MLF turn red to rose

Taking my first tasting sample of my 2015 CA Cab+Merlot blend, I was surprised to see how light the color is, I swear it wasn't this light when I pressed it. I noticed the color bleach effect of MLF before, but this time it really went over board. It tastes so yummy fruity that goes so well with the rose color, now I am hesitant to put it in the oak barrel I just prepared!

I had a similar, though not as drastic, result with my 2014 Chilean Cab/Merlot. Barrel time concentrated it and darkened it back up a bit.

How long did you let the wine sit on it's skins?

Well, when you pressed there were still a lot of suspended solids. It would look darker simply due the fact that light will not pass through it. I don't think you are seeing bleaching of the color.

JohnT said:

How long did you let the wine sit on it's skins?

Click to expand...

About two weeks, one week cold maceration, one week fermentation.

GreginND said:

Well, when you pressed there were still a lot of suspended solids. It would look darker simply due the fact that light will not pass through it. I don't think you are seeing bleaching of the color.

Click to expand...

Well I find the opposite: the cloudy lee reflects the light and make the wine appear lighter.

Hmmm, strange that it is so light...

I have never heard of this MLF bleaching. Having had years of win go though MLF, I have never had any really noticeable fading of color myself.

Are you sure that the wine was darker before MLF? Is it possible (as Greg said) that the clearing of the wine might have made it SEEM to lighten up)?

What was the acid level when you were macerating on the skins??? Low acid can also account for a lighter color..

I too have not noticed any major changes in color after ML, but there is published data indicating that it is not uncommon to have a 20% color loss after ML. In the tests they looked at Pinot Noir and Merlot with and without ML. I'm not sure how visible a 20% loss is, but I imagine it would be more noticeable on a wine that starts out lighter in color.

Given the details you provided, I'd attribute most of the color discrepancy to the solids suspended in solution after pressing. MLF could quite possibly have contributed a little bit to that as well.

berrycrush said:

Well I find the opposite: the cloudy lee reflects the light and make the wine appear lighter.

Click to expand...

The point is that light from behind (e.g. reflected from the tablecloth below) does not travel through the wine to your eyes. The clearer it gets, the lighter it will look.

It's not bleaching, actually, but more shift in pH. If the wine was a pH of 3.50 when you started and went through a good ML fermentation it will increase the pH to a higher level and give the wine a more "salty" taste. It softens it by converting the Malic (sharper) acid to Lactic (softer) acid, and in the process there is always a shift in both TA and pH.

Looks good now. If YOU like it now, just don't worry about it. Here is a tip: When you crush red grapes, check the T/A pH 24 after. Theses values change dramatically when the juice is left on the skins like that. If the pH rises to a higher level you can salvage the color better if you add a bit of Tartaric acid and lower the pH from the beginning. It will stabilize the color better and in the end you can retain more color and a nice balance. Shoot for a bit more TA than what you want as 1. Since it is Tartaric almost immediately it is going to produce cream of tartar. After the ML it will lower any of the Malic but not the Tartaric. Cold stabilize the wine and get out more of the Tartaric acid. By then it should be a lot softer and rounder.

I have an Excel spreadsheet on doing winery calculations that some might find useful, but I don't think I can upload it as it ends in .xls

The addition of enzymes before fermentation can help in the wine retaining its deeper color, as you mentioned it had color along with susspended solids. During fermentation without enzymes some of the color drops out ,also cold soak.

Loss of color from MLF

This is a known and well documented reaction, along with a rise in Ph. Search the Web re: MLF for articles. PWV, now Wines and Vines covered this a few years back.

From what I understand about mlf It can reduce red colouring so it looks more like a rose, but, personally I wouldn't worry too much it depends what you want from your wine, being honest most of my wine, even my reds turn out far lighter than I expect, Im not exactly sure why this is because, in the past ive used Bordeaux kinda principles to extract maximum colouring without total success, although using Bordeaux principles I always made, a very, very drinkable wine.

From my own stand point that colour looks fine to me, it looks kind of blood red, in my own experience, that's about as dark as my home brew gets, to get it darker may require additives, such as gypsum etc.