# Wine duds— Do you dump or salvage?



## Ajmassa (Mar 21, 2021)

I guess they all can’t be winners! What do you guys do if/when a wine ends up sub-par?

Not talking badly flawed dumpworthy wine, but just not something you would enjoy. A wine you know you wouldn’t ever be reaching for off the shelf. 

Trying to think outside the box since i have no desire for 13gal of homemade vinegar. And i’d prefer not to use sub-par wine to top-up good wine— or waste much good wine to blend in to salvage. But i’m not sure if I’d wanna stamp my name on it to give out either. 
I find it incredibly difficult to dump wine down the drain. have only done this once on a batch with mycoderma after i tried saving. 

Do you dump, bottle and give away, or figure another way to salvage?


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## Bossbaby (Mar 21, 2021)

use it for cooking as a marinade or a reduction


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## Booty Juice (Mar 21, 2021)

Cooking wine for sure.

Some people (I know a few) add Sprite or 7-Up to their wine - no matter what. If you know any one like that......


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## mikewatkins727 (Mar 21, 2021)

Bossbaby said:


> use it for cooking as a marinade or a reduction





Booty Juice said:


> Cooking wine for sure.
> 
> Some people (I know a few) add Sprite or 7-Up to their wine - no matter what. If you know any one like that......


Hey! Thanks for the ideas. I got one, three gallon batch minus one bottle, I've been scratching my head over what to do with it.


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## dralarms (Mar 21, 2021)

I’ve got 2 or 3 batches that I absolutely loath. But the folks who like those flavors say they are great, so I don’t “flush” anything except absolute failures, the rest I bottle and find someone who likes them.


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## Booty Juice (Mar 21, 2021)

Just remembered, I have Spanish neighbors who serve sangria. Some cheap wine, dump in a fruit salad....


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## sour_grapes (Mar 21, 2021)

Honestly, I just drink it.


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## CDrew (Mar 22, 2021)

In 2019 I ended up with 10 gallons of Mourvedre I was not happy with. I kept working on it for about 2 weeks, but realized it was just not good. In the end, It went down the storm drain. I could tell I was never going to want to drink it, so I cut my losses early.


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## salcoco (Mar 22, 2021)

if you have a distiller near by have it distilled and use a a port additive


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## BernardSmith (Mar 22, 2021)

Would/could a distiller nearby sell the spirit back to you for you to use as the base for a liqueur?


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## SLM (Mar 22, 2021)

I make gallons of sangria throughout the summer, it's very popular. Unless the wine has such a funk that it will dominate the taste, any low quality wine can serve as a base. Here's a couple good starter recipes. I also like to experiment with fruit flavored brandies - blackberry, raspberry, peach.

Red Wine Sangria Recipe | Bobby Flay | Food Network
White Peach Sangria Recipe | Bobby Flay | Food Network


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## balatonwine (Mar 22, 2021)

Ajmassa said:


> What do you guys do if/when a wine ends up sub-par?



Use it for cooking.

Use it for mulled wine (the spices hide the flaws).

Drink it when no one is looking.

Dump it.

Side note: I could have it distilled, into the local variety of "Pálinka", but I do not like distilled spirits, except 14 year old stuff from Scotland.....


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## Mike Parisi (Mar 22, 2021)

Sangria for sure. Fruit, vodka, brandy or rum, sugar. Here's a good recipe, but I leave out the seltzer and use dark rum.

Red Sangria Is Perfect For Sipping Poolside


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## winemaker81 (Mar 22, 2021)

All my ideas have been touched on already -- all good ideas.

I made "beef burgundy" last night -- stew beef, onion, mushrooms, gyros seasoning (this worked amazingly well), and 2/3 bottle of my 2019 Malbec that has an odd aftertaste I don't care for. There were almost no leftovers.

Going to brine a chicken? Use a couple bottles of wine (white or red) in place of some of the water. You can use a lot of wine this way.

Do meal prep ahead of freezing. Add wine & seasoning to a ziplock bag. Add meat (chicken, pork, beef, etc) and freeze. The meat marinates as it's freezing, and more as it defrosts.

When cooking, open 2 bottles -- the one you don't like for the food and one you do like for you. This way neither gets jealous.


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## mbleill (Mar 23, 2021)

A good friend of mine told me that bad wine makes a good environmentally friendly weed killer.


