# thin wine?



## sdmbrandy (Nov 15, 2011)

I bought Chillean grape juice in April, (Pinot noir, zin, cab and one called chianti) They have been sitting in the carboys since then. I went tonight to bottle the zin wine in gallon jugs and it seems to have a thin taste to it, not like the creamy or full bodied taste like the other home made wines in my area tastes like. The people that make the homemade wine in my area who are mostly Italians claimed that they get the zinfandel juice or grapes in the middle of September and the wine is ready for use by Thanksgiving but their wines tastes different than mine despite the fact I use no chemicals like them. What could I be doing wrong? Do I have to add something? Do I have to blend some of the other wine with the zin? Are they telling me the truth about the aging time? I am totally confused. Any help from anybody is most appreciated.


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## Julie (Nov 15, 2011)

Hi sdmbrandy,

Welcome to winemakingtalk. I do not know of any zin that would be ready to drink in a matter of a few months. A good full year is what you need and I hear others say that you really need zin to age two years for it to be at it's best. 

I would think that is the problem but without knowing what all you did to the wine, it really is difficult to say why the wine is thin. Can you please post up when you bought the juice bucket, starting sg and everything else you did from then til now


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## winemaker_3352 (Nov 15, 2011)

Welcome aboard!!!

I agree with Julie - please post your recipe, Starting/Ending SG, Steps that you did, etc.

This will help us a lot in helping you to determine why the wine might be thin.


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## Rocky (Nov 15, 2011)

Sdmbrandy, I will tell you one thing, you can never believe us Italians! 

As Julie says, two months is an _extremely_ short time for wine to be ready to drink. Also, I suppose that some grapes could be ready in "the middle of September," but my experience was always October, and I lived in Pennsylvania at the time.

Are you sure that they said "Thanksgiving" and not "Easter." The reason I ask is the when we made wine at home many years ago, our schedule followed this path: Get grapes in early (first week of) October and crush into fermenter, ferment for 7 to 10 days in fermenter then transter to a working barrel with an open bung hole and keep the wine topped off by periodic additions until early December. Add the bung to barrel and let clear until sometime around Easter and then start to use the wine. This wine was a blend of 3/4 Zinfandel and 1/4 Muscat and by Easter after about 4 to 5 months in a barrel, it was great. 

Another point is that Zinfandel can vary quite a bit from vineyard to vineyard, even in the US. I do not know what the Chileans are calling Zinfandel but I don't believe the vines can be very mature. I really prefer the "Old Vine Zinfandel" from California. The vines are at least 50 years old, and some quite a bit more. They produce fewer but more intense grapes and that make a very rich wine.

Lastly, when I make wine from red variety juices, I always add a grape pack (either Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon available from the Wine Makers Toy Store) because I feel much of the richness comes from fermentation on the skins.

Welcome to the forum. Keep at it. "Romania" wasn't built in a day.


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## PCharles (Nov 15, 2011)

*Young Wine*

Back in 1978 I rented backyard ground level apartment from an Italian family. Each fall Frank, Veto, and Pasquale wheeled in hundreds of pounds of grapes. These grapes were over ripe, showing in some cases mold. They broke out their old press, kegs, and carboys. These guys new followed the old home recipe. Note Neither Frank or Pasquale spoke English. As I recall all the grapes went straight to the press. There was no crushing or stem removal. One Christmas I was fortunate to be invited for dinner. There were multiple courses and new wine was brought out for tasting. I only recall seeing a white wine that early. My recollection is that it tasted pretty good. I also recall that some of the ladies mixed the wine with soda such as ginger ale. 
I believe it is possible for your Italian friends to have wine to drink by Thanksgiving. From my experience I could see a white or rose, but am less certain about the reds. I’ve been tasting my own Cabernet Sauvignon made from fresh grapes. My wife and I tasted it this past weekend while racking. My wife described it as full bodied, but I don’t believe it is ready for prime time. 
Your thread brought these fond memories back to life. 
Thanks, Paul


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## Tom (Nov 15, 2011)

Welcome. 
I make ALOT of wine from juice and fruit.
I never bottle any reds in less than a year. One thing you may try if you didn't bottle is let it sit another 5-6 months. You will see a big improvement. You may want to try adding some tannin.
You are lucky to get Chilean juice in the spring. In the fall you will should try the CA and if they can get the Italian juice as well.
When you can, add "skins" as above. Juices need some doctoring.
Post what you did so far.


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## sdmbrandy2 (Nov 17, 2011)

I finally got around to answering this post. Sorry about the delay. I received the juice in late April. It came from my supplier that had it in cold storage. I brought the juice home, removed the lids, stirred it and left it come up to room temperature. Late the next day, I pitched in red star yeast made for red wines. I stirred the juice every night before bed. After about 4 days, I measured the s.g and it was below 1.00. I placed the wine in 5 gallon carboys and left it go until recently. I took no measurements before hand. I talked to one of my juice vendors and he suggested that I blend muscat with the zin to a proportion of 15 to 4. Has anyone ever heard of doing this? Instead of using muscat, has anyone ever heard of using moscato wine instead? Any help in this matter is most appreciated.


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## mmadmikes1 (Nov 17, 2011)

Trying to fix a young wine to taster good early will probably not work out for you. I agree with Tom, add some tannin but allow the wine to age. It will not be ready by Thanksgiving no matter what you do


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## Rocky (Nov 17, 2011)

sdmbrandy2 said:


> I finally got around to answering this post. Sorry about the delay. I received the juice in late April. It came from my supplier that had it in cold storage. I brought the juice home, removed the lids, stirred it and left it come up to room temperature. Late the next day, I pitched in red star yeast made for red wines. I stirred the juice every night before bed. After about 4 days, I measured the s.g and it was below 1.00. I placed the wine in 5 gallon carboys and left it go until recently. I took no measurements before hand. I talked to one of my juice vendors and he suggested that I blend muscat with the zin to a proportion of 15 to 4. Has anyone ever heard of doing this? Instead of using muscat, has anyone ever heard of using moscato wine instead? Any help in this matter is most appreciated.



Read or re-read the third paragraph of my post above and "Moscato" is Italian for Muscat.


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## sdmbrandy2 (Nov 18, 2011)

well i guess no one can believe what happened to me tonight. i poured myself a glass of the red zin that i put in the gallon jug on tuesday. i took one taste and my eyes opened wide, it is now developing a taste that is really good and it seems to have a bite to it. the wine is loosing its bland taste and it seems that it had to get agitated out of the carboy. i wonder if anybody else has heard this as happening and i wonder how long this process takes. my next question is that i have a chance to get a wine filtering machine on friday for a real good price. has anyone had much luck with these machines and does anyone think that it might improve the taste of the wine? any help is most appreciated.


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