Secondary Fermentation Questions

Hey Guys,

I have some questions now that I have my wine in the carboys. I made Merlot, a Sangiovese/Cabarnet Sauvignon blend, and Chardonnay.

I pressed the wine and let it sit on the gross lee's for 3 weeks. Next time i will only let it sit for 2-3 days. I have a sulphur smell coming from 2 carboys of the Sangiovese blends. I splash racked, then a day later I racked thru a copper pipe i bought from Home Depot. It seems that going thru the copper and splash racking has helped to decreaqse the potency of the smell. Is there anything else i should be doing to get rid fo the suphur smell? Should I repeat this process until the sulphur smell is gone?

This is my first year making wine so I am a little confused about secondary fermentation. I took a SG reading when I racked off the gross lees and they were in the range of .995-.997 I'm taking it that fermentation has comleted. My plan was to let them sit for 3 months, rack again, let them sit another 3 months and rack a final time before bottling. Should i add any campden tablets during this time? Or do i wait until i am about to bottle?

Thanks!

There is a product out for reducing H2S. It is called Riduless:
http://morewinemaking.com/view_product/11444/103401/Reduless_-_3_g

I haven't used it, myself, but from its description, it sounds like it is very effective.

You will need a .1 gram scale to properly measure it.

JPP, I have had success in hanging copper wire in the wine for a few days. I stripped out the ground wire from a 3 wire romex cable and cut several lengths so that it reached the bottom of my carboy and I could still get a grip on it at the top and twisted the ends together. It is the sulphur that you want to get rid of and it combines with the copper.

I also fashioned a whisk out of copper wire and use it to aerate wine in a fermenter when I detect H2S.

Red Wine Manual

Hi PJJ,

Sorry to hear of your ordeal and hope you get some good suggestions to get those lovely grapes in line and smelling good. You asked about adding sulfite in the form of camden tablets now. Perhaps it would be good to get some more details about what you did. For example, was this wine made from fresh grapes or a kit? What were your initial readings for SG, TA, pH, and did you add yeast nutrient?

Here is a link to a good red wine procedure that was shared with me earlier this season. I've found it helpful.

http://www.morewinemaking.com/public/pdf/wredw.pdf

This season I made my first wine from grapes and followed the procedures here as best I could. I'm finishing up on 6 weeks of malolactic fermentation (MLF), which was proceeded by my initial ferment. I removed the wine from the gross lees after a day or two. I'll be adding sulfite (K-Meta) at the end of MLF. I expect to add 1/4 tsp of K-meta per 5 gallons of wine. This will provide some level of protection during bulk aging. Currently I don't have method for at home sulfite testing, but can send a sample of my wine out for testing. I may resulfite again prior to bottling.

As I mentioned, this is my first real wine from grapes. You and I may very well have similar questions. Take a look at the manual for the basic steps. The crew here will give you good advise Make sure to provide details. Ask questions first.

You have my best wishes for success with your current situation.

Paul

Thanks for the replies so far!

This is from grapes. I did add yeast nutrients. I am at work but from memory my ph initially was around 3.6-3.8 for the wines. My TA acid readings were .95 for the Merlot and .9 for the Sangiovese blend. I had miscalculated and added a little too much acid blend. The TA has come down to about .80 - .85 on both. PH is still around 3.6-3.7

I will try some of the suggestions here to reduce the sulphur smell. I used the copper pipe yesterday as a straw and blew bubbles into a half filled carboy for a couple of minutes. I figured that gave the wine some contact time with the copper pipe and also introduced oxygen into the wine. It seemed to help, and the smell moved from a sulphur/egg smell to more of a rubber smell. If i don't notice its better by next week i'm going to give the reduless a try.

Is it possible to get rid of the smell completely?

And for the Sangiovese wine if i'm not going to do a MLF should I add sulphites to it for bulk ageing?

Thanks

One other question.
After MLF is complete, or for the wines that i am not putting thru MLF what temperature should I keep them at until i bottle?

jpp7717 said:

Is it possible to get rid of the smell completely?

And for the Sangiovese wine if i'm not going to do a MLF should I add sulphites to it for bulk ageing?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Yes, you can get rid of it completely. Sometimes it takes several rackings. I would try the Riduless, myself. I have never tried it but have always used the copper tube. Blowing bubbles throw it won't help as much as using it like a stirring rod and stirring it for 5 minutes and splash racking; let it set for a couple of days and if the smell is still there, repeat.

If your H2S is severe, it will need more than stirring. There is a solid copper scrubber you can buy for your pots and pans. It is just a mesh of copper strips. If you take a new one of those, sanitize it very very well and drop it down into your wine for a couple of days; it will also work really well.

All this is a lot of trouble, so again, I would order some of the Riduless. Your wine is having to take a real beating from all the splash racking and extra stirring. It is going to be subject to more oxidation than if you hadn't gotten H2S. You are going to need to make sure your free SO2 level is good or your wine will suffer.

If not doing an mlf, you should add stabilizing dosage of Kmeta as soon as secondary fermentation is completed.