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## JBP (Mar 23, 2021)

Getting late in the season, but vin brûlée is another option. Our Italian daughter-in-law introduced us to it - nice on a dark, cold winter evening. Or a cool spring/fall evening at the cabin, sitting by the lake. Like sangria and wine coolers, quality wine is not an advantage. I can share her recipe or you can just google vin brûlée recipes and search for one that strikes your fancy. This one is more complicated than most, but a great example.


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## Rocky (Mar 23, 2021)

Booty Juice said:


> Just remembered, I have Spanish neighbors who serve sangria. Some cheap wine, dump in a fruit salad....


This is what I do with it and enjoy it in the Summer months. You can add all kinds of fresh fruit, e.g. lemons, oranges, apples, etc., some juices and a little bit of sugar. If you like, top it with some Club Soda and add some mint leaves. Served over ice, it makes a very refreshing drink on hot Summer days.


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## ibglowin (Mar 23, 2021)

sour_grapes said:


> Honestly, I just drink it.


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## ibglowin (Mar 23, 2021)

Or.........






sour_grapes said:


> Honestly, I just drink it.


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## winemanden (Mar 23, 2021)

If it's a dry wine, we add a little lemonade. If it's sweet soda water. Bit like a spritzer I suppose.


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## KCCam (Mar 23, 2021)

I’ll take it! You’d have no trouble shipping that across the border to Canada, I’m sure.


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## sour_grapes (Mar 23, 2021)

A wonderful summer use is a _granita_ (or sometimes called by the French _granité_). Basically, you add sugar-water and wine, then freeze it in a shallow pan. But while it is freezing, you take it out of the freezer and stir it up a bit once in a while. The result is an iced dessert, with a coarser texture than a sherbet.


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## Ajmassa (Mar 23, 2021)

Sangria or some other fun summer wine recipe sounds cool. I might play around with different ones. We were at a mexican joint last week known for their homemade sangria. I was against it since i’m not much of a sangria guy. Well, long story short—- we left our car and über’d home


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## sour_grapes (Mar 23, 2021)

Thank goodness for Uber!


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## Ajmassa (Mar 23, 2021)

The dud wine was my 1st substantial all grape batch made on my own—a tuscan blend from ‘17 that i screwed up. All I can taste is my errors. I did no pre-AF adjustments. Then overadjusted acid post AF. Then possibly over-adjusted the over-adjustment. 

But acid balance isn’t even the issue. It’s weird. The whole profile seems off. The tweaks seem to have taken over the wine. Even if landing on the perfect sweet spot the natural characteristics of the wine are overshadowed by my acid adjustments IMO. It’s difficult to describe. It just reminds me of tasting during k-bicarb bench trials. But maybe my taste buds are lying to me and i’m just tasting what my brain thinks it should taste. Thought another unbiased opinion might help. 

Over 2 yrs ago I made plans to send some to a fellow wmt member for some insight. But then i skipped ‘19 and my ‘18 wines went quick leaving me with no decent wine to send along with it. And then it just sat. Forgotten about. Aging away banished to the corner. A carboy and a 30L barrel. 

Then I think- 
‘Is it even worth it for a ‘bleh’ wine?’
‘Would finishing tannin help at all?‘
‘even if improved some— am i gonna drink it?’ doubtful. I could always just pay it forward and hook up the local high school kids so they can have themselves a banger lol. 

I think i’m going to try finishing tannin for the 1st time. See how it goes. Otherwise Sangria and some other fun recipes shared in this thread might be in order. 13gal is plenty enough to experiment with multiple recipes.


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## Bossbaby (Mar 23, 2021)

Make a quick skeeter pee and blend them together and you might just come up with something you will make again you never know, that's the fun of what we are doing as wine makers!


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## hounddawg (Mar 23, 2021)

make you a elderberry wine, i hear that helps grape wine  ,,,
Dawg

no joke,,,


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## dralarms (Mar 23, 2021)

I did a peach that took over 2 years to come around, I threatened to pour it out mul times but my wife would stop me saying “give it time”. After 2 years it had a wonderful flavor.


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## reeflections (Mar 23, 2021)

I've been trying a lot of different kinds of wine over the one year I have been doing this. So far I have been lucky in that the wine types I didn't care for - SP, DB, and passion fruit, my wife loves. And those she didn't like - ginger and banana, I love. I did make a peach that was OK but pretty bland that neither of us cared much for, but adding some peach extract has made it definitely good enough to maybe even make some more.


