Dry Red gettign fizzy in bottle

[Slimslam]

Need a little help solving this issue. Made a dry red in 2015. Let site in glass carboy for a year until i bottles it last fall. All of the bottles i have had so far have been great. Last week popped a cork on a bottle and noticed a little fizz in the glass. Wine went from a nice smooth finish to being a little rough and tart tasting. I got curious and opened another and same thing happened. I know that the wine was done fermenting because i let it bulk age for a year before bottling. I did notice that the room the wine was stored in is a little warmer now that we are in spring. The wine temp was 68 degrees F.

Any ideas what causing this ?

 

[stickman]

Did you confirm malolactic fermentation completion on this red? If not, then ML in the bottle is a possibility, it will generate a little co2 and cause some associated tartness. There is a possibility of some residual sugar fermentation, but without any other information about your process it is difficult to comment. Sometimes it is just some residual co2 leftover from fermentation that is more apparent at higher temperatures. My guess is a slight ML fermentation in bottle.

 

[Slimslam]

I dosed with so2 post ferment and kept up with additions while ageing and until bottling. I check the ferment with my hydrometer to make sure it was done. also like i said it aged for over a year before bottling so im sure if any residual sugar were present they would have been used up in that. year.

what level of so2 is needed to kill MLF bacteria ?

 

[BernardSmith]

Hi Slimslam - and welcome. I have a couple of testable ideas.
Do you happen to know what the final gravity was when you bottled it? Has the gravity dropped since then? Sometimes, what looks like a finished fermentation can restart after a long period of inactivity. The yeast will produce CO2 and that CO2 will create the fizz.
The other possibility I can think of is that there is enough of the right kind of bacteria in these bottles for a malo-lactic fermentation to have occurred. This occurs when the bacteria attack the malic acid in the wine and transform it into a smoother , lactic acid. I would expect MLF to make a "rough" tasting wine taste far more smooth but if you have an MLF testing kit it can show whether such a process has taken place.
My guess, however, is that if the wine today tastes more tart than it did previously, then what has happened is that some of the residual sugars have been fermented so the previous balance between sweetness and alcohol and sweetness and tartness have been changed...

 

[Ajmassa]

CO2 can sometimes mess with my taste buds also. You said you aged in a carboy for a year, but didnt say anything about racking it at all. If the wine sat for a year without being racked, and the bottles were great in cooler temps, but now fizzy and tart in the higher temp, it sounds like probable CO2 issues as mentioned.
Did you try to decant a bottle and let it breath for an hour or so then taste? If you did not then you should. At the very least you'll know what ISNT the problem

 

[NorCal]

I vote a little RS.

 

[downunder]

I vote for Malo LOL.
Member makes no note of malo testing. If none was carried outits like playing Russian Roulette. Malo bacteria can be very specific at what temperature they will start to work to cold it will just sit there doing nothing. Then it gets a bit of warmth or is agitated away it goes.

 

[cgallamo]

Either Malo or RS would produce CO2, which would explain the tartness. Can you try shaking a bottle pouring a glass and see if that removes the tart taste?

This happened to me once before. Just shook up the wine and poured in a decanter before serving.

 

[Stressbaby]

Slimslam,

The following information might help:
Batch size
TA/pH
Dose of Kmeta and dates or timing of dosing
Results of any SO2 testing
SG at bottling (or the last time it was checked)
SG now
Whether it was MLF'd and/or whether you did any MLF testing.

We're guessing right now that because you didn't mention MLF or MLF testing, that you didn't MLF this wine.
If you did MLF and it tested complete before bottling, that supports RS.
If you didn't MLF but the SG dropped, that supports RS.
If you didn't MLF but it tests complete now, that supports malo.
If you didn't but the SO2 additions were timely and adequate or the SO2 level at bottling was adequate to prevent MLF, that probably also supports RS.

That is the way I see it anyhow...

 

[JohnT]

I did notice that the room the wine was stored in is a little warmer now that we are in spring. The wine temp was 68 degrees F.

Any ideas what causing this ?

You pretty much figured it out yourself...

Like others have said, your wine most likely had some residual sugar and the warmer temps caused a small amount of fermentation to occur. This would explain why the wine now is sharper (more dry).

 

[NorCal]

You pretty much figured it out yourself...

Like others have said, your wine most likely had some residual sugar and the warmer temps caused a small amount of fermentation to occur. This would explain why the wine now is sharper (more dry).

Yea, that is why I voted RS. Sugar hiding the sour, where malo would have made it less sharp.

 

[CryptoStorm]

I agree that is was probably just RS. The rough taste is likely from the co2. Co2 also bonds with H2O creating carbonic acid.

If you don't already have one, get a "wine saver" type vacuum corker and use it before you pour the bottle. It will pull out the free co2.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NCJG6OV/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20