WineXpert Shiraz Grenache Mourvèdre

[rseibel]

Hello,

I'm in the process of making a Selection International Shiraz Grenache Mourvèdre. After stabilization and clarification stage the instructions state the let it settle for 10 days and then transfer to a second carboy. I plan on filtering this wine. Can the second racking be skipped? It seems that I just end up leaving behind wine with the sediment and then have to top up with water or another wine.

My carboy is supposed to be 23 liters but it seems like it is slightly more. I'm afraid topping up with water like this will water it down. After the second racking I ended up adding probably about 2 bottles worth of water. I tried to get all the wine I could.. I ended up sucking up a bunch of sediment in the process.

Thanks for the help..

 

[robie]

Hello,

I'm in the process of making a Selection International Shiraz Grenache Mourvèdre. After stabilization and clarification stage the instructions state the let it settle for 10 days and then transfer to a second carboy. I plan on filtering this wine. Can the second racking be skipped? It seems that I just end up leaving behind wine with the sediment and then have to top up with water or another wine.

My carboy is supposed to be 23 liters but it seems like it is slightly more. I'm afraid topping up with water like this will water it down. After the second racking I ended up adding probably about 2 bottles worth of water. I tried to get all the wine I could.. I ended up sucking up a bunch of sediment in the process.

Thanks for the help..

I would never use water to top off. If you don't have the same wine to top off, for a red, use merlot; for white, use something close in kind. Of course for an SGM, you can use shiraz.

You should go ahead and rack that second time. Do it only when the wine is really clear. If not clear, wait a week and check again. The reason to rack again is to get rid of as much sediment as possible, so you don't stop up your filter. After you rack, let wine set for several weeks to see if more sediment forms.

Yes, all recently available carboys are more than the liters/gallons they say they are. The older Mexican carboys were much closer to their stated size, but they are not available new anymore.

Don't suck up the sediment when you rack. When you get close to the sediment, stop. Then pour all the left over wine and sediment into a smaller container, like a 1.5 liter wine (clear if you have one) bottle, and seal the container. Let it settle again for a week or so. Then siphon off everything above the sediment line and keep it. You will be surprised at how much wine you can recover this way.

 

[Dugger]

Welcome to a great forum rseibel. Sounds like you are relatively new with kit wine making; perhaps you could let us know a little bit about yourself and what wine you've made to date. Always good to have another Bluenoser on here!
You've touched on a matter that gives most of us some problems - topping up! It has become a bigger problem now that the carboys available are Italian ones ( with the ribs); we used to be able to get Mexican carboys ( smooth sides) which were 23 liters but they are no longer available. The Italian ones are more like 24 liters and this leads to the top up problem.
Now many, if not all kits are designed for some water top up - about 800 mls for WinExpert kits - but we, as home winemakers, are reluctant to do that, thinking it will dilute the wine. I do no believe that using the allowed water amount will negatively impact the wine, although I personally do not like to do that!
New kit winemakers tend to lose a lot of wine because they are reluctant to transfer any sediment when they rack. It will not hurt to get sediment coming over - you will save some wine and the sediment can be reduced next time you rack. Another trick is to take the leftover sediment and put it in a wine bottle ( under airlock) and let it settle over a few days and you will recover some wine that way.
Some people also add marbles or other items to the carboy to occupy space to reduce top up; I haven't done this but I expect it is messy and time consuming. If some one can invent a good method of reducing space in a carboy, (s)he will make a lot of friends here.
You can add more water up front in your primary to allow for the increased carboy size also, if you wish, but don't exceed the recommended amount.
When you accumulate some of your wine over time, you will have available a source of wine to top up; commercial wines are another option, but an expensive one compared to our friends south of the border.
As to your question, I assume this is a question for your next kit, since you say you have already racked twice and had to add 2 bottles of wine. I would say you could probably skip this stage if you wish, but you would have a lot of sediment to contend with at filtering time. I would encourage you to follow directions until you feel more confident in your knowledge and experience in making the kits. I would also suggest you try to find some Mexican carboys ( try Kijiji) - this would help you the most.
Good luck.

 

[rseibel]

Thanks for the replies.
This is only my second kit. First kit was a VR Cabernet Sauvignon. I guess practice makes perfect. I actually added almost 1.5 L of water. It was driving me crazy while I was doing it, but I didn't have any similar wine around to add.

I was thinking about getting rid of a portion of the wine and replacing it with some commercial wine to try to fix it, but doing some calculation shows that it won't change much at least as far as alcohol content goes.

I'll just leave it as is and know better for next time.

Would they generally have wine bottle size airlocks at the wine shops?

 

[robie]

Thanks for the replies.
This is only my second kit. First kit was a VR Cabernet Sauvignon. I guess practice makes perfect. I actually added almost 1.5 L of water. It was driving me crazy while I was doing it, but I didn't have any similar wine around to add.

I was thinking about getting rid of a portion of the wine and replacing it with some commercial wine to try to fix it, but doing some calculation shows that it won't change much at least as far as alcohol content goes.

I'll just leave it as is and know better for next time.

Would they generally have wine bottle size airlocks at the wine shops?

Buy this kind of bung:
http://www.finevinewines.com/p-1604-25169.aspx

Turn it upside down, so the big end slips over the top of the wine bottle. Then add any air lock in the hole. They work great!

 

[Dugger]

As Robie says, the universal one or a #2 or 3 bung - most supply shops would sell all of these.

 

[ibglowin]

Welcome to the forums! And yes they do make a perfect sized stopper that will fit into a wine bottle with an airlock. Get a couple as they will come in handy. Never add water unless its just a few ounces. Think ahead and get your top off wine ahead of time so you have it when you need it.

Again, welcome!

Would they generally have wine bottle size airlocks at the wine shops?