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## hounddawg (Mar 24, 2021)

reeflections said:


> I've been trying a lot of different kinds of wine over the one year I have been doing this. So far I have been lucky in that the wine types I didn't care for - SP, DB, and passion fruit, my wife loves. And those she didn't like - ginger and banana, I love. I did make a peach that was OK but pretty bland that neither of us cared much for, but adding some peach extract has made it definitely good enough to maybe even make some more.


peach needs to years to really fly it's colors, if you put some back for 2 years, you will swear you did not make it, peach i love, but not till 2 years is peach killer, give it a try, you''ll never believe you made it,, elderberry is another, 8 to 10 years, and yes well worth it, 5 to 6 lbs per gallon, 1.040 FG, it will not be sweet, it will be just right, 
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Mar 24, 2021)

dralarms said:


> I did a peach that took over 2 years to come around, I threatened to pour it out mul times but my wife would stop me saying “give it time”. After 2 years it had a wonderful flavor.


same for me peach has to have 2 years to come into it's own, like elderberry takes 8 to 10 years, 
Dawg


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## winemaker81 (Mar 24, 2021)

Ajmassa said:


> The dud wine was my 1st substantial all grape batch made on my own—a tuscan blend from ‘17 that i screwed up. All I can taste is my errors. I did no pre-AF adjustments. Then overadjusted acid post AF. Then possibly over-adjusted the over-adjustment.


This is my '19 Malbec. It has an aftertaste that I tried to correct with cherry juice. It helped a bit and most people like it, but I can't stand it. But it works fine in beef dishes and spaghetti sauce, and sometimes for chicken.


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## Ted Brumleve (Mar 24, 2021)

Bad wine? You need a friend with a small still.


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## Darrell Hawley (Mar 24, 2021)

Just finished up a Island Mist - Raspberry/Dragon Fruit kit. (Working on wine skills before going to the better wines). After adding in the f-pack, we(wife and I) did a taste test and way to sweet. Also finishing up my first try at Dragon Blood's wine. We did not back sweeten it yet, so we did a couple of trial tests and found 1/3 Dragon Blood to 2/3 Raspberry Dragon fruit was the best. What's better then Dragon Blood wine then Dragon Fruit ? This afternoon I'll take 3 three gal carboys and put 1 gallon Dragon Blood in each, followed by 2 gallons of Raspberry/Dragon fruit in each. Next week bottle one of the 3 gallon blends and let the others age. Back sweeten the 3 gals of Dragon Blood, let sit for a week an then bottle. Nothing in the house to drink so we have to bottle some of it. Just put the skeeter pee to the carboy yesterday so that's not ready yet either. Still have 4 more kits to get going along with more Dragon Blood and skeeter pee for the summer.


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## Obbnw (Mar 24, 2021)

winemanden said:


> If it's a dry wine, we add a little lemonade. If it's sweet soda water. Bit like a spritzer I suppose.



I also read that the Spanish will mix cheap wine and coke. I tried it with my bad batch wine and it was better than expected.

I still ended up dumping at least half of every bottle and all of the last 6 bottles.


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## winemanden (Mar 24, 2021)

Red wine and Fizzy orange in Yugoslavia years ago. They called it Mish Mash, I wonder why?


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## Ajmassa (Mar 24, 2021)

Ted Brumleve said:


> Bad wine? You need a friend with a small still.


sir


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## NorCal (Mar 27, 2021)

I’ve made a second wine (added water, sugar to pressings and refermented) twice. I was disappointed in the results both times and dumped it. I also made a Grenache that I didn’t care for, but my parents love it....guess what gift they received.


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## Rocky (Mar 27, 2021)

NorCal said:


> I’ve made a second wine (added water, sugar to pressings and refermented) twice. I was disappointed in the results both times and dumped it. I also made a Grenache that I didn’t care for, but my parents love it....guess what gift they received.


NorCal, when we made second wine at home years ago, we did not press the skins. We just let the "first run" flow out (this wine was separated and marked "Soltanto per la famiglia" meaning "only for the family"), added water and sugar and refermented. The second wine was not great but passable. My grandfather served it to not so good friends and people who over-stayed their welcome.


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## winemaker81 (Mar 28, 2021)

My experience with 2nd run wines has been the opposite. The result is lighter bodied than the 1st run, but very few would realize it's not a 1st run wine.

