RJ Spagnols Leaking Wine Kits

[robie]

You are still overly worried about the wine being spoiled because of a leaky must bag. Many, many of us have had leaky bags without any problems. Those bags are 2 ply. Must getting between the plies, then outside the second ply is one thing, but anything going back the other way is extremely unlikely.

If the must smelled good and tasted good at the time fermentation started and it smells good and doesn't taste spoiled (rotten) now, it is fine. Like Mike said, if it were bad, it would smell bad.

Have you ever tasted very young wine? It is very tart and usually not at all pleasing to the taste buds. I am saying this so you don't taste it while very young, then throw it out because it doesn't taste like a similar commercial bottle of wine that has been correctly aged.

 

[Gekko4321]

I got that. Thanks Richard! I just want to make sure as I evolve thru this. Hate to put all this time and effort into my first batch and fail due to issue outside my control.

 

[robie]

You are going to end up with a really great wine. The more patience for aging you have, the better it will be.

Maybe in a year you need to try a bottle; use your imagination concerning how it will be in another year or two. I say this because if you wait two years to try it, you will wish you had started another one sooner.

 

[Gekko4321]

That is my hope! Thanks for all the great advice Richard!

 

[Gekko4321]

So degassed today. I did the drill stirrer without much issue, but had tough time with vacu vin. With wine leakage I think I had too much air for it to work effectively so I went and topped it up first. And then I kept topping it up. I have a 6 gallon glass carboy and I ultimately used 4.5 bottles to top up to neck, leaving 2 inches of space. I thought I lost about a liter in leakage, but appears to be more since I just added 3.3 liters worth. Am I still going to be okay considering having to add so much wine? 14% seems like alot to me.

 

[Wade E]

This wine has been racked once already right? If so you probably also left too much behind in the transfer. By adding that much you probably changed the profile of the wine a bit but Im sure it will still be decent wine unless you used some crappy wine to top up.

 

[v1rotate]

So degassed today. I did the drill stirrer without much issue, but had tough time with vacu vin. With wine leakage I think I had too much air for it to work effectively so I went and topped it up first. And then I kept topping it up. I have a 6 gallon glass carboy and I ultimately used 4.5 bottles to top up to neck, leaving 2 inches of space. I thought I lost about a liter in leakage, but appears to be more since I just added 3.3 liters worth. Am I still going to be okay considering having to add so much wine? 14% seems like alot to me.

I get your concern with adding so much wine to top up with. It will, at least, be interesting to compare the 2 EP CabSauv kits down the road and you can tell an interesting "war story" at parties about them. If it were to happen again, and I'm sure it won't, you could rack down to a 5G carboy and only have 1/2 bottle left over, problem solved. <sigh>

Give both of these batches 2 years to mature and I fearlessly predict that they will both be winners!

 

[Gekko4321]

Wade, how would you define a crappy wine? It seems they say use any cheap wine to top off, but I have a tough time doing that. But on the other hand, as I raced off last night to buy more wine, I pondered the cost I was laying out. My goal making this Lodi area Cab Sauv was to find a Cab Sauv from that area. Not that easy. I ultimately found a Callaway Cab Sauv out of the area. Callaway is a well known enuf name I imagine. Retail $8.99 and I got it on sale for half off. I seldom have a bad wine and I stay away from the $2 bottles so I hope I am on the right safe track with that one. Tasted fine although it seemed to have high alcohol content. How much does one spend to top off? Might be a good convo. What do you think?

Jim, I agree with what you said but I do have some concerns. Does the chemicals I have added in this process become too much for a wine that is as depleted as mine if I go with 5 gallon carboy? Other thought in topping off so much is what issues arise when you put a completed and aged wine in with a green young aging wine? If my added bottles are 2007 vintage, how does that affect the drink date of my 2010 vintage? I realize it is still only 14% of the total but I think it may be entering a zone of discussion.

 

[v1rotate]

Don't over think this. If you find a cheap red wine that tastes good to you, it is fine to top up with. Drink date will not change, I predict. As far as the chemicals go, clearing agents won't affect the taste. The sorbate could, if you are real sensitive to that taste. I am not. I tried mixing a dose of sorbate with 1 gallon of water and still could just barely taste it. The sulfite will be a tiny bit high, but if you are going to wait a year to start drinking this batch, that won't present a problem. Actually, if you sample that batch right now, you will probably not be able to taste the sulfite.

I use "crappy wine" to top up my mid-level kits. It doesn't seem to harm the flavor to me, so far. I do a fair amount of topping, as I have 2 40L barrels which require 20mL each of top up wine per day. If I was making an EP kit, I would use $8 wine to top with, as you did.

 

[vcasey]

As long as you like the wine you topped up with you'll be fine and so will the wine. One day you'll be able to use your own wine for topping off. I rack down to a 5 gallon carboy a lot, especially if I don't want to top up the wine (think Amarone). Take a look at most of those clearing packets, most say for 5-6 gallons and the 3 gallon kits come with those same packets, it will not change the taste.

The sulfite will not be an issue down the road either and if you are planning to bulk age them you can test to make sure the levels are correct. I would bulk age these for 6 to a year, bottle and start thinking about testing them at 2 years. Another option is to rack to a 5 gallon carboy and bottle the rest, if you use the 375s you'll be able to stretch out your tasting so you can still enjoy the wine but you are also letting most of it age.

 

[Gekko4321]

Thanks guys. So in the future, would you drop a regular wine (non Amarone) to a 5 gallon or go ahead and top up? I guess what I am wondering is---what is the cut off where you go down a size versus topping up?

 

[Rocky]

Scott, I have about 15 carboys and only three of them are 6 gallon. I use a 5 gallon plus a one gallon jug plus a half gallon jug when I take the wine out of a primary. By the time I rack again (and taste!) and lose a little wine, I am ususally at or just under 6 gallons. I don't top up with wine. I ususally fill with sanitized glass marbles if needed.

 

[v1rotate]

Thanks guys. So in the future, would you drop a regular wine (non Amarone) to a 5 gallon or go ahead and top up? I guess what I am wondering is---what is the cut off where you go down a size versus topping up?

Some kits don't need any topping after stabilizing! Those would usually be the grape pack kits. It is very seldom that I need more than one bottle for topping at this point.

Lately, since I have 2 11G barrels, I have been making mostly double kits. When I stabilize these, they fit nicely into an Italian 6G carboy, which actually holds about 6.25 gallons, and a 5G carboy. I have some growlers from a local micro brew to handle any extra wine.

When I rack to clarify, I have been topping with inexpensive store bought red wine to maximize the number of bottles I get out of the batch. With a double batch, that turns out to be less than 2 bottles and sometimes less than 1 if there isn't a lot of sediment.

 

[Gekko4321]

Good stuff guys! I gotta get a 5 gallon it looks like! Haven't even finished a wine yet and on to my 4th carboy! Whew! Seems like this is the right play for me. Thx again!

 

[Rocky]

Keep and eye on Craig's List and eBay. I have found some really great deals there on carboys with people getting out of the hobby or just having them left over from family members, e.g. therea group oftwo fives and a six being sold in GA, all used just once,and the opening bid is $24. No one has bid on them yet.






One caution, try to see what they have been used for in the past. It is normally wine making or they are old water dispenser bottles (before they went to plastic) so there little concern. In any case, clean and sanitize the heck out of them when you get them home.

 

[Gekko4321]

Good advice. Thx Rocky!