Other Vino Italiano Moscato kit not "crisp"

[Angelina]

Well I am now in the final stages and I must be having growing pains LOL It is starting to have a nice flavor to it though but I will be back sweetening it. It took me 4 days to degass it and I think I got it. I have a pump I was going to use to degass it but I am still figuring out how to use it, thinking I need a straight racking cane or cut the elbow off of the ones I have. Anywho, What I did after adding the final additives, clearer and then topping it off with a similar commercial wine. I took the bung that came with my Whip and put a Vacu vin stopper in it and was able to take the air out of the carboy, finishing the degassing. When I did it very large bubbles appeared and from what I read this means that it is done degassing or almost done.???

 

[Rocky]

Hey Angie, what happened to your picture? That was one of my great joys in coming to the forum each day!

 

[robie]

Well I am now in the final stages and I must be having growing pains LOL It is starting to have a nice flavor to it though but I will be back sweetening it. It took me 4 days to degass it and I think I got it. I have a pump I was going to use to degass it but I am still figuring out how to use it, thinking I need a straight racking cane or cut the elbow off of the ones I have. Anywho, What I did after adding the final additives, clearer and then topping it off with a similar commercial wine. I took the bung that came with my Whip and put a Vacu vin stopper in it and was able to take the air out of the carboy, finishing the degassing. When I did it very large bubbles appeared and from what I read this means that it is done degassing or almost done.???

Yes, CO2 bubbles are much smaller than oxygen bubbles. If you are geting large bubbles, it is likely air bubbles. Think of the tiny bubbles created when you pour a coke into a glass.

Nice thing is with a vacuum pump, even a small VacuVin, you can degas again just before bottling. Vacuuming doesn't introduce any air (oxygen) into the wine, like a stirrer can, so you can vacuum degas more than once.

The main thing just before bottling is - Does the wine cause a tingling or fizzing feel on your tongue? Bubbles or not, the feel of CO2 on the tongue is the main thing you want to remove.

When the wine is very young, like right after fermenting, it is harder to feel that tingling sensation, because the wine can be green/tart, which can sort of hide that feeling. It would be great if one could just wait until right before bottling to degas, but if you leave all that CO2 in the wine, it may never clear properly.

 

[Angelina]

I degassed my wine today and it is looking good, I plan to back sweeten and bottle my first batch tomorrow. I must say degassing was a bear, (took 3 days) so I used my pump and it was much better and quicker.

 

[Angelina]

I was getting ready to bottle this tonight and I went to give it a final tasting before hand to see if it needed backsweetening. It is sweet enough but I can't say I am thrilled. Right off the bat I noticed no legs and it lacks body and mouth feel. It feels thin/flat. I have read about adding oak chips or glycerin but I am not sure about either being the best decision being this is a kit. Any suggestions would be appreciated. The SG is 0.990

On hand I have Tannin, Oak Essence and I have French Oak chips medium toast

 

[rocket man]

I would suggest adding glycerin. I've made this kit twice now and I've done it both times. As for backsweetening I brought my SG up to 1.028 and thought it tasted good. I bought a bottle of moscato from the store and that was 1.032, that was a bit much for me.

 

[Angelina]

Thanks RocketMan. I added a little of orange and lime extract I had made to it last night and just a little Oak essence. If it needs anything else I will backsweeten and see if that does the trick.

 

[rocket man]

Thanks RocketMan. I added a little of orange and lime extract I had made to it last night and just a little Oak essence. If it needs anything else I will backsweeten and see if that does the trick.

The orange and lime extract sounds good. Let us know how that works out. I might have to try that on my next batch

 

[Angelina]

I am very pleased with the new additions! The extract gave it mouth feel and bite the thinness is gone. I did add some sweetener about 125ml and it was enough to bring the favor forward without making it too sweet. It is perfect!! I am excited, this is my first attempt at winemaking and I am glad I took the extra effort to make this wine so much better. Joes tips really work!

 

[joeswine]

when good wines gone bad

THANK YOU MS. A USING EXTRACTS AND ZEST CAN MAKE OR EVEN ENHANCE A WINES BALANCE IF YOU THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!

 

[Angelina]

Thank you so much Joe, It was a wine saver! This wine went from something I would have never drank let alone shared to a good wine that I can't wait to share. A little Orange zest, Lemon zest and Lime zest soaked in vodka has been in my tool box since I first read your post. I had actually had forgotten about it. I would have liked to of let it steeped longer before using it but I was in a spot so I used some of it early, can't wait to see how it does when it is at it's prime. Thanks again Joe

 

[gizmo206]

HAY DO IT NOW

if you lack a brite taste or a refrreshing taste is what you lack,then by all means add the zest of one orange and two grapefruits,thats the right combination for your flavor fpac,at this time it will infuse into the wine and settle out,then make sure their is no fermentation happening and add,your finding agent and chems,them 10 days later or after proper clearing taste it ,if you need a little more go ahead and infuse more,it won't hurt your wine,,Nows THE TIME

im new to wine making and getting ready to start my first batch and was wandering about the orange and grapefruit when to add and how much and are you talking about fresh fruit will be making VINO ITALIANO Mascato

 

[joeswine]

Zest

NOT FRESH FRUIT ,THE ZEST OF THE FRUIT OR THE COLORED PORTION (THE OUTER SKIN ) FOR SIX GALLON BATCH 2 GRAPEFRUIT WILL DO THE TRICK AFTER RACKING SECONDARY ,US A MICRO PLANE OR A SMALL CHEESE GRATER AND REMOVE THE COLOR OF THE SKIN ONLY AND PLACE DIRECTLY INTO THE WINE,AFTER A COUPLE OF WEEKS THE WORK WILL BE DON AND DO YOU FINAL RACKING AS NORMAL,..ANY QUESTIONS..?