If you taste test the 1st and 2nd runs, the difference is obvious. Everyone will prefer the 1st run, but the 2nd run is good. Not great, but good.

I medium-press the pomace (stop when cranking the basket press starts to take effort). The original recipe said to add water that is 1/2 the volume of the 1st run, but the last couple of times I used about 40%. Then add sugar, tannin, acid, nutrient, etc based upon the amount of water added.


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## mainshipfred (Mar 28, 2021)

I, more often than I care to admit, have problems with small amounts that don't fit in a barrel or carboy. I they go bad they get dumped. The only large amount of wine I had to dump was an 8 gallon batch of Merlot but it had a really bad case of VA. With subpar wines I usually keep them in a carboy and wait until I have others the same and blend then together. Though even a subpar wine in moderation can add a little character or complexity to a better wine.


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## ratflinger (Mar 28, 2021)

Warm spiced wine is nice on a cool evening. If it's too nasty for that or cooking then into the still it goes.


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## Booty Juice (Mar 28, 2021)

Had a big March Madness fest yesterday, one of our outlaw inlaws brought a slushy maker and one of his suboptimal vintages. Huge massive hit.


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## winemaker81 (Mar 28, 2021)

mainshipfred said:


> I, more often than I care to admit, have problems with small amounts that don't fit in a barrel or carboy.


Collect screwcap bottles -- I have favors from a wedding, 125 to 200 ml, which are very handy. I also use a Vacuvin, although it loses vacuum so the bottles have to be repumped every few days.

I'm also not a purist -- if I have bits and drabs of numerous wines, I'll blend them.


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## BABRU (Mar 29, 2021)

Second run black raspberry made by adding 50% of normal first run berries was excellent. Can’t determine which run is better.


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## Sage (Mar 29, 2021)

Have a couple of friends who will use anything. They will just add something, usually brandy in one case. I did dump 2 batches that I wouldn't even give away! Both were caused by faulty (mouldy) fruit.


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## jsbeckton (Apr 2, 2021)

I have some kit wines for 2-3 years ago that I can no longer stand now that I know what I can get with all grape. I was trying to drink them but it felt like a chore. I still use them for top up as I don’t think that I have the palate to pick up the small difference but I occasionally go down to the cellar and dump 6-12 bottles at a time. Should probably just dump the last 40 bottles and be done with it!


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## mainshipfred (Apr 3, 2021)

jsbeckton said:


> I have some kit wines for 2-3 years ago that I can no longer stand now that I know what I can get with all grape. I was trying to drink them but it felt like a chore. I still use them for top up as I don’t think that I have the palate to pick up the small difference but I occasionally go down to the cellar and dump 6-12 bottles at a time. Should probably just dump the last 40 bottles and be done with it!



Realizing it takes more equipment to make wine from grapes I find the cost of grapes is about equal to mid range kits and cheaper than high end. I think if a kit winemaker had the space, time and interest to make wine from grapes the cost of equipment would be outweighed in a few years. Those who are not fortunate enough to be able to get fresh grapes kits is the only option. The advantage kits have over grapes is grapes are seasonal kits are not. But I wholeheartedly agree grapes make much better wine. Fortunately, I don't think I have more than a dozen bottles of kit wine left and 4 of them are a Mosti 23 liter kit.


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## Jal5 (Apr 3, 2021)

Booty Juice said:


> Just remembered, I have Spanish neighbors who serve sangria. Some cheap wine, dump in a fruit salad....


I just did that with wine made from kumquat. A real strong citrus flavor after two years in bottle and strong etoh too. So we made a white sangria out of it and it’s ok that way.


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## winemaker81 (Apr 5, 2021)

mainshipfred said:


> But I wholeheartedly agree grapes make much better wine.


We did a Merlot tasting last night at a large family gathering -- a few years back I made a low end kit for my niece and made a mid-range for myself. Plus we tasted a newer Merlot from fresh grapes. With one exception, everyone liked the fresh grape the best, next the mid-range kit, then the low-end kit. The outcome was what I expected.


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## pete1325 (Jun 29, 2021)

Yep, Sangria for sure!!


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## jswordy (Jun 29, 2021)

In over 20 years I have only ever made one batch of 10 gallons of fruit wine that was so subpar I could not bring myself to drink it, and it is still sitting bottled in the cellar because I could not bring myself to dump it and so bottled it. I have tried various ways to make it better, no luck. 

