Is My Wine Turning To Vinegar?

[roadwarriorsvt]

OK, this is about my first batch of wine. Yea, I made some mistakes along the way since I didn't know aobut this helpful website.

I made a 5 gallon batch of lychee wine. I realize most don't know what a lychee is but I don't think that will matter. Its a Chinese fruit with the meat being similar to that of a grape that is kind of clear/translucent in color. When I bottled it in Nov/2010, I backsweetened to taste (didn't own a hydrometer back then). The E.C. Krause kit I bought came with the small "tasting" type corks, so that is what I used. It has been aging in bottles stored in a wine cooler, around 60*. Fast forward to May/2011, opened a bottle for a special occasion. The wine has a slightly darker appearance and taste more "alcoholly" (new word?). My bartender neighbor thinks it may be turning to vinegar suggesting that maybe air had passed by the small cork. Anyone had this happen? Should I pull all the corks and cork with a standard size cork? Can the vine be salvaged?

 

[djrockinsteve]

Well needing more info such as the amount/if any sulfite added, when etc would help. If one btl. smells odd that doesn't mean they all have subcome the same demise. Try another btl. If it's the same taste it, does it taste like vinegar?

You may need to transfer these into a carboy, sulfite and airate a bit then bottle them correctly. Hard to say. Hang on and we'll see if anyone else experienced this.

 

[roadwarriorsvt]

I'll open another bottle tonight and see. Thanks for the quick response.

EDIT: Found the recipe I followed.

Things You'll Need
1 gallon water

5 lbs fresh lychees

2 1/2 lbs fine sugar

1/4 oz citric acid

1 tsp yeast nutrient

1/4 tsp tannin

Chablis wine yeast


1
Begin heating the water. Peel the lychees and remove the stone. Chop the remaining fruit and add it to the sugar in the primary container. Pour in enough boiling water to make one gallon of liquid and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.

2
Add the remaining ingredients. Note the requirement for additional tannin for lychee wine because this fruit is not acidic enough by itself. Cover the primary container with a cloth.

3
Allow the mixture to stand undisturbed until it is fermenting vigorously. Stir it each day for five days.

4
Strain the liquid through a nylon sieve into the secondary container and fit an airlock. The pulp now may be discarded. Rack every 30 days until the wine clears and does not drop any sediment. This step is especially important for lychee wine.

5
Stabilize the wine and sweeten to taste if needed. Wait 10 days to ensure that fermentation has stopped before racking into bottles.


Now, again, all I knew about making wine was just to follow this recipe. No hydrometer readings, no notes, etc. I don't remeber if I only added sorbate or just K meta, but I don't think I added both. Would a lack of K meta cause this condition?

 

[JasonH]

Without hydrometer readings or certainty whether you sulfited, it is impossible to tell what the problem may be. It is plausible that some undesirable bacteria contaminated the batch and turned it to vinegar, especially if the alcohol was not too high and there was no sulfites to protect the wine. If its vinegar, you will know it. The taste and smell are a clear indicator.