WineXpert Smell, Oxidation or kit smell?

[chitownwine]

Hey sorry if been answered before but a newbie here and just not just what the smell my wine has started to give off. I am in the clearing stage of a chianti style kit, been in the clearing carboy for about 3 weeks now. After about a week the wine appeared clear and tasted and smelled pretty good. I figured I would leave in there a couple extra weeks which couldn't hurt it and then bottle it per kit instructions. So I took a sample out of carboy today and the wine had a very strong odor, hard to describe but kinda of moldy I guess. After the smell it did taste the same as before, pretty good.

From what I have read on here I topped but the carboy after clearing with a bottle a chianti but the head space is still probably about a good at least 6 inches. Could this smell be caused from oxidation from too much head space?? and if so is it something I can get rid of or that will go away with time in bottle perhaps.

Also I have heard about a kit smell, could this more likely just be a kit smell which can go away with time aging in the bottle??

Thanks so much for reading, I know wordy but just worried I may have messed up my first batch which seemed to be going so well until I took a snif of it tonight.

Any input greatly appreciated.

chitownwine

 

[winemaker_3352]

Welcome aboard!!

Well the headspace is not good - anytime you have that much headspace in your carboy bad things happen.

Did you add proper amounts of k-meta in?

Does it have any kind of a metallic taste to it?

 

[philogeek]

Welcome aboard!

As noted, the headspace needs to be addressed pronto. If you're using a 6 gallon carboy, and have 6 inches of headspace... that must have been a LOT of sediment to rack from! Your headspace should be about 2 inches below the airlock bung - anything beyond that should be wine.

As far as getting rid of the smell... I had a similar problem with a Merlot last year. I got sick and ended up leaving it too long, and it developed symptoms like you're describing. I racked it with a bit of splashing, topped up, degassed, put it back under airlock, waited a week and did all that again... then let it sit under airlock for about 8 months, and it worked out wonderfully. I probably didn't need to let it sit for so long, but I wanted to make sure it was salvageable before going through the hassle/expense of bottling it. I got lucky, I think, since I was just guessing what it needed me to do.

Moral of the story: rack it (leave as much sediment as possible behind), top it up, degas it, and give it a week to check the progress.

 

[chitownwine]

Thanks for the quick replys. Not really a metallic taste, just the smell is pretty strong. I have added all the ingredients per the instructions so I would assume the meta is already in there, since the next step per instructions is to bottle it.

So I think tomorrow I will rack to new carboy making sure is splashes in, will degass with the wand and top with some similar wine and water. I figure will check in week and if need can rack again, or you think I should just give it more time??

Thanks again.

 

[philogeek]

So I think tomorrow I will rack to new carboy making sure is splashes in, will degas with the wand and top with some similar wine and water. I figure will check in week and if need can rack again, or you think I should just give it more time??

Well, hard to say from a distance, but trust your nose. If, after a week, it smells like it's improved, then more time (and some patience) might be the answer. If it's still quite strong, and doesn't seem to have improved any, maybe some more splashy degassing would be best.

GL!

 

[robie]

Kit smell is a chemical smell... Not grape, not wine, not rotten eggs, not burnt rubber, just smells like a chemical of some kind.

To me all kits have this smell for several months to a year.

Top up your wine. However, it has not had time to oxidized, so you are OK if you top it off now. Use clean, sanitized, non-painted marbles, if you don't want to buy another bottle of Chianti.

 

[chitownwine]

Oh thanks for the tips, never though of using marbles to top it up.

 

[DaveM]

I would think that topping up with marbles would result in a lot of wine left over when you racked it. There's a lot of space between marbles when they're piled together!

 

[Flem]

I think you're talking about a whole lot of marbles to fill that amount of headspace. I'd get another bottle (or two) of chianti to top off with. IMO

 

[robie]

I would think that topping up with marbles would result in a lot of wine left over when you racked it. There's a lot of space between marbles when they're piled together!

DaveM:
Sorry, I have no idea what you mean...

Flem:
Marbles were only mentioned as an alternative. About 2 or 3 pounds of marbles (give or take) will likely fill that void. However, I haven't seen a photo, so I can only guess. If he wants to use a bottle of commercial Chianti, be my guest, it certainly won't go to waste!!! Myself, I prefer wine over marbles.

 

[chitownwine]

So update I splash racked this last weekend to a better bottle which is a little smaller than the glass carboy and ended up not needing that much chianti to top it up. On initial taste the smell has subsided a lot. I am wondering if it was partly because of the clearing sediment was still on the bottle before for about 3 weeks and just needed to rack off the sediment. Gonna let it age for month then reassess and if good then bottle.

thanks for your comments.

 

[Wade E]

Im betting you have an Italian carboy which are really alomost about 6.5 gallons and unfortunately we dont have an option any more as the mexican ones arent made any more.

 

[robie]

So update I splash racked this last weekend to a better bottle which is a little smaller than the glass carboy and ended up not needing that much chianti to top it up. On initial taste the smell has subsided a lot. I am wondering if it was partly because of the clearing sediment was still on the bottle before for about 3 weeks and just needed to rack off the sediment. Gonna let it age for month then reassess and if good then bottle.

thanks for your comments.

Don't worry too much about the smell. Aging wines go through many stages, where taste, smell, and other factors come and go. It will all level out in the end.

Here's a little tip many of us use:

If you save the sediment and pour it all into a narrow, clear, glass container and seal it up for about 2 to 3 days, it will settle again. Once settled, you can siphon off the clear wine (sometimes half to a full 750 ml bottle's worth) and reclaim it.

I always do this. If you don't do this, after several rackings, you will loose several bottles worth of wine.

The holding container really needs to be clear, so you can see exactly where the sediment ends and the clear wine begins.