Completely Blew It

[BaseballDarling]

My husband is usually the one that does all the chemistry with our wine making. I smash fruit, help transfer and help bottle. I put them away and label them. He's currently deployed and I am left with four huge batches of wine brewing. It was time to bottle one of the blueberries. I had a girlfriend come over and we started bottling. It wasn't until a few days later that I mentioned, through email, to my husband about how proud of me he would be because I bottled that wine without him. He immediately asked if I had remembered to stabilize it...



I hadn't. I completely forgot there was even another step I needed to do. I am at a loss of what to do. He is convinced I've completely ruined this batch of wine and there's no saving it. I must also admit I've left it in the bottles for over a week now because I just haven't had time to properly research what to do. I can't find the answer and don't know where to start. Please tell me there's some hope!!

 

[millwright01]

Did you add meta? You could carefully dump it back into a carboy and stabilize, then re-bottle. You would need to make sure ther was meta in it and try not to expose to O2. That would beat exploding bottles. Someone with some more experience will jump in. I don't think its totally ruined.

 

[joea132]

First of all let me say how proud I am of our military wives and girlfriends. More importantly did you back sweeten? That is, add any sugar to sweeten the flavor before bottling? If you didn't than the you most likely are okay. Honestly it depends on how long it has aged. If the wine has fermented dry, that is consumed all the available sugar, it shouldn't have any issue in the bottle. Most winemakers still add a certain amount of chemicals just to be certain. If you added more sugar, the yeast will consume it in the bottle and you will have "bottle bombs." It's not a sure bet but I'd be willing to guess that batch will turn out ok so long as your equipment was sanitized.

In the future be sure to sanitize everything and stabilize before bottling. We're always here to ask! I wouldn't worry too much based on what you said.

 

[BaseballDarling]

Thank you! I didn't add sugar but did add a small amount, maybe half a cup, of sugar free blueberry flavoring. That is the only thing I added. No meta. It tasted decent straight out (we may have drank what wouldn't fill a whole bottle while corking.) Would you suggest dumping it all back into the carbine, making sure it is fermented out, stabilizing and then rebottling? So far I have managed to avoid answering any wine questions but I have a feeling if I ignore him one more time I will hear his head explode from Afghanistan! I am terrified I have turned this into bottle bombs. Do you think they would have exploded by now?

I can't believe I completely forgot this step. I have watched him do it a thousand times.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Its a little tough to pour it into a carbine but if anyone could do it that would be a American army wife How long do you guys usually keep your wines like this? You could easily just slowly dump it back into a carboy, add some KMeta and put it right back into the same bottles, or, you could just see what happens. You didnt mention how far the fermentation had gotten down to before you bottled it, if there is any sugar left you might also need to add some sorbate to keep it from fermenting again. Good Luck.

 

[Julie]

Hi BaseballDarling,

Welcome to winemakingtalk. Did your husband write down any notes to what he had done before being deployed? I would look to see what his last hydrometer reading was. I am thinking you would be fine.

 

[Wade E]

I would really like to know what the starting sg was, ending gravity after fermentation was done and what yeast was used. Also if any sulfites were addex after fermentation was done. Basically after fermentaion is done you should use 1/4 tsp of sulfite per 5-6 gallons to protect the wine from oxidation and any bacteria. After about 4 months of sitting in the carboy you should add another 1/8 tsp to this as the sulfites will lessen in time but some will absorb into the wine so every time you add it less is needed.

 

[JohnT]

Just to add to the above..

DON'T PANIC!!!!

If the wine was dry, then all that might happen is that you have a little sediment to deal with (in the bottle) that might form over time. If this happens, just decant the wine into a carraf and enjoy.

If the wine was sweet, then you have the potential for another fermentation in the bottle. This could force the corks out. I would (as Wade might suggest) that you open a bottle, then take a hydrometer reading. If you have a specific gravity above 1.0, then I would "unbottle" the wine and stabilize it. If the specific gravity is 1.0 or below, then you should have not much to worry about (just keep an eye on it over the next few months).

God bless you and your husband. My he return to you safe.

johnT.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Where are you? If you are in Fayetteville (we have an awful lot of military wives here) I will be glad to help.

 

[Arne]

First, welcome to the forum.
Second, the folks above are giving good advice. Take it easy and your wine should be fine. Arne.

 

[BaseballDarling]

Thank you so much for the advice! I opened a bottle to test. But then I couldn't find the gravity tester thingy is missing. So I'm taste testing. It's pretty dry and still tastes great. None of my bottles have exploded so I'm going to go with we're ok for now and just make sure that this is the batch I take to gatherings and drink first! (I'll do the next bkueberry batch right!).

Thank you all so much! I was so worried!

 

[CoastalEmpireWine]

Haha I feel your pain, I'm about to deploy to Afghanistan here very soon and I hope my wife paid attention when I explained to her what to do while I was away

 

[BaseballDarling]

Ha! My husband is all about tough love! He didn't leave me notes or directions. He told me to look it all up. Have I mentioned we have a baby, three dogs and I'm working full time and am in nursing school?

PLEASE leave your wife written directions!

Be safe on your deployment (I know, it's silly to say be safe when you're in a war zone, but I can't help it. Be as careful as you can be!)

 

[Fordguy]

Thank you so much for the advice! I opened a bottle to test. But then I couldn't find the gravity tester thingy is missing. So I'm taste testing. It's pretty dry and still tastes great. None of my bottles have exploded so I'm going to go with we're ok for now and just make sure that this is the batch I take to gatherings and drink first! (I'll do the next bkueberry batch right!).

Thank you all so much! I was so worried!

If your happy with it, just go with that. You might keep an eye on the corks for the next several days to ensure they aren't trying to work their way out, which would cause a mess.

Best wishes to you all.

 

[BaseballDarling]

Thank you!

I'll definitely keep an eye on those corks!

 

[CoastalEmpireWine]

Haha yea I left her directions and a how to video which should be able to get her through, where is he stationed at?

 

[WineMonkey]

Ha! My husband is all about tough love! He didn't leave me notes or directions. He told me to look it all up. Have I mentioned we have a baby, three dogs and I'm working full time and am in nursing school?

Sounds like you're going to need every drop of that wine... Maybe you could just drink it all before he gets back!

 

[BaseballDarling]

Sounds like you're going to need every drop of that wine... Maybe you could just drink it all before he gets back!

I think this is my plan!