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No matter what we ferment, we always add some tannin. Many grapes, and almost all fruit just don't have enough of it on their own. Tannin also helps, to some degree, with clarification as well.

OK--if you want big flavor then the way to do that is to make fruit wine with no water. I suggest doing blackberry this way as the flavor is huge on it with no water. Freeze the berries first--when they thaw, they'll be real juicy and no need for extra water. If you can do elderberry, freeze...

New wine is terrible tasting--compared to what it tastes like after aging. What the heck--I recommend 1 year of aging but until you get past the huge excitement of,"I can't wait to try it," age it for 6 months. Which will at least allow the wine to clear up some,some of the CO2 off of it,etc...

aidan--the reason for it is because the campden tabs--SO2-- will inactivate the pectic enzyme. That's why timing of the addition of the two is important. Also, tannin, bentonite can inactivate any enzyme you might be using. So you should add something like these after the enzyme has done its...

The biggest reason for plating out color into the bottle is lack of enough tannin. So unless you know your working with high tannin grape---or even fruit like elderberry which contains lots of tannin--then it's not a bad idea to add a nominal amount of tannin to your wine. It really works to...

That's correct, 4score. But the poster is a new winemaker using DAP. The 50% brix works OK BUT there are qualifiers to this which I didn't discuss because most new winemakers wouldn't understand it in the moment, as their head is already into the problem they're facing. AND the whole point...

That is simply not the case. SO2 is used for biological control. Your known culture dominates the wild yeast. You may knock down SOME of the wild yeasts, but that is not the true intent of SO2. It's an antioxidant and antimicrobial, above all.

Why don't you do it the easy way--bulk aging. Bulk aging benefits a wine in many ways AND it degasses itself in the process. Unless this is an early drinking wine, you're making a mistake by manipulating a young wine so much.

I see what you're talking about there John, and to be honest I can't see why anyone would encourage a winemaker to make a nutrient addition before pitching the culture. You can get any biologic, that wasn't knocked down by the SO2, to take advantage of the nutrient. This is why they came up...

It's not about disagreement. It's about being sure we are clear on procedures, due to the many new winemakers on this site that may get confused. It's always best to teach best practices so they don't run into problems. YOU may be able to make this protocol work, but many others may not.

Before berry season, get yourself some Lallzyme C Max. This will help you avoid clearing issues.

If you find that backsweetening is lowering the flavor, the real reason for this is that the sugar--or sweetness--is not in balance with the acids. The whole idea of sweetening wine should be looked at as not making it sweet---but balancing the acid with the sugar to give a PERCEPTION of...

If you've ever used it, then you know it won't add flavor

Um, let me just say that I'm not sure what John is alluding to. That grape skin extract has no flavor--only color. And tannin doesn't really add flavor--only tongue sensation, and it certainly will stabilize color. At this point tho, you're totally better off with the grape extract.

You can add concentrate and go right ahead and bottle. We do that very often. Just be sure to add some more SO2 and, of course, sorbate.

Yes but-----give them enough nutrient and they COULD take off on you. Pitching the known culture and having it dominate puts any wild yeast so far behind in competition that they THEN are not an issue. You can't depend completely on the wild yeast being stunned enough to not take off as there...

Well, you've got to be careful about adding TOO much DAP(regular yeast nutrient) in the beginning of the ferment because you COULD encourage any wild yeast to take off on you. This is why instructions on nutrient usually say to add the first part of the dose once your pitched culture of choice...

Montrachet produces quite a bit of H2S when its stressed so it's very important to use a good nutrient protocol with this culture. Meaning that you need to calculate the entire nutrient dose, then divide it in half. Half of it goes in to the vat when the yeast becomes active, and the second dose...

No matter what culture you use--no matter what you are making wine from--you should get used to dosing nutrient in two batches to keep the yeast from getting stressed, which is when they produce H2S. Also, be aware that bentonite and tannin additions should not be made until your pectic...

The best thing to do is to limit the water addition. We always freeze them first so you'll get more juice from them. Putting them thru a food processor should well, too. Be sure to use a yeast starter, as they can be difficult for the culture to take hold. You can use apple juice for the...