I cleaned the air lock, there was liquid in it, yay! But it smelled terrible, ack. I also grabbed a turkey baster and both me and my mom tasted the wine. When we smelled it we were expecting merlot, then we tasted it and it was more like a berry. We did find a old tag on the jug labeled blackberry, but it was dated from 2010, so I am almost positive that it was a old label (especially after looking at his other jugs and they all had old labels on them too). As far as the taste, both me and my mom agreed it was probably the best wine my dad had ever made. All this made us both think, we have never really liked his wine and now we do, and we will never know for sure what it is or how he made it, so we will never be able to recreate it, figures. I did get a few pictures, but I will have post them from my phone later.
Glad to hear there was some sort of liquid in there, then there's hope it was protected from the outside elements. If it is indeed the best wine you've tasted of his, there's a chance it really is from 2010 & may be close to being done/bottled.
I then went through his cupboard and made a list of everything he had, maybe someone can figure it out from the list (or at least you will know what I have so you can help me know what to do next, if there is anything I need to buy, or if anything should be stored differently). The things I label as new were found in a bag on the counter he had just bought in the week before he passed, the rest of the stuff I am not sure how old it is (if it matters)
LD Carlson Co. Yeast Nutrient
LD Carlson Co. Potassium Sorbate (Stabilizer)
LD Carlson Co. Pectic Enzyme
LD Carlson Co. Acid Blent
LD Carlson Co. Campden Tablets (sms)
LD Carlson Co. Easy Clean
3 Air Locks (Not including the one on the jug, one was new in the bag he just bought) on the top they say Boun Vino MFG.
Vinometer (Which out of fun, I tried to figure out how to use, I'm sure someone would have been rolling on the floor laughing at me)
Lalvin wine yeast, 5g, 2 packets (one is new)
Small Baggie of Merlot Acid, stapled closed, New
New Large bag of 6 lb sugar (also found another unlabeled bag in the back of the cupboard that looks similar, only writing on it says 5 lb? I figured I could taste it to find out, but I wasn't sure if there is a possibility it could be something I didn't want to taste)
Home Winery Supply LLC Merlot, makes 5 gallons, new
2 older small baggies of merlot acid, one is stapled closed and doesn't look to be opened, the other is opened
Small baggie of Sodium Bi-Sulphite, 4 oz. stapled closed
Blackberry Acid, also small baggie stapled closed
Tanning, small open baggie, he had hand written on it "f merlot 1/2 tsp" there is at least one more word after that I couldn't read.
There is also a large scrub brush, a bunch of tube stuff (I took a picture of the tubes so maybe someone can tell me what they are when I get them uploaded from my phone), and large spoons.
Yeast nutrient, wine yeast, pectic enzyme, potassium sorbate, acid blend, campdem tablets, tannins - these can all go bad, but they're cheap to replace... Can find them at the local wine supply store, no problemo.
The air locks make me wonder if theres more wine around, or did he get it bottled? Just kinda implies theres more containers for those airlocks to go on-to.
I'm not sure about the 'merlot acid' or the 'blackberry acid' myself..
The 6lbs of sugar, you could use in a new batch of wine... The Merlot, 'makes 5 gallons' sounds like a wine kit... I'm not sure about the other unlabeled 5lbs bag though, might just toss it and not worry? Dunno..
Never used the Easy Clean or a Vinometer myself, i'd probably make people laugh trying to figure it out as well so dont feel bad
The big scrub brush is to clean the carboys or jugs - depending on the size of the brush, theres a few sizes.. the hoses are for "racking", siphoning the wine from one carboy to another... the spoons are to stir the 'must' (what they call the wine, before its wine but after its juice) during fermentation
The sodium bi-sulphite is most often used for sanitizing because people like to watch their sodium intake - but it does do the same thing as potassium bi-sulphite or campdem tablets... which are all added to help protect the wine for oxidation by putting off a gas that pushes the oxygen/air away from the wine... Usually occupies the small area between the wine itself, and the airlock, inside the carboy..
If it helps, my mom loves merlot, but my dad could never get it to her liking, but he was determined to. My dad loved sweet berry type wines.
Oh yea, I also looked for sediment, I didn't see any, but the wine is dark and I was in the back of his garage.
So I guess my next question is, what do I do now?
Thanks for all the help!
Michelle
Was there a hydrometer around? A foot-long-ish glass instrument with numbers on the sides, its put in the liquid to test the amount of dissolved solids (generally sugar, in wine) to see how much alcohol it could potentially generate... Would be good to learn to use a hydrometer if you wanna keep on with the winemaking tradition.
Another thing to learn to use is an acid testing kit.. The litmus/paper tests are pretty inaccurate but the Titret kits take one or two mistakes to learn to use right - but they work alright.
No sediment is a good sign; can you shine a flashlight through it & see it from the other side? That'll give you a decent idea of how clear it really is... If there is sediment on the bottom, just need to 'rack' off the sediment - oh, did he have a racking cane? Long hard piece of plastic with a nub on the end so it doesnt pick the sediment right off the bottom of the carboy.. It's curved on the other end to keep the hose from kinking as it goes into the clean carboy..
Thats probably enough steps to scare the hell out of you though, so i'll let you read that a few times & ask some more questions (please, if you have them).. Dont be scared, 2 sentences ago was just my sarcastic humor..
We'll do what we can for ya, just keep us up to date when ya can