Bottle fermentation - what went wrong?

[grapeman]

You likely had nowhere near enough sulfite in the wine, Without any additional additions after the initial one, it was all either tied up or gone to the air with all the rackings. You need it to inhibit yeast and bacteria. The sorbate will only prevent the yeast from multiplying.

 

[mmadmikes1]

Its 2 years old now and we opened one 2 weeks ago. Bummer is these are the grapes that grow next to my sons grave and I really wanted this wine to be special. Yes, my son is buried in Yakima Valley wine country in the middle of a Vineyard . My profile picture is him

 

[AlFulchino]

very sorry to hear that.....tell you something though...that high alcohol will keep that wine around for a long time...much like your wonderful memories of him i am very sure

 

[kboroff]

Thanks for the comments. They have been very helpful.

The batch was 5g of juice form California. I ferment in my basement which is cooler in the winter months but should have been no colder than mid 60's. We generally add sugar based on taste when racking and could have added some between Feb and May but was missed in my notes. We generally go no longer than two months between rackings.

I did not add anything for MLF. Is it possible to get a MLF on its own?

Also what is recommended as a minimum SO2 level? With a Vinmetrica I should be able to monitor sulphite level and better protect before bottling.

 

[AlFulchino]

the right amount of so2 is your choice...i run mine between 8ppm and 50 depending on which wine it is but the weighted average temds to run in the 2-20 ppm range

 

[ibglowin]

SO2 requirements are based on:

1) Wine type (red or white)
2) pH

 

[cpfan]

The batch was 5g of juice form California. I ferment in my basement which is cooler in the winter months but should have been no colder than mid 60's. We generally add sugar based on taste when racking and could have added some between Feb and May but was missed in my notes. We generally go no longer than two months between rackings.

Sounds like you may have been adding too much sugar. Remember the batch started at almost 12% (and some juice pails have already started to ferment when you receive them, so maybe higher). So adding sugar will just drive the alcohol level up. Because the wine was cool, fermentation was slow. When you bottled, it just kept on fermenting, thus the CO2 in the bottle. I still don't know about the taste issue. I'm assuming that the sorbate did not stop the fermentation because it was a slow but active ongoing fermentation.

For the future, STOP adding sugar more-or-less at random. Use sugar in two ways only...

1. Before adding the yeast, pick a desired alcohol %age, and add sugar to reach that specific gravity.
2. After fermentation has stopped, add K-meta and K-sorbate, then sweeten the wine, as desired.

Steve