Juice Pail Fizz

[havlikn]

January 2015, I started a pail of Syrah, Zinfandel, Grenache, and Carignane. No win was ever back sweetened. The wine fermented through no problem and I aged it until December of 2015. I racked the wine three times and kept up with the standard so2 program. When I go an open a bottle of syrah, grenache, and carignane they are have a puff sounds and fizz. I have learned my lesson before with bottle bombs and not stabilizing the wine, but there was no sugar added. Is this maloactic happening in the bottle?

Thanks

 

[cpfan]

It could just be CO2 being released, if the wine was not degassed. Did you taste the wine? If so, did it taste fizzy on the tongue?

Steve

 

[havlikn]

I did not degas but figured with three rackings and waiting a year the co2 would release. Am I wrong? The wine tastes adequate, but yes fizzy

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I did not degas but figured with three rackings and waiting a year the co2 would release. Am I wrong? The wine tastes adequate, but yes fizzy

It also depends what temperatures you were storing the wine at ? If the wine is cold -it does not want to release the CO2 easily.
Try using a decanter for your wine - does it seem to get rid of the fizz ?

Is there pressure pushing the cork when you open a bottle ?

 

[Boatboy24]

Over the course of almost a year, with three rackings, I'd expect you to be pretty well degassed. Did you rack with a vacuum or siphon/gravity?

I assume you tasted prior to bottling - no bubbles at that time? If so, you may be getting MLF in the bottle.

 

[JohnT]

is it possible that you bulk-stored your wine at a colder temp then where you store your bottles? was there some sort of temp spike, perhaps allowing the bottles to heat up above 70 degrees or so?

If so, it is possible that you have a case where fermentation kicked back off.

If your wine has yeast that is still active (even a minimal amount) and just the smallest amount of residual sugar, fermentation can kick back off (even if the wine is over a year old).

An easy way to tell is by looking to see if there is any cloudiness or sediment in the bottle that might resemble yeast (kind of a chalky-tan).

If this is so, I would recommend that you uncork your wine into a carboy and treat with sorbate and allow to settle/clarify.

 

[Floandgary]

So it's been under cork for close to 3 months now and no bombs yet correct? Likely just a bit of CO2 still present. Agree w/Steve,, decant before drinking. I've even gone so far as to uncork, place thumb over top, shake like a pop bottle to relieve CO2, then decant for flavor. This providing nothing else at play as Jim and JohnT mentioned. Or as The Travelling Wilburys said ,, "Just put it in a cool, dry place!"

 

[havlikn]

Temps are the same for bottles and carboys. They were racked by gravity. The fizz when swirled in a glass does go away so from suggestions o imagine there is co2 left

 

[jsiddall]

I have carboys of cider that still fizz vigorously when stirred after sitting in the carboy for the better part of a year. Time in no way guarantees all the CO2 is released. A good vacuum pump and a few minutes is all it takes to get rid of the CO2.