WineXpert What happened to my wonderful Riesling

[JeffZ]

I bottled a WE world Riesling 7 months ago. After 1-3 months, it was truly wonderful to drink - tasty, smooth, and balanced.

It was stored properly, on its side, in a normal temperature range. For some reason, it started turning 'bad' around 5 months. Developed a slightly 'chemical' taste. Sharper and not pleasant. Even after allowing to breath for a few hours.

The temperature did drop once in the storage room just for a couple days - but didn't freeze. Could that have done it?

Any ideas??? Could it be going through a 'growth phase"? My other 6 varieties are all good - just the Riesling. Thanks.

 

[cpfan]

I had something similar happen with a Gewurztraminer many years ago (my second batch). I believe it was because I didn't sanitize the bottles properly. In my case at the end of the batch, some bottles were OK, but most literally stunk (smell and taste). I hadn't understand sanitizing properly. I used pink powder (Diversol) which is an effective sanitizer if the bottles are soaked for minimum 20-30 minutes. I didn't soak them at all.

Steve

 

[JeffZ]

Thanks Steve.
I'm pretty meticulous in sanitizing both the carboy and bottles. I start with oxyclean soaking overnight, then run bottles through dishwater without detergent - just to steam clean a little, and finally clean using starsan. But something went wrong. Weird.

 

[terrymck]

Do you have any idea what your SO2 level was before bottling? Could have spoiled from lack of Kmeta. Those German style wine kits seem to ferment out at a lower alcohol level which can contribute to spoilage.

Terry

 

[jsiddall]

Do you have any idea what your SO2 level was before bottling? Could have spoiled from lack of Kmeta. Those German style wine kits seem to ferment out at a lower alcohol level which can contribute to spoilage.

Terry

My thoughts also. On many of my kits I have seen a statement that essentially says if you aren't going to finish drinking in the next 6 months you should add extra K-meta at bottling time.

 

[Floandgary]

LOL,,, let this be a lesson! Drink more, drink faster!!

 

[JeffZ]

Thanks everyone. No i didn't know the SO2 level. I always thought that every wine kit would improve over time. And 7 months is not very old - even for a white.

Is there any chance the corks were 'bad'. I did not sterilize the corks - I usually just soak in clean water before bottling. Can't think of anything else.