# Help! My wine smells like glue!



## blumentopferde (Nov 16, 2020)

Hello winemakers!
As you can read from the heading, I have a very severe problem with one of my wine batches: It smells intensively like glue, so I guess that somehow I got too much Ethyl acetate into it.
I have heard that the only way to get this scent out of the wine is to boil it up to 77°C, which is supposed to be the evaporation point of ethyl actetate... But that temperature would spoil most of the taste, so I wonder if there are any gentler methods to correct the wine? Do you have any suggestions or experiences to share?

Apart from that I really wonder how I got this flaw into the batch. I made 3 batches of 3 different grape varieties. All harvested at the same time, all treated the same way, with the same instruments and the same yeast and 2 of them are perfectly fine, while one is flawed... Also, the wine seemed perfectly okay the last time I checked it - that was about 2 weeks ago and the fermentation process was almost over at that time. If it was bad grape material or bad yeast that caused the flaw, shouldn't it have been noticeable much earlier in the fermentation process? Do you have any ideas what else could have caused the flaw?

Kind regards,
blumentopferde


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## Booty Juice (Nov 16, 2020)

Batch 3 picked up a bug. 

Have you SO2'd your wine?


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## blumentopferde (Nov 17, 2020)

I added 0.01 grams per liter every time the must had contact with oxygen.
That was directly after crushing, directly after pressing and before racking. I racked the wine 3 times so far, so in total i added 0.05 grams SO2 per liter.


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## wood1954 (Nov 17, 2020)

Happened to me once, it hurt to dump it out but there is not much to do to fix it.


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## blumentopferde (Nov 18, 2020)

Well, if there is nothing I can do, then I will just experiment. I will try the tannin adsoption agent Gerbinol Super, the activated charcoal Granucol GE and maybe the adsorbtion agent Sensovin... All these agent claim to reduce off-flavours. I will also give the thermal treatment a try.. Let's see if any of this works!


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## NoQuarter (Nov 18, 2020)

I had the same problem several years ago, I reasoned the most likely cause was my temperature got high during fermentation due to a power outage over a few days. Was not too bad but noticeable. I went a little heavy on sulfites after some splashing and it did dissipate over a few days. I was able to save it but it was average at best. Good you did 3 separate batches, sad to loose 1/3..... Good Luck.


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## Booty Juice (Nov 21, 2020)

Perhaps it will oak out or, when it's done, will blend out.


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## blumentopferde (Dec 1, 2020)

blumentopferde said:


> Well, if there is nothing I can do, then I will just experiment. I will try the tannin adsoption agent Gerbinol Super, the activated charcoal Granucol GE and maybe the adsorbtion agent Sensovin... All these agent claim to reduce off-flavours. I will also give the thermal treatment a try.. Let's see if any of this works!





NoQuarter said:


> I had the same problem several years ago, I reasoned the most likely cause was my temperature got high during fermentation due to a power outage over a few days. Was not too bad but noticeable. I went a little heavy on sulfites after some splashing and it did dissipate over a few days. I was able to save it but it was average at best. Good you did 3 separate batches, sad to loose 1/3..... Good Luck.



SUCCESS!

I experimented with the agents mentioned above, following NoQuarters suggestion I added potassium bisulphite to the list. 

Here the detailed results of my experiment, sorted by outcome:

*Gerbinol Super* (isinglass & dairy protein + absorption agent): Even though this product is actually sold as a tannin adsorption agent, it yielded the best results. 0.1g/l were enough to eliminate the off-odour within minutes.

*Potassium metabisulphite*: Adding 0.1g/l (recommended dosage after fermentation, as indicated in the leaflet) did a good job. It didn't work as fast as Gerbinol, but after a few hours the bad odour disappeared.

*Sensovin* (casein, PVPP, gelatine and different silicates): I tried dosages of 0.2 and 0.6 g/l. Both improved the smell equally well but not as fast as Gerbinol Super and not as good. Some hours after application there was still a very small hint of the off-odour left.

*Granucol GE*: This is activated charcoal to reduce off-flavours and odours. Nevertheless it just removed color and didn't change the flavour....

To stay on the safe side I first used Gerbinol (0.1g/l) waited over night, racked the wine and added 0.05g/l PMBS. The wine smells clean now, the taste is unsuspicious. I hope it will turn out as a drinkable wine now!


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## wood1954 (Dec 2, 2020)

Way to go!


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