Why Degas?

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sbnmiky

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Ok Im new and have been reading about degassing.....
...so is this all about the "taste" of wine?

Whats the problem, with some CO2 in the wine?
 
Sparkling wine has CO2. Still wine doesn't/shouldn't.

There's a reason Cab Sauv Bubbly is so hard to find :)

Yes, it's a taste thing and a sensation thing.
 
Thank you...personally i do prefere a little bit of bubbles....

So if there isnt any specific risk in having CO2 (example risk of bottles explosion) Id rather avoid this "degas" and keep my wine with some bubbles.

And is there a way to control how many bubbles?
 
There is a really expensive device, I don't remember what it's called, that let's you measure how much CO2 is in a wine sample.

There is risk associated with bottling gassy wine, but I wouldn't even know where to begin offering advice on how to do it safely.

If it were me, I would probably go the champaign bottle and closure route, but that might be overkill. Maybe somebody else will chime in with specific advice.
 
Thank you...personally i do prefere a little bit of bubbles....

So if there isnt any specific risk in having CO2 (example risk of bottles explosion) Id rather avoid this "degas" and keep my wine with some bubbles.

And is there a way to control how many bubbles?

The great thing about making wine is you're theoretically able to make wine with whatever characteristics you prefer. If you like CO2 in wine, go for it.

There are a few problems (mostly minor from my perspective) with including CO2, and I'll offer two.

First, CO2 trapped in wine often encases chemicals that produce off-flavors and odors. As the wine evolves and ages these chemicals can be released, likewise releasing the unpleasantness.

The second problem that comes quickly to mind involves offering the wine, an enjoyable part of wine making. Although you prefer wine with CO2, many people don't so you run the risk of making wine only for personal use.

Tony P.
 
Degassing speeds up the process of clearing and gets the CO2 out of the wine quicker. The wine will eventually degas and clear itself while bulk aging. But sometimes people don't want to wait for that process to take place so they help it along.
 
I second DirtyDawg10's comment..use a degassing tool on a battery drill, and it will not take you very long.
 
I'm going to be "that guy" and suggest that fanatical devotion to degassing is unnecessary.

I'm obviously new, and admit my palate isn't as refined as someone who's been at it for a while. However, I degassed my first kit for about five minutes (this was a RJS Grand Cru Int'l Aussie Cab Sav), with the flat end of my long plastic spoon, so I definitely had CO2 left over, and I thought the wine tasted fine after a month. In fact, I thought that the acidity imparted by the CO2 added complexity to the wine that made it drinkable earlier.

That said, I've now bought a drill-mounted degassing tool and will give future batches a good 15 minutes, as per instructions. Absent clear evidence to the contrary, though, I don't think more than that is necessary.
 
Well, the risk I guess would be popping corks. There's a way people carbonate wine/beer where you can repeat your process. If you just bottle before the carbonation is released its hard to remake the wine to the same standards. But if you bottle carbonate it, it will be similar every time. But with this you also are forced to have some gunk on the bottom of your bottles after the fermentation in the bottle. Another problem with carbonated wine making is that you are unable to sweeten it with table sugar. Im not sure if you can with wine conditioners but I hear that its a bad idea to use them any ways for flavor reasons.
 
Once you try a wine that needs degassed and has just enough CO2 in it to be irritating to the palate, you will know why we degas.

Sparkling wine is loaded with CO2, so it seems right to the taste. However, a little CO2 in an otherwise still wine give the wine a bitter sensation. Also, the aroma of a wine is masked by the presence of CO2. Try decanting a poorly degassed wine; as the CO2 slowly leaves, the aroma of the wine becomes better and better.

There is a world of difference between a true sparking wine and an otherwise still wine that needs degassed.
 

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