Sauvignon Blanc Milkshake

[ronberntson]

I’m in the middle of doing my first kit wines. The instructions for “Stabilizing and Clearing” my Ontario Sauvignon Blanc include two separate “degassing for five minutes” (one before and one after using the Kieselsol and Citosan). I have the fancy attach to your drill degasser. After about one minute 30 seconds, the must is a nice milky white with lots of bubbles on top – kind of like I’m making a milkshake or smoothie. This is weird because the instructions say “”stirring with the handle of a spoon or with a drill mounted stirring device.” These two options don’t seem to be mechanically equivalent for the whole five minutes.

Do I really need to do five minutes with my drill? I’m Canadian and very reluctant not to go along with the instructions. Give me permission to break the rules!

Ron

 

[LJPelletier]

You can always de-gass it more just before bottling if it needs it.

Aren't rules made to be broken? lol

 

[LJPelletier]

Is the milkiness from settlement getting stirred up or from the clearing agent?

 

[cpfan]

Ron:

I'm Canadian too. And I lived in SK for 6 years, so I know how cold it can be there.

1. So what's the temperature of the wine? Cool temps make it difficult to degas the wine. Degassing is best done about 24C (74F).

2. Exactly what kit are you making?

3. Kit instructions NEVER tell you to degas enough. So STIR.

4. In my experience stirring round-and-round (like with a drill) is not as good as going back-and-forth or side-to-side with a paddle.

BTW, Ontario Sauvignon Blanc...RJ Spagnols Grand Cru International? Are those the '7 day in primary' or the '14 day in primary' instructions? If you did the 14 day in primary, that's one less racking, so probably more gas in the wine.

Steve

 

[ronberntson]

This is the Ken Ridge Ontario Sauvignon Blanc - a five week kit. The temperature in my basement ranges between 21 and 24C. The wine clears up fairly quickly (overnight) and the only "head" seems to be from the clearing agents - and even that is just barely covering the surface.

I'll be filtering with the Super Jet's #1 and #2 filters.

I guess, to repeat my question - do I really need to go 5 minutes with the drill and paddles? All that seems to happen is that I create a "vortex" that goes 3/4 of the way into the wine.

thanks
Ron

p. s. - I spent 12 months at U Western Ontario - great city, very much like Saskatoon. However, about Oct. I began to feel really "down". I was missing the sun!

 

[harleydmn]

New to making wine but you have to go slow with the drill. I have only done 2 wine kits so far but it takes a way lot longer that 5 mins. I bet I spent an hour on the last kit de-gassing.

 

[cpfan]

Ron:

I don't see an Ontario Sauv Blanc on the Vineco (Ken Ridge) web-site. Is it KR Classic, KR Showcase, or KR Founders Series? Plus I didn't think that KR kits included a 2-part clearing agent (kieselsol-chitosan).

OK to repeat my answer a little more clearly...5 minutes is NOT ENOUGH (in my opinion).

Why do you filter twice? I would just filter once with the #2 pads.

Nice sunny day here in Welland. Got our first snow yesterday, it didn't last an hour.

Steve

 

[robie]

As someone else already mentioned, I degas when the instructions say, then I do it again just before I bottle. At bottling, you need to be careful to not stir so hard you whip in a lot of air (oxygen), so stir a little easier.

At bottling time degassing, I go more by taste than the presence of bubbles. At long as it tastes fizzy/tingly on your tongue, it still needs degassed.

Using a vacuum pump for degassing makes it a lot easier and more thorough; no issues with introducing oxygen, either.

 

[kat50496]

Robie,
I have a WE Luna Rossa in a BB and would like to bottle in 2 weeks. I have started using Tim V's 5-20-40-90 schedule, so it has been sitting for about 60days. The temp this time of year in my cellar is about 62F. If I wanted to degass once more before bottling, should I use my brew belt (finally got one so that I can keep making wine through the winter) to raise the temp to about 74 or so to degass? Does this pose any potential problems with the wine since it has been at the lower temp for almost 3 months? Thanks

 

[cpfan]

Keith...

I've never tried it but degassing at 62F is going to be very time consuming, and I would guess that it would encourage oxidation of the wine. Although that depends on how you degas. You need to get the wine warmer (say 74F) to degas effectively.

Steve

 

[robie]

Robie,
I have a WE Luna Rossa in a BB and would like to bottle in 2 weeks. I have started using Tim V's 5-20-40-90 schedule, so it has been sitting for about 60days. The temp this time of year in my cellar is about 62F. If I wanted to degass once more before bottling, should I use my brew belt (finally got one so that I can keep making wine through the winter) to raise the temp to about 74 or so to degass? Does this pose any potential problems with the wine since it has been at the lower temp for almost 3 months? Thanks

The Brew Belt will not harm the BB or the wine. (Actually, it is better if you bottle your wine at a little warmer temperature than 62F. If it goes into the bottle that cold and you raise the temp of the bottle later, the cork is more likely to pop out. Not trying to scare you, because if everything was done correctly, that is not likely to happen, anyway. So bottle at room temperature.)

Yes, get the temp up to mid 70'sF to degas. As cpfan wrote, be very gentle degassing at this stage. You don't want to stir in any oxygen. At this stage, go by taste more than by bubbles; if the wine tastes tingly/fizzy on your tongue, it needs degassed so more.

 

[kat50496]

That's what I figured, but will raising the temp to degass be bad for the wine since it has been at a lower temp for several months?

 

[kat50496]

Thanks guys, sorry I responded to cpfan before seeing your response as well. I appreciate the help.

I will be using a mity-vac to degas (first time), so I will raise the temp, transfer to a glass carboy, degass and then bottle. Does this make sense? Thanks again

 

[robie]

Thanks guys, sorry I responded to cpfan before seeing your response as well. I appreciate the help.

I will be using a mity-vac to degas (first time), so I will raise the temp, transfer to a glass carboy, degass and then bottle. Does this make sense? Thanks again

Great idea. Litely stir the wine just before you use the mity-vac. That will help release the CO2.

That temperature fluctuation will not hurt. It is continual fluctuations that harm the wine.

Once you get the wine degassed and bottled, lower the temperature back to the lower level and let the bottled wine stay there until it is consumed.

Good luck!

 

[ronberntson]

Cpfan – I’m sorry, but my notes don’t say which Ken Ridge it is – the instructions are for a 4 week kit. It’s “Grand Cru Heritage Estates” Vino Vida. So I screwed up with the “5 week” information. I seem to remember it looked like a Ken Ridge kit, but I’m old and confused at times

With the Super Jet I was planning to just do 1 filter pass but with two filters in place – just like the instructions say you can do. I haven’t used it before. I bought it second hand and it had only been used 3 or 4 times. I got a good price.

From what I’ve read in the comments, I need to use my drill and paddles for at least 5 minutes – I will also move the paddles around to do the maximum amount of degassing.

After I filter, I’ll let the wine settle for 3 days. I’ll then use the “All In One Wine Pump” (it’s on order) to do the bottling without adding much oxygen.

Thanks
Ron