Cellar Craft Merlot with grape skin

[kimberly8512]

Filtered and bottled out cellar craft merlot with grape skin five days ago, the bottles seem to have something that settled in the bottom of the wine. The bottles have only been on their sides for one day, and the sediment seems to be lighter than the wine. Is this normal? It also seems to disappear when moved. We opened a bottle and it was not carbonated and still is clear. Thank you.

 

[robie]

Filtered and bottled out cellar craft merlot with grape skin five days ago, the bottles seem to have something that settled in the bottom of the wine. The bottles have only been on their sides for one day, and the sediment seems to be lighter than the wine. Is this normal? It also seems to disappear when moved. We opened a bottle and it was not carbonated and still is clear. Thank you.

How long did the wine clear before you bottled it?

 

[kimberly8512]

How long did the wine clear before you bottled it?

14 days as per the instructions and the. It was ran thru a #2 filter

 

[ibglowin]

What's a #2 filter?

Any kit with a grape pack should be allowed to bulk age for 3 months in the carboy minimum before any attempt to bottle. Sounds like you got sediment in the bottle one way or the other.

 

[kimberly8512]

What's a #2 filter?

Any kit with a grape pack should be allowed to bulk age for 3 months in the carboy minimum before any attempt to bottle. Sounds like you got sediment in the bottle one way or the other.

#2 filter is a two micron pad for a filter, followed kit instructions for bottling, sediment in question is only about a Dime size, do you think it should be ok and is sediment usually dark?

 

[ibglowin]

If this is grape pack sediment its usually a light pink, not what I would call dark by any means really. It won't hurt anything but its there staring at you for the rest of its life in the bottle. Lots of work to uncork and pour back into a carboy as well.

 

[SouthernChemist]

#2 filter is a two micron pad for a filter, followed kit instructions for bottling, sediment in question is only about a Dime size, do you think it should be ok and is sediment usually dark?

It's probably going to fine. You just have to be careful pouring out of the bottle. Some of these kits can continue to drop small amounts of sediment beyond what the instructions indicate, as Mike said.

 

[GEM]

I usually bulk age my kits for 2-6 months after fermentation. That let's almost everything settle out and I do not have to filter. I do not filter any reds, as I don't want to strip any flavor out, which filtering tends to do. I do rack my win at least twice before bottling and have had little or no problems with sediment. Plus, bulk aging helps the wine quality in my opinion. The only downside is that one has to have patience, which I am learning. Cheers, Gary

 

[nucjd]

That is some good info right there about bulk aging with grape packs. Gonna squirrel that away in my memory banks.

 

[robie]

That is some good info right there about bulk aging with grape packs. Gonna squirrel that away in my memory banks.

Hope I am following what you actually mean.

I don't think they meant to bulk age with a grape pack still present... if that is what you are saying.

Doing that would likely result in rotten wine.

 

[nucjd]

Woops!!!I did not mean for that to come across.. Sorry. I meant, bulk age wine ( once stabilized and rcked off of the primary and secondary) that HAD grape packs in the primary is important. It sounds like sage advice. Going to be trying it with my cellar craft Cab, and Chilean Malbec after a short stint in my Hungarian barrel.

 

[GEM]

Ditto on that. Grape packs only in initial fermentation, I.e. before you transfer to carboy. GEM