But late this fall or early this winter, when there is plenty of time for the sugars to be absorbed into the ground and not attract insects, dump it I will! I need that space and those bottles for some good wine now. 

Why dump on the ground? We are on a septic system and that much alcohol can't be good for it. I plan to dump along fence lines.


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## Ted Brumleve (Jun 29, 2021)

jswordy said:


> In over 20 years I have only ever made one batch of 10 gallons of fruit wine that was so subpar I could not bring myself to drink it, and it is still sitting bottled in the cellar because I could not bring myself to dump it and so bottled it. I have tried various ways to make it better, no luck.
> 
> But late this fall or early this winter, when there is plenty of time for the sugars to be absorbed into the ground and not attract insects, dump it I will! I need that space and those bottles for some good wine now.
> 
> Why dump on the ground? We are on a septic system and that much alcohol can't be good for it. I plan to dump along fence lines.


Decades ago, my uncle would make strawberry wine. Some years it was so good we used it as weed killer on the fence row.


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## MiBor (Jun 29, 2021)

First of all, don't distill the wine if it's sulfated. The product will have an unpleasant aftertaste that you won't be able to avoid. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about.
Sangria is a good option, if you enjoy that kind of stuff. Or frozen granita, if you have the time to put into it.

I had a 6 gal carboy like that three years ago and I managed to fix it. I messed up the acid in the beginning, than corrected it 3 times up and down after AF and it just didn't taste right no matter what I did. So I fermented a batch of elderberry wine from concentrate and mixed it with the problem wine. It was messy and left a greasy scum on everything it touched, but I didn't care. After another year of aging the 2 wines together I had 60 bottles of something unique and delicious. Many of my friends begged for another bottle and it was gone in no time. To this day they still mention it and ask me when I plan to make more of it...


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## Ajmassa (Jun 29, 2021)

MiBor said:


> First of all, don't distill the wine if it's sulfated. The product will have an unpleasant aftertaste that you won't be able to avoid. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about.
> Sangria is a good option, if you enjoy that kind of stuff. Or frozen granita, if you have the time to put into it.
> 
> I had a 6 gal carboy like that three years ago and I managed to fix it. I messed up the acid in the beginning, than corrected it 3 times up and down after AF and it just didn't taste right no matter what I did. So I fermented a batch of elderberry wine from concentrate and mixed it with the problem wine. It was messy and left a greasy scum on everything it touched, but I didn't care. After another year of aging the 2 wines together I had 60 bottles of something unique and delicious. Many of my friends begged for another bottle and it was gone in no time. To this day they still mention it and ask me when I plan to make more of it...


I must say, that was a great post. With an original troubleshoot idea (elderberry concentrate) not yet mentioned I think. And wth a nice comforting happy ending to boot! lol. Happy to hear that worked out in the end for you. 

BTW, what type of wine was the initial problem batch?


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## jswordy (Jun 30, 2021)

Ted Brumleve said:


> Decades ago, my uncle would make strawberry wine. Some years it was so good we used it as weed killer on the fence row.



Nailed it! It is a batch of strawberry.


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## MiBor (Jun 30, 2021)

Ajmassa said:


> BTW, what type of wine was the initial problem batch?


It was a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon made from a juice bucket. I didn't measure the starting pH/TA because the bucket was already fermenting when I got it. The juice was bubbling inside and foam was coming out the safety valve in the lid. I inoculated with BM 4x4 right away and let it finish AF before I took any measurements. When I finally measured it it had a pH of 4.3. I brought it down to about 3.6 and tasted very acidic after that. A month later neutralized some of the added acid with potassium carbonate and it tasted flat and thin. A couple of months later I added more tartaric acid to bring the pH to 3.6 again and it really tasted weird after that. I started looking into what I could do with that wine and an older friend of mine suggested blending with a concentrated elderberry wine. I'm glad I did it and saved the batch. I really didn't want to throw it away after all the work I put into it. It was also a good lesson to learn because now I wouldn't ferment anything without measuring TA/pH before yeast going in for fear of ending up with another wine dud that would take another year to fix.


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## winemaker81 (Jul 1, 2021)

MiBor said:


> When I finally measured it it had a pH of 4.3. I brought it down to about 3.6 and tasted very acidic after that. A month later neutralized some of the added acid with potassium carbonate and it tasted flat and thin. A couple of months later I added more tartaric acid to bring the pH to 3.6 again and it really tasted weird after that.


