MLF

[vinny]

I am about to go and taste my 3 juice buckets which are 2 months into bulk. I ended up buying a hearty strain of bacteria which is kmeta resistant, and put it in the fridge and then nothing more. I am just wondering if it still makes sense to try to start up MLF if the wines still taste harsh.

I was planning to make a starter and split the pack between the 3 wines. I can't remember exactly, but it was good for a much larger amount than I have, and the thought was with a starter it should push through with the k meta I added to try to stop the inoculated yeast over my choice. I am thinking I could add now and wait a month before adding another dose of k meta.

Thoughts?

 

[vinny]

The Petit Verdot is a definite candidate. Strong acidity, at the back of the tongue, like a green apple sour bite. Enough to get an eye squint with a half oz taste.

I would have to taste in a different order to decide if I wanted to do them all. The Carmenere and Pinotage were much mellower in comparison.

 

[winemaker81]

The value of MLF totally depends on the malic acid level of the wine. Your Petit Verdot sounds like a candidate, but the others may -- or may not -- be.

IIRC, MLB has a limited shelf life, so if you purchased it, you might as well use it. If there isn't a lot of malic acid, there won't be much effect. But if it's that or bin it, then you might as well use it.

 

[cmason1957]

You may well want to wait more than a month. I usually don't even check for completion of Mlf until two or more months after inoculation. It sometimes takes for or six months to complete. And just adding kmeta if it hasn't completed may not be enough. You may want to add something like lysozyme to make certain it doesn't kick off later.

 

[wood1954]

Stop with the meta if you want to start MLF. I tried to get MLF started twice with my 2021 Marquette, I thought it had completed and added so2, then tested and found nothing had happened, (my ability to test came after I added the so2)so I added more mlb and it never started, I use vp41 mlb. Add your mlb and wait, red wine really does not need all that much so2 all that often. If you’re worried about oxidation add some tannins instead. I hoped that with warmer weather the mlb would wake up but no.

 

[vinny]

Any advice on acclimatization or a starter protocol. The internet has surprisingly little to offer.

I was balking at test strips because it was about $80 for just a few. Should I get a little more scientific, or just toss it into all 3 and see what happens? It's in the fridge, so as mentioned, I feel I have little to lose.

 

[wood1954]

Make sure your ph is high enough or your mlb won’t start. I use dry vp41 and just pour it in. You could always add it to diluted wine for a few hours first . A paper chromatography kit isn’t too expensive and if you’re careful with the reagent you can make a lot of tests.

 

[cmason1957]

Any advice on acclimatization or a starter protocol. The internet has surprisingly little to offer.

I was balking at test strips because it was about $80 for just a few. Should I get a little more scientific, or just toss it into all 3 and see what happens? It's in the fridge, so as mentioned, I feel I have little to lose.

I think if I were in your situation, I might invest in some Acti-ML which the words on morewinemaking.com says is to be used for MLB like GoFerm for Yeast. Looks like it is only a 15-30 minute wait. I have always just added the bacteria, split by hand measurement, directly into the wine, but I usually add much less K-Meta at crush time or when I picked up the juice buckets. I use the test strips, bought off of Amazon, but I don't do a pre-measurement, since I know the grapes I am using (Chambourcin, Norton) have plenty of malic acid and need to have that tamed down. I generally wait a month or two, then do my first test check, then another month until the next check. I usually have 3-5 carboys and test 1 or 2 assuming they are all acting the same.

I also make sure I have oak in the carboy and some lees, stir, very gently twice or so a week to start and then by a month in down to once a week, if I remember. and I am doing all this in my basement, where ambient temps start at 66F and end up at 62-60F by Dec. I don't rack for at least 6 months, even if MLF has completed.

 

[vinny]

Living remote has a lot advantages, but when more wine sells Acti-ml for 8.99 and amazon $50, tension builds. I will search for it in the city. My usual online choice only sells it by the kg. Plus then I always buy more than I should because I want to make shipping worth it.

The nice thing is the wine isn't going anywhere.

I have VP41. I think I will taste in a different order today and make my plan from there. Most everything looks good, but I added a 1/4 tsp k-meta to 6 gallons. If they added it after pressing that will be my downfall.

- Alcohol Tolerance: 16%
- Minimum Temperature: 16°C
- Nutrient Demand: Low
- PH Tolerance: 3.1
- SO2 Tolerance: 60ppm Total

 

[winemaker81]

@vinny, draw off 2 bottles of wine from each batch -- you can use these for controls for sampling in later months, e.g., taste the MLF vs non-MLF wines, to see what, if any, differences there are.