WineXpert Stags Leap Ready to Bottle

[Bob007]

Hi guys,

My Eclipse Stags Leap Merlot is ready to bottle. As far as I can tell it is very clear. I poured a bit into a glass to test it and it seems ready. I compared to a similar amount of another wine I had opened, a Petite Syrah, and the Merlot looked clearer to me. Are there other things I should do to be sure this is ready to bottle? It taste great.

Also, I purchased a universal solid carboy plug and it won't stay on. It keeps sliding out and doesn't bring a tight fit. Is this a universal problem? I put the airlock back on as I won't be able to bottle until next week.

Also, I stupidly held my finger over the opening on my wine thief when I inserted it into the carboy to take a sample, and some wine spilled out of the top of the carboy. Is there a chance this would contaminate the batch? The wine thief was sanitized but I'm worried that when the wine came out, some may have gone back into the carboy after contact with the top of the carboy. Perhaps I'm worrying too much.

Thanks,

Bob


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[jdmyers]

don't sweat it your going to sanitize your bottles before you fill them and I would guess your carboy wasn't that dirty to begin with

 

[sour_grapes]

As for the bung sliding out, yeah, I have noticed that. The trick is to dry off both the bung and the inside of the neck with a paper towel (or the like) before putting the bung in.

I think you are worrying far, far too much about the spilled wine.

 

[DoctorCAD]

How long has it sat without dropping lees or its SG changing?

Oh, and its about 14% alcohol now, so no worries about contamination.

 

[bakervinyard]

Hi Bob, You say that the Stags Leap is ready to bottle. Also you're a little concerned about it being clear. Couple of questions. Did you bulk age it at all? When did you start the kit? I made one last year on month 9 of bulk ageing. I try to bulk age my reds for a year before bottling. Bakervinyard

 

[cimbaliw]

Hey Bob, I feel your pain. Wife and I bottled our Stag's Leap Merlot a couple of weeks ago, man it was dark. I had racked before bottling and ended up putting the last 300ml or so of the run into a clear split. I held it pretty close to the light bulb and gave it a "clear rating." Wouldn't have mattered any way, it was bottled. I will take this opportunity to say that the finished product, albeit young, was darn tasty.

 

[Bob007]

Thanks for the feedback.

What is the benefit of bulk ageing over bottling? Especially if the instructions say to bottle. Keep in mind I'm a 2 batch newbie


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[SouthernChemist]

Thanks for the feedback.

What is the benefit of bulk ageing over bottling? Especially if the instructions say to bottle. Keep in mind I'm a 2 batch newbie


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It's more a matter of practical benefits rather than inherent advantages. I think all wine benefits from at least a few months of bulk aging. You can bottle at any point once the wine is clear and degassed, but if you bottle too early you will end up with sediment in the bottle and a gassy wine that may not quite develop like it should. Bulk aging allows more time for the wine to reach this state. Additionally, there's the ease of dealing with one filled carboy of wine rather than ~30 or so bottles of wine (stored on their sides). Another factor that can sometimes pop up is storage and how it affects the aging of the wine. Final benefit: you cannot drink it if its in a carboy.

Keep in mind that the instructions for kits are written with the explicit goal of early bottling - not early drinking. Part of their marketing appeal is that you will have bottled wine in 4-6 weeks. It would be harder for them to convince people to buy if that '8 week' LE kit, for example, was marketed as 'Ready in 18-24 months'. The wine is certainly 'drinkable' at this point, but it may be rather disappointing compared to what aging (in a carboy or bottle) will do.

 

[ShaunDanz]

I've made four the the Stagg's Leap Merlot's and I would highly recommend letting this one age. I know when I first started, I hated hearing people telling me to age wine -- I wanted it NOW! Also, I wanted to free up the carboy so I could move on to another batch. Bob007, do yourself a favor and buy another carboy. Let this one sit at least six months. Do not drink until a year, 18 months if you can wait that long.

I now own 10 carboys and let most of my reds age a year (prevents me from drinking them early). I age my whites for six months.

The Stagg's Leap Merlot will turn into a completely different wine after a year.

