About to dump my Pinot noir

Ok, so I cannot restart my Pinot noir crushed grape bucket and I'm about to dump. When the bucket arrived, it was already fermenting pretty well. I added campden and then pitched RC 212 the next day. After a week, I racked and strained out the skins and seeds and then it just stopped. I've tried to restart several times with EC 1118 and RC 212. I've added yeast nutrients twice. Stirring daily. But nothing. No activity at all and it's stuck on 1.04. Temps are around 70 in my basement.

Any thoughts before I dump it?

Unless it had too much sugar to begin with the only thing I can suggest is to make a starter using sugar water and get it going good and strong and then start adding your wine into it a little at a time and let it catch up, by the time you get it all in there the yeast colony should be able to overcome whatever is stopping it from going

Why dump it now? It is not like it is going to, ummm, rot on you! I would follow DrAlarms's advice and get a good starter going.

Try racking it to another carboy. Especially if you start up some EC-1118 as a starter. Put the starter in the new carboy then rack on top of it, then wait. Be patient...I know it's hard to do, but if it's under airlock, no reason to throw it out, it won't spoil. When people do MLF's, they sometimes don't add Kmeta for quite a few months. It will be fine. If it doesn't get going again, just Kmeta and let it age. Don't add any more nutrients unless they are Fermaid O. Some ingredients in Fermaid K and Diammonium Phosphate can't be readily metabolized by yeast in a higher alcohol environment and get left for the "nasties" that can grow in our wine after fermentation (without sufficient SO2 levels).

Now, if it doesn't start up, you probably should not do an MLF since you'll need both Kmeta and sorbate to make sure the wine doesn't re-ferment in the bottle (sorbate and MLF are incompatible, will help you make a lovely geranium flavored wine).

Looked at your original thread, fermenting bucket with skins when you got it, hit it with Campden.

Sorry if these questions seem elementary.............

How many tablets did you use?

Have you actually removed some clear juice from the skins bucket, put it into a test jar, and measured the SG with your hydrometer? I only ask because you said it “tastes like 1.04”.

If you don’t pull a sample out of the bucket, the skins prevent the hydrometer from floating properly, resulting in a high SG reading.

Johnd said:

Looked at your original thread, fermenting bucket with skins when you got it, hit it with Campden.

Sorry if these questions seem elementary.............

How many tablets did you use?

Have you actually removed some clear juice from the skins bucket, put it into a test jar, and measured the SG with your hydrometer? I only ask because you said it “tastes like 1.04”.

If you don’t pull a sample out of the bucket, the skins prevent the hydrometer from floating properly, resulting in a high SG reading.

Click to expand...

I missed that "taste like 1.04" comment.

You can't go by that, I've got a black cherry concord that tasted like it's about 1.010 or better and it actually 1.000

To clarify, The comment about "taste like 1.04" was validating someone else's comments when asked about actual SG and how it taste. My response was I measured and yes, it tasted like 1.04 ( having a lot of residual sugar still).

I did remove 95% of all skins, particles etc so SG reading should be fairly accurate.

Thanks All. I'll keep trying!

Try all the above, but also try heating to 80 degrees.

When all else fails, someone has to ask what are you using to measure that 1.04??

Lot's of good advise here.....but for Pete's sake don't toss it! I think we all over think these situations. I'd rack and let it sit for a few weeks if not more...maybe under warmer conditions will help, maybe not. Even if it doesn't go completely dry it might turn out to be a sweet(er), less potent, Pinot. Worst things have happened. What's it taste like at this point?

For goodness sake do not dump it.

Try some of the advice given here especially warming it up a bit.

Old winemaker once told me when it gets stuck like that and it's near the lower
temperature limits , he would remove 1/2 liter of must and heat it up on the stove to about 94 degrees and put that back in the must.

One of the hardest lessons for a winemaker is to have patience.

cmason1957 said:

When all else fails, someone has to ask what are you using to measure that 1.04??

Click to expand...

Yeah, I wondered that, so I asked and got it answered that it was indeed a hydrometer:

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58221

Using hydrometer and it's working because I've tested it in water and finished wine.

Still no activity. I've soaked the bucket in a bath of warm water multiple times. Bubbles picked up almost immediately but the SG hasn't budged.

Could there be A PH issue? I've never tested or measured PH.

I was concerned about my Pinot being stuck. I put a blanket around the carboy and a heating pad under it and turned it on mid-high and left it on. It picked up and fermented down to 1.00. I think you need to add more heat for a longer period of time.

My SG measuring bobber is a crude instrument to measure with. I used it a few times and found it a PITA. If it stopped fermenting, maybe it is done. Drink or throw it out...... hmmmmmm???

The original poster did not answer the question "How many tablets did you use". If there is too much SO2 in the must then there is no way to get any fermentation restarted. Now my question, why hit with Campden to start with?

Two options:

1) Buy a high end Pino kit, and ferment it down. When it is at 1.02, mix it in with your stuck kit.

2) Dump brandy into it, and call it a port.