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.

 

[winemaker81]

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.

Did you smell swamp gas? I'm surprised you could smell it while your wife couldn't.

I'd stir the wine and add another dose of K-meta. If you have a slight case of H2S, that will probably solve it.

 

[ChuckD]

Did you smell swamp gas? I'm surprised you could smell it while your wife couldn't.

I'd stir the wine and add another dose of K-meta. If you have a slight case of H2S, that will probably solve it.

Just a hint. You had to warm the glass in your hands, swirl the wine, and stick your nose in there. My wife has a defective smeller! I’ll walk I. The house and say “do you smell that? the garbage needs to go out” and she can seldom smell anything.

There were four carboys and two gallon jugs… the leftovers were from one of the gallon jugs.

I’ll smell and taste them all again tonight.

 

[winemaker81]

Just a hint. You had to warm the glass in your hands, swirl the wine, and stick your nose in there.

Stir all containers. If there is H2S, that will drive it out. You may need to do nothing further, but if left in it will form mercaptans.

 

[ChuckD]

Stir all containers. If there is H2S, that will drive it out. You may need to do nothing further, but if left in it will form mercaptans.

I just did a single k-meta dose with the racking. Are you suggesting another one right away? In effect a double dose.

I was thinking I’d siphon the wine to a bucket then poor it back in the carboy through a funnel.

 

[winemaker81]

I just did a single k-meta dose with the racking. Are you suggesting another one right away? In effect a double dose.

I was thinking I’d siphon the wine to a bucket then poor it back in the carboy through a funnel.

Stir for 1 minute and sniff.

 

[ChuckD]

@winemaker81

When cleaning the carboys the next day I stuck my nose in each one to see which had H2S problems. The 6 gallon was fairly stinky. One of the three’s had a hint, and the other three carboys were fine. Unfortunately the one gallon we used for top up was also stinky… that’s the one we were drinking from.

Yesterday I poured about a third of each carboy into a bucket, dosing with K-meta, stirred vigorously for a minute, then poured the bucket back in.

My wife was helping and she could smell it when I poured the bucket back in the 6-gallon carboy.

how long should I wait to see if the stinky carboy needs additional help? And what would you recommend as a next step?

 

[winemaker81]

@winemaker81

When cleaning the carboys the next day I stuck my nose in each one to see which had H2S problems. The 6 gallon was fairly stinky. One of the three’s had a hint, and the other three carboys were fine. Unfortunately the one gallon we used for top up was also stinky… that’s the one we were drinking from.

Yesterday I poured about a third of each carboy into a bucket, dosing with K-meta, stirred vigorously for a minute, then poured the bucket back in.

My wife was helping and she could smell it when I poured the bucket back in the 6-gallon carboy.

how long should I wait to see if the stinky carboy needs additional help? And what would you recommend as a next step?

Make sure the main container is stirred as well. This drives off the H2S.

Twenty-four hours later, stir again and sniff. If there is a slight whiff, stir more. If there's a lot of "aroma", then add another K-meta dose and stir for 3 minutes.

 

[ChuckD]

Make sure the main container is stirred as well. This drives off the H2S.

Thanks.

I wasn’t very clear… I stirred the 2/3 full carboys vigorously then poured the bucket back in.

I’ll check it again tomorrow.

 

[wood1954]

Try reduless it will help tame the h2s, it’s fairly easy to find on line. I’ve used in the past and it does work.