Crystals

[Handy Andy]

I have just completed my second racking of my verdelho red wine, and notice all round the inside of the stainless barrel, including the lid are crystals. Is this normal?

Also the wine is not as fruity as it was, ie it is becoming a little sharp?

 

[Johnd]

I have just completed my second racking of my verdelho red wine, and notice all round the inside of the stainless barrel, including the lid are crystals. Is this normal?

Also the wine is not as fruity as it was, ie it is becoming a little sharp?

Those are “wine diamonds”, formed as tartaric acid comes out of solution. I wouldn’t necessarily associate the appearance of them with a loss of fruitiness, nor an increase in perceived acidity. Your wine is very young and undergoing chemical changes as it ages, tastes can vary greatly at this time, but with age, it’ll settle in.

 

[user 36973]

Yep, you are seeing potassium bitartrate crystals forming... totally normal. Have you put your wine (intentionally) though MLF? That usually leads to less fruit but also less acidity (sharpness). Less fruit and more sharpness could be a sign of oxidation. Keeping headspace down and sulfites up should prevent or minimize that, especially in a SS barrel.

 

[Handy Andy]

Yep, you are seeing potassium bitartrate crystals forming... totally normal. Have you put your wine (intentionally) though MLF? That usually leads to less fruit but also less acidity (sharpness). Less fruit and more sharpness could be a sign of oxidation. Keeping headspace down and sulfites up should prevent or minimize that, especially in a SS barrel.

MLF > Not intentionally, and not as far as I am aware.

My stainless tank has a floating lid, with an air tube seal around the edge which you blow up, to seal the wine against air. I reckon it has near to zero head space for air in that tank once the lid is on.

After Racking I added more k-meta, and am contemplating adding some toasted oak chips, which worked well in another batch of Red which was fermenting when I added it. The fermentation is over in this wine but I like the flavor added to my other batch.

To oak or not to oak that is a question I am pondering now?

 

[sjjan]

MLF > Not intentionally, and not as far as I am aware.

Is there a way to know if a wine goes into MLF or to test if/when it has completed MLF?

 

[sour_grapes]

For monitoring and checking completion, the home winemaker is likely to use paper chromatography. There are more sensitive and expensive means for commercial operations: https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blogs...files/2016/11/MalolacticAcid3Ways-1d0igwg.pdf