I did the "acidity yo-yo" with a Malbec. A year later it is finally improving. I've learned to go very gentle on acid correction in either direction.


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## Ajmassa (Jul 1, 2021)

winemaker81 said:


> I did the "acidity yo-yo" with a Malbec. A year later it is finally improving. I've learned to go very gentle on acid correction in either direction.



Especially post fermentation. 4.3 to 3.6 is a helluva post AF adjustment. And basically exactly what happened with my problem wine. 

No pre-AF adjustment. Landed at 4.0 and so begun my chipping from sand trap to sand trap. Or see-saw. Or yo-yo 

either way my 1st time adjusting acids I learned a hard lesson—the less tinkering I need to do the better. Get quality fruit. Dial in the must. Then only if absolutely necessary a minor post AF/mlf adjustment.


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## Bossbaby (Jul 1, 2021)

MiBor said:


> First of all, don't distill the wine if it's sulfated. The product will have an unpleasant aftertaste that you won't be able to avoid. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about.
> Sangria is a good option, if you enjoy that kind of stuff. Or frozen granita, if you have the time to put into it.
> 
> I had a 6 gal carboy like that three years ago and I managed to fix it. I messed up the acid in the beginning, than corrected it 3 times up and down after AF and it just didn't taste right no matter what I did. So I fermented a batch of elderberry wine from concentrate and mixed it with the problem wine. It was messy and left a greasy scum on everything it touched, but I didn't care. After another year of aging the 2 wines together I had 60 bottles of something unique and delicious. Many of my friends begged for another bottle and it was gone in no time. To this day they still mention it and ask me when I plan to make more of it...


speaking of elderberry, there is going to be a very nice yield of wild berries here in Wisconsin this year due to weather conditions I guess, I've already mapped out the public marshland for flowering bushes and cant wait to get at them in a couple months, I've blended elderberry with several country wines and have always wished I had made more..


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## Ivywoods (Sep 12, 2021)

I think I have a batch I'm going to dump. I can't seem to figure out the taste, but whatever it is does not taste good at all. My first batch of gewurztraminer has a bit of a yeasty off taste but it is definitely drinkable. My failed skeeter pee that I rescued and now call it "lemon-elder skeet port" has lemon, elderberry and a bit of brandy. It is awesome, at least to my taste buds. I have some tart cherry lemon that is exactly what it says-TART! I think with a little back sweetening it will be very good. My first batch of wild plum turned out good. But now... my second batch of wild plum tastes terrible. I thought sweetening it would help. It doesn't. It still tastes terrible, not to mention a little strange. I suppose I could let my chickens drink it and be entertained watching a bunch of drunk chickens.


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## winemaker81 (Sep 13, 2021)

Ivywoods said:


> I can't seem to figure out the taste, but whatever it is does not taste good at all.


That's my criteria for dumping. I've made wines I didn't care for, but were drinkable, and I discovered that boiling made them better (e.g., I used them mostly for cooking).

However, if the wine tastes bad and corrections do nothing positive? Yeah, sadly, it's time to dump.

In case of some type of infection in the bad wine, clean all equipment that touches this wine extra well. It may not make any difference, but it won't hurt, either.


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## ljewels4u (Sep 13, 2021)

Time is the main factor before I'd ever even consider dumping!!
Age does wonders. I had a hard cider that was horrid after a few months.. even after a year Meh kept adjusting and sweetening.. after 2 years it was awesome..
Also blends and fortified wines like u did with the skeeter pee.
plum wine would make a nice fortified wine as well. Try a sample fortified.. either brandy or wild berry schnapps 

I have a year and half old mead now it's ok but I believe it will be better in time.. 

Then i suppose lastly for cooking wine as mentioned or red wine vinegar depending on the type.. if you dont want to try and salvage it..
Good luck.. ultimately ur house ur rules...


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## winemaker81 (Sep 14, 2021)

ljewels4u said:


> Time is the main factor before I'd ever even consider dumping!!


It depends on what's wrong with the wine. Oxidation is not fixable, nor are some bacterial infections.

My 2019 Malbec developed an off-flavor, hard to describe. I backsweetened slightly with cherry juice, which masks the off-flavor, but it's still there. It's drinkable, but not my buddy. Makes great cooking wine so I'm set on that for a few years.


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## NCWC (Sep 14, 2021)

That is what our slushy machine is for


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