Taming a hot wine

[Spikedlemon]

I made my first, reduced, batch of a 6Gal recipe as a 5Gal one and as I transferred from secondary for fining I snuck a taste (what fun is this hobby without sampling) and it's pretty hot.

My rough numbers put it around 15% ABV which, to me, for a Merlot is too high.

So far: I've topped up with another bottle of wine (to bring the level to the shoulder of the carboy but not up to the neck) but I'm thinking after fining that I'll rack again and top up with water, instead, and let it age a few weeks before bottling.

Has anyone else had success in taming a hot wine?

 

[Noontime]

Was this a kit? You may find differing opinions, but the kits are designed to be balanced with the appropriate volume of water...so not only do you have a higher alcohol content but concentrated acids and everything else.

If it's not a kit, I would probably blend with a dry wine. But water could work, but I would do a bench trial first to make sure you're not diluting the flavor as well as the alcohol.

Also keep in mind that it could integrate very well after a few years. Not knowing what kind of wine it is it's hard to say, but you might be better off waiting to see what it grows up to be.

 

[Spikedlemon]

Thanks @Noontime,

It's a 7L Merlot kit. I had started it on the lees of an Amarone (in hopes to improve the flavor with the raisins of the Amarone).
I guess it was an "everyone else is doing it" kind of moment to reduce to 5gal. I had an earlier post asking about watering it back down which I might try to follow but was looking for other advice.

Perhaps time may be the best solution here (and I suppose I could always modify it while it remains in the carboy).

 

[heatherd]

Thanks @Noontime,

It's a 7L Merlot kit. I had started it on the lees of an Amarone (in hopes to improve the flavor with the raisins of the Amarone).
I guess it was an "everyone else is doing it" kind of moment to reduce to 5gal. I had an earlier post asking about watering it back down which I might try to follow but was looking for other advice.

Perhaps time may be the best solution here (and I suppose I could always modify it while it remains in the carboy).

@SpikedLemon You could add commercial wine to it to try to get closer to your desired ABV.

 

[Johnd]

Thanks @Noontime,

It's a 7L Merlot kit. I had started it on the lees of an Amarone (in hopes to improve the flavor with the raisins of the Amarone).
I guess it was an "everyone else is doing it" kind of moment to reduce to 5gal. I had an earlier post asking about watering it back down which I might try to follow but was looking for other advice.

Perhaps time may be the best solution here (and I suppose I could always modify it while it remains in the carboy).

Using the lees and leftovers from another kit isn't really much of a risk when doing kit wines, since the kit makers do a pretty darn good job making sure that their kits come out well balanced (and I've checked the pH and TA on finished kit wines). When you mess with the total volume of wine produced, that can affect the balances intended by the manufacturer, in this case, the alcohol content is perceived to be too high by your taste standards. So now you know you don't like that outcome.

As another suggestion to consider, get the same 7L Merlot kit and make it according to the instructions and blend it with the one you've already done, you'll then have an ABV lower than your 5 gallon kit, but a little higher than intended by the manufacturer, which could solve your problem and you'd have twice as much wine. Of course, you could make kit #2 a little larger than 6 gallons if you like, and bring the ABV down a bit more after blended.

Just so you don't think "everyone is doing it", I don't do it (not saying it shouldn't be done, or bashing anyone who does), but instead attempt to stay true to the varietal and increase the quality of my kits by adding real wine grapes, or the pressed skins from a previous batch, or dried skins, grape packs, etc.. I feel that my best results for red kit wines to date are those high end kits, with grape packs, plus skins from a previous batch of the same or similar varietal, FWIW.

 

[TonyR]

What i would do is add some oak and k-meta and leave the carboy alone for at least 3 months ( only checking that the airlock has liquid in it ), by that time it will have cleared so you can rack it and get a much better idea of the flavor the time will also mellow the taste some. If you add water you will just weaken the flavor and most Merlots don't have that much to spare.

 

[salcoco]

I would suggest a bench taste trial using sugar syrup. using a sale size of about 50ml add 1/4 tsp sugar syrup. make another sample with 1/2 tsp continue each sample adding a 1/4 tsp above previous. do your taste test. sugar syrup will balance out the alcohol. once you find the one you like calculate amount to be added to finished batch.

 

[Spikedlemon]

@salcoco are you implying to back-sweeten to offset the alcohol?

@TonyR That might be my 'short-term' plan is to leave it alone for a while. It'll make a good justification to the missus that I need to get more carboys due to this batch needing more time.

 

[salcoco]

the term back sweeten is not appropriate in this case. basically you wine is unbalanced, that is to much alcohol, adding the sugar syrup bring it back into balance . the addition does not sweeten the wine unless you add to much. during the sample bench trial you will reach a point where the hot wine is subdued, flavors of the wine come forward, and sweetness does not occur. you will lose any tannin dryness. try a bench trial, since there is no risk. if anything it will be educational even if you do not enjoy the outcome.I have used this technique on many wines, successfully.