'Stuck' malolactic fermentation - what to do?

[Bliorg]

Hi all -

I have Chilean syrah and carmenere in process. Inoculated both with Wyeast 4007 on 5/21/20. They've been held at between 78F and maybe 85F (uncontrolled garage temps). Both fermented along strongly for many weeks. Both have been idle for probably a month minimum. Picked up a chromatography kit recently; ran the test yesterday:


So the carmenere is nicely through MLF. The syrah, not so much. Neither of these wines has ever seen any sulfite since I got the buckets. Both taste very nice, nothing off, no discernible oxidation.

So, what to do? I'm not really wanting to reinoculate the syrah, but I also don't want any spontaneous fermentation in the bottle. My feel with MLF has always been an all-or-nothing proposition. Can I sulfite the syrah where it's at without any fear of further activity on down the line?

Thanks for your thoughts.
Scott

 

[sour_grapes]

I am sure someone with more experience will chime in, but I believe that lysozyme is your friend here: It's Lysozyme Time - WineMakerMag.com

 

[cmason1957]

You say there was no sulfite added. That's probably a true statement for you, but you have no idea if the company that produced the juice buckets may well have added some. And many folks have not had great results with the Wyest 4007 bacteria.

 

[Johnd]

50/50 results with Wyeast LAB is better than most!!!

 

[Bliorg]

I am sure someone with more experience will chime in, but I believe that lysozyme is your friend here: It's Lysozyme Time - WineMakerMag.com

Thanks Paul - that's super-helpful! Have some on order.

You say there was no sulfite added. That's probably a true statement for you, but you have no idea if the company that produced the juice buckets may well have added some. And many folks have not had great results with the Wyest 4007 bacteria.

Valid. Both buckets are from the same source, but no idea on how they were treated before they came to me.

Scott

 

[Mario Dinis]

Have exactly the same problem this year with Chilean Syrah. It's been a month and a half, did two tests, one after a month and then two weeks later. Still half away. What baffles me.is that I used the workhorse VP41. Any ideas?

 

[cmason1957]

Chilean juice buckets and grapes notoriously have issues with mlf. Lysozyme becomes your friend as Paul indicated a few posts above. I would make certain everything is in your favor, lower alcohol levels, reasonable ph, good temps, good mlb nutrition, I'm sure I've forgotten some.

 

[Mario Dinis]

Chilean juice buckets and grapes notoriously have issues with mlf. Lysozyme becomes your friend as Paul indicated a few posts above. I would make certain everything is in your favor, lower alcohol levels, reasonable ph, good temps, good mlb nutrition, I'm sure I've forgotten some.

I did have any issues with last year's Chilean Malbec and also used VP41. Guess I'll have to add more nutrient. The amounts were the same.

 

[Mario Dinis]

Chilean juice buckets and grapes notoriously have issues with mlf. Lysozyme becomes your friend as Paul indicated a few posts above. I would make certain everything is in your favor, lower alcohol levels, reasonable ph, good temps, good mlb nutrition, I'm sure I've forgotten some.

Meant to say did not have any issues above.

 

[heatherd]

I like VP 41 dry MLB and find it reliable.

 

[crushday]

CH16 has been a work horse for me. I would reinnoculate, but I would check SO2 levels first. Craig (@cmason1957) might be onto something…

 

[cmason1957]

CH16 has been a work horse for me. I would reinnoculate, but I would check SO2 levels first. Craig (@cmason1957) might be onto something…

I think you have to check both free and bound SO2. I don't know how to measure for bound so2.

 

[Mario Dinis]

Thank you for your tips.