Wine is forgiving… thank the gods!

[ChuckD]

In September I picked Marquette at @wood1954 ‘s place to practice while my own vineyard starts producing. Of course last fall I was also finishing the mother-in-law apartment… we moved her in one month ago. We pressed the grapes on September 27 and put 21 gallons of wine in the alcove in the basement. I was so busy and stressed that it was all I could do to check the airlocks a few times

Fast forward to TODAY. I spent 20 minutes moving boxes so I could get to the wine and finally racked it! I honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if I had to dump it all, but thank the gods, it was all fine! There was about 2” of lees on the bottom of every carboy. I was careful wile racking and only transferred a whisp of dead yeast… final yield was 18 gallons. No vinegar, rotten egg, or other off-flavors!

I am frankly amazed… this wine is very promising!

 

[VinesnBines]

I left my Marquette and a couple others for 10 weeks after pressing this fall before racking. I let the fresh press settle for 24 or 48 hours before going into a bulk container. I racked everything from 2024 harvest on November 25 and 26. Like you, I didn’t have any off smells or flavors.

Next year I plan to rack a little sooner but harvest and work prevented me from racking sooner.

I think the paranoia over lees is overblown. I try not to rack too often because I think it can be more detrimental than helpful.

I won’t rack again until I fill a barrel or get ready to bottle next summer/fall.

 

[wood1954]

In September I picked Marquette at @wood1954 ‘s place to practice while my own vineyard starts producing. Of course last fall I was also finishing the mother-in-law apartment… we moved her in one month ago. We pressed the grapes on September 27 and put 21 gallons of wine in the alcove in the basement. I was so busy and stressed that it was all I could do to check the airlocks a few times

Fast forward to TODAY. I spent 20 minutes moving boxes so I could get to the wine and finally racked it! I honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if I had to dump it all, but thank the gods, it was all fine! There was about 2” of lees on the bottom of every carboy. I was careful wile racking and only transferred a whisp of dead yeast… final yield was 18 gallons. No vinegar, rotten egg, or other off-flavors!

I am frankly amazed… this wine is very promising!

Glad to hear it’s ok. I tasted mine yesterday and was surprised at how much flavor it had, lots of cherry. I filtered my batch before going to barrel, so totally different then your style.. Definitely have to get together and taste each others wine.

 

[winemaker81]

I think the paranoia over lees is overblown. I try not to rack too often because I think it can be more detrimental than helpful.

Agreed. The success of EM indicates it's not critical to get the new wine off the gross lees.

That said, I've had wines that developed off aromas and flavors when left on the gross lees too long. I suspect it was because these wines were lighter bodied and could not handle the changes in the same fashion heavier bodied wines seem to.

Like everything else in winemaking, each ferment is different ...

 

[ChuckD]

That said, I've had wines that developed off aromas and flavors when left on the gross lees too long

I would consider what I had “gross lees”. I pressed and “filtered” with a kitchen strainer… that’s all. And the wine sat on those lees for 12 weeks.

Last night I didn’t detect anything “off” when smelling the carboy and everything tasted good when priming the siphon 6x. When we were drinking the leftovers last night, as I swirled the wine I did detect a hint of sulfurous compounds. My wife couldn’t smell it though. I’ll check again tonight with a fresh nose and taster. Overall I’m pleased with she taste (needs aging oak) and happy I didn’t ruin the wine.