Juice from Buckets - Thread search exhausted

[JerryF]

I was going to come to WMT when I first started this but got pulled away on something else and then forgot. I went through all the threads I could find in this category and couldn't find anything which quite addressed what I was doing.

Anyway, I was able to get in on an order of juice buckets not too long ago. The juice comes from the Niagra region in Ontario from what I can find about the source supplier. What I picked up were two buckets of cab sauvignon and 1 bucket of merlot juices. In my crazy imagination, I wanted to reproduce (or at least try to) something like the VDV Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend kits which I have tried and enjoyed very much. I started out in a large (80 liter) primary fermenter, blended all the juice buckets "together" and read an SG of 1.082. I then added exactly 2 1/2 pounds of dissolved corn sugar, ending up with a 17.2 gal (U.S.) batch of blended must. SG after all this was 1.091 (starting brix 23.5). I cast some EC1118 (not wanting to rely solely on the yeasts contained in the juice). Covered and let it start. Pretty active fermentation by the second day so I left it undisturbed for 17 days before checking again. It appeared there was no active fermentation at that time (SG 1.001) but I added a very small amount of yeast energizer and left it go some more. Didn't see much difference but there must have been some as my must was at 0.995 (Brix reading - 1.3) and has been there for 2 days in a row now.

I'm wondering if I'd be able to treat this episode of my winemaking similar to how a kit wine progresses through stages of fermentation (stabilizing, clearing, etc.).

If I continue to get no changes in SG then I will assume fermentation has completed. I would like to try the same steps that we would normally go through in a typical kit (and I do fully realize this is not a kit). At this point I want to think about adding sorbate (3/4 tsp/gallon) and KMeta at 1/4 tsp/5 gallons) to stabilize and then let it sit for a while. Similar to what we would do for a kit, I would then rack it off the sediments, degass and then go through the clarifying additives scaled up for this volume (kielsol/chitosan) and then let it sit for a long, long time before racking off and filtering for bottling (with my limited room dedicated to winemaking, I have to bottle age).

So, what does everybody think about this? Treating juice bucket wine as if it were a kit? For what it's worth, of course I've been tasting all along and while it is fairly dry, it has good mouth feel and taste similar to what I got from my aged VDV kit. I don't fully understand all the discussion about MLF (what it is, why, etc.) and I'm not sure I need to worry about it since it appears my fermentation is near complete.

Didn't mean to write a novel here folks but would sure appreciate any comments or advice. Jerry

 

[pjd]

There are two things I would do differently, A Cabernet -Merlot is rarely sweetened so I would NOT add the sorbate. I also would NOT use a clearing agent like Super Clear or kielsol/chitosan. It will strip body and the juice will clear on it's own. I would treat it with kmeta every 3 months and let it sit for about a year, it will then be ready to bottle.

 

[Arne]

Sit it in bulk container or containers. Let it clear. Add k-meta after you rack from gross lees. Let it clear, add meta every 3 months or so while aging. When you get toward bottling time, taste and see if you like it . If it needs to be sweetened a bit, you need k-meta and sorbate to stabalize it, then you can sweeten. If you prefer it dry, all you need is k-meta, wait for it to be clear and bottle. Arne.

 

[mgmarty]

Do you know your numbers? I put all my reds through ML just makes a softer wine in my opinion. Other than that, i agree with above.

 

[JerryF]

Yep! SG was 1.091, with Brix 23.5. I am now at SG 0.995, brix -1.3 and have had the same numbers every day for the last 5 days. I'm reasonably confident the fermentation is finished. I would love to be able to do exactly as suggested by Arne and yourself but my space is so limited I have to stabilize and clarify with additives. After it sits, I will rack off and then I will follow with a filtering. I need to get it into bottles so I have the room for bottle aging. Not my choice or preference certainly, just the reality of the space limitations I have.

 

[mgmarty]

i would rack it, get the SO2 right and not do a thing with it till next spring. (maybe some oak chips?) Keep it topped up! Dont let the airlock go dry! I would not use a clarifing agent, let it clear on its own. There is a good chance when it warms in the spring it will begin a ML ferment on its own. good luck.

 

[seth8530]

Honestly, I would recomend that you try treating it like a proccess instead of a recipie.. Ie instead of waiting "this many days and adding sorbate", think more along the lines of.." Initiate fermentation and stir until the 1/3 sugar break. Then once the gravity has reached around 1.01ish and slowed down significantly rack to secondary, racking every now and then once enough sediment builds up..." So on and so forth.

I am not sure you will be able to put this wine into a bottle nearly as soon as you want without it dropping sediment into your wine. I recommend bulk aging for around a year... but that is just me. Carboys are rather efficient devices as far as storing large amounts of wine.

 

[ldmack3]

I used fining agents for quite a while and bottled immediately as I did not have the space for carboys either, with much success.
Since I have built a wine room with a lot of space I never use fining, bentonite nor do I filter (except for whites) as I bulk age for 1+ years.
I would use the fining until you got the space to bulk age. Let it set for 2-3 weeks after fining and you should be fine. Be sure to bottle based on clarity not calendar time.