealed that the wine *might* have undergone a slight bit of MLF. So I decided to add lysozyme...

Two weeks ago, I added 1.5g/gallon of lysozyme and .15g/gallon k-meta - stirred into about a cup of wine - to the bottoms of a clean carboy then racked the wine into the carboy. Over the next few days I degassed the wine using a mityvac. The wine is now hazy and has bits of precipitate floating about in it. I'm guessing it's lysozyme given that k-meta has never done this on me before. Additionally, the wine tastes quite bad right now. It might be a rubbery sulfur character, but I can't definitively call it that. The wine seems to be lacking in much of the aromatic quality it had before this treatment.

Questions:

1. Did I screw up by adding lysozyme & k-meta at the same time? I've since read a few mentions online not to add them simultaneously, but I can't find anything that says what would happen if you do.

2. What's with the haze & particulate matter? Is this normal with lysozyme? Will it drop? Do I now need to fine with bentonite?

3. The change in flavor - is it caused by the recent lysozyme/k-meta addition? I'd read that lysozyme can't be detected. Could the problem be temporary? Does degassing cause wine to taste & smell bad or off for some time afterward?


----------



## winemaker_3352 (Jul 13, 2011)

The haze could be dead yeast and MLB. They'll settle out and just rack again.

I don't think there is a problem adding both k-meta and lysozyme at the same time.

As far as the smell and taste - if sulfur is at all present - i would give it a good splash racking and see if that improves it.

Then you just let the haziness settle out and rack again.


----------



## jacksmith (Jul 13, 2011)

This wine had already been racked 3-4 times and cold stabilized prior to this. It was crystal clear prior to this treatment. I didn't inoculate MLB, but there could have been a trace of native stuff in there.

Regarding adding lysozyme & k-meta simultaneously, I found this from Scott Labs. I also saw a few people repeat this advice on message boards, but with no indication of what would happen if you did add them simultaneously.

I'm concerned that I've over-worked this wine. Too many rackings, too many treatments not planned out well enough. It's all a learning experience and this is my first white so it's bound to be far from perfect. It's just that it was doing reasonably well before this and now it's pretty bad. I'm wondering if it will come back around with time. Realistically, it should have been in the bottle a couple months ago.


----------



## winemaker_3352 (Jul 13, 2011)

Chances are it is from the lysozyme. Reading the article you sent - you can add fining agents to drop this out.

But you will still need to rack off the sediment before bottling.

Don't worry about the # of racking you do - if you SO2 level is good - your wine will be fine.

Some wines i rack more than others - just depends on the lees i get on the bottom of the carboy.


----------

