Vadai barrell goes smelly

[sdelli]

Interesting experience I had with one of my fairly new Vadai barrels. My 43 ltr. Had it's second run of some of my Cab in it from California grapes last fall. After two weeks in the barrel I notice a damp smell in the wine. Taste fine though... I wait a couple more days and it seems to be getting worse instead of better. That is only the smell. I check my so2 level and it has crashed! I add 10 grams of Pot. Met. and check again in a couple days. PH was 3.8 and so2 was back to 74..... I wait two more days and add 4 more grams of Pot. Met. ...
A week later and it smells and tastes good again! I was starting to think maybe the barrel had got Brettanomyces growing. This was a new experience for me to witness the volatility when the so2 is not present in the barrel. Thank Goodness for kmeta!

 

[robie]

Yep, the free SO2 will drop like a rock when the wine is first placed in the barrel. While in the barrel, you will need to remeasure it regularly.

 

[whackfol]

You've added about 185ppm of SO2 to your wine. To me that's a good amount and FSO2 has not stabilized. You are probably fine. I would caution you to follow it closely and watch out for VA. It's binding with something.

 

[sdelli]

Yes! I agree. But it was crazy on how I added 10 grams which is about 145ppm and only got 74ppm free! Yes.... Tells me it was binding with something indeed. Now I wonder did it kill it or will it come back....... The wine tastes and smells good now. Little dryer then I would have wanted but can mix with the rest of the batch at the end and calm it down some....