 

[Bob007]

Hi ShaunDanz,

Thanks for the tip. Did you add extra metabisulphite as the instructions say for ageing longer than 6 months? I did not, so wonder what I should do now, if I bulk age for 6 months and then let it age in the bottles for a year? Is it OK to add it at this stage? Or did I miss my window when I racked and clarified for 28 days?

Bob



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[sour_grapes]

You can certainly add k-meta at this stage. Most here will say that, absent a way to test for SO2 levels, adding 1/4 tsp every 3 mos. turns out about right.

 

[ShaunDanz]

Sour grapes is right, you will need to add 1/4 tsp of k-meta. I probably don't add k-meta as much as I should. I don't follow the kit instructions, so I leave the wine on the oak cubes (the oak cubes have been soaked in a little k-meta/water solution) for three months. After I rack the wine off the oak cubes I add k-meta. I then add it again 3 to 6 months later.

Bob, you can add k-meta at any time. Adding k-meta now, would mean that you could keep the wine in the carboy for another 3 to 6 months.

 

[Bob007]

Thanks for the insights. Should I transfer the wine to a different carboy if I age for a few months? It does have sediment at the bottom, but the wine is clear. Not sure if it's harmful to age with that in there. Will it affect the taste?


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[ShaunDanz]

This is the racking cycle I use.
Day 7 - from primary to secondary
Day 17 - rack and stabilize
Day 40 - rack off lees & add oak cubes (if necessary)
Day 82 to 130 - rack off of oak cubes (timing of racking depends upon taste)
Day 365 - bottle

 

[JohnT]

Thanks for the insights. Should I transfer the wine to a different carboy if I age for a few months? It does have sediment at the bottom, but the wine is clear. Not sure if it's harmful to age with that in there. Will it affect the taste?


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I would go ahead and rack the wine. I find it is always good to get rid of the lees. I do not think that it will affect the taste much (at this point), but it is more likely to affect the clarity of the wine.

 

[Kraffty]

I can tell you from experience that if you bottle now you will have more sediment than you'd like in your finished bottles. You've got a quality wine going, you might as well let it finish as best as you can. If you're up for an experiment go ahead and rack your wine but fill one clear glass bottle, cork it and set it aside. You'll have to top up your carboy to make up for it but when you rack again 3 or 4 months from now check out the bottle. You'll be glad you don't have 30 bottles that look like that. It'll give you an excuse to test your wine with an extra few months aging also. Let us know how it goes.
Mike

 

[JohnT]

I can tell you from experience that if you bottle now you will have more sediment than you'd like in your finished bottles. You've got a quality wine going, you might as well let it finish as best as you can. If you're up for an experiment go ahead and rack your wine but fill one clear glass bottle, cork it and set it aside. You'll have to top up your carboy to make up for it but when you rack again 3 or 4 months from now check out the bottle. You'll be glad you don't have 30 bottles that look like that. It'll give you an excuse to test your wine with an extra few months aging also. Let us know how it goes.
Mike

+1 on what Kraffty said...

Wine is living and breathing. Sediment forms as a natural part of the aging process. I find that the younger a wine is, the more sediment will form. This is why they make decanters.

I like a nice clear glass of wine. I age my wines for 2 years for just this reason.

If this is an expensive kit, and a really nice resulting wine, you owe it to yourself to bulk age.

 

[Bob007]

Hey guys, great advice. I'm going to rack and save that one bottle. Let it age for a year and start another kit this summer. Hmmmm....what red should follow the Stags Leap????


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[tonyt]

If you want to stay with WE Eclipse I recommend highly the Cabernet. I bottled in October and it is a top 5 best for me. Since you just did the Merlot you could blend a couple bottles for a Bordeaux blend.

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[merica]

This is great information. I did step 4 last night (racking and clarification). I added the extra metabisulphite powder as the directions said. I plan on bulk storing it for a couple months or longer after reading this.

A separate question. I tasted it and I noticed the wine had slight sour/tart after-taste. Postings I have read say it could be because of an acid imbalance or possible extra CO2. I used a drill to degas it last week. It has been exactly 1 month since I started it. Is this normal or will bulk storing help with this?