2nd Year of Wine Making - Tips?

[TurdFurguson]

This is my second year making wine with the in-laws. They make their wine the old school way. Basically, we purchase crates of grapes from a vendor (California grapes), run them through a crusher and keep the crushed fruit in sanitized barrels for a week. The following week we press the fruit into carboys and allow it to sit and ferment and settle for another 6 weeks or so before racking and possibly drinking some. I think I racked 3-4 times before bottling. No sulfites, natural yeast on the grapes, no adjustments.

I really enjoyed the wine I made, but I have heard stories of wine coming out awful or turning too quick. I had a gallon turn to vinegar on me after about a year. Any suggestions on something I could do to improve my final product?

Should I toss in a Camden tablet after crushing and then pitch a specific yeast in the juice when we press the following week? I won't have access to the grapes during the week. I've read about people adding more acid and tannins after the press or adding more sugar. Any advice on something to try based on the schedule? I don't want to buck the system too much and be ridiculed if my changes don't turn out well. Once the grapes are pressed, I will have the juice in my basement.

I made Barbera last year and I'm thinking about Merot this year.

Thanks.

 

[robie]

Welcome to the forum.

Your wine turned to vinegar because it got exposed to a bacteria that does just that. Nothing wrong with the old way, except that sort of thing happened more often because the wine was not protected from such bacteria. It could be hit or miss.

These days we have sulfites (Kmeta), which adds a lot of protection against that bacteria and most others that can harm the wine. I would suggest you deviate a little from the old school method and add some sulfites.

Here is a decent manual you can read and reference before you start this year. It will explain how important keeping the level of free SO2 (sulfites) up.
http://www.morewinemaking.com/public/pdf/wredw.pdf

Read this manual and think about adding some Kmeta.

Good luck this year!

 

[JohnT]

Like above, nothing wrong with the old way. If you are happy with the wine, then that is all that matters.

If you are not happy, then you need to change the way you do thingd.

For one, I would worry about sanitizing. Use of k-meta is very common in the wine industry (unless you go organic).

The other thing I would suggest is that you have a racking sooner (around 3 week min) to get the wine off of the gross lees quicker.

johnT.

 

[TurdFurguson]

Thanks for the replies. I have been doing some reading about adding the Kmeta. It sounds like I'd add this right after we crush the grapes to kill off the wild yeast and also any bacteria that may be in there. Then more is added during various racks (every other one is what I read).

If I do this, when would I pitch the new yeast? Would I do this after pressing on week 2? My assumption was that we let the crushed grapes sit for a week to start the fermentation and also let them sit on the skins for some added body or flavor. Will there be any adverse effect if I add the yeast later to the juice?

Also, it sounds like it's recommended to do the primary fermentation without an airlock (aka the sanitized barrels we leave these in). If I add the yeast later, should I keep the juice in my large plastic barrel for a week or so to ferment before racking to the glass carboy?

My 3 cases of grapes gave me an initial volume of juice ~9 gallons. I lost about a gallon during the various rackings since I didn't want to siphon up the sediment.

On the subject of yeast, any thoughts? I see Pasteur Red mentioned, but sounds like it will make a very dry wine. My last batch was a bit dry, but still retained some deep berry qualities that people enjoyed. I forgot to measure initial SG last time, so I have no idea how much abv it finished at. I just followed orders last year .

 

[JohnT]

I would crush, add k-meta, then wait 24 hours to pitch your yeast. Others may disagree, but this has worked well for me for a long time.

Yes, crush into an open container until you press (a week after crushing). Press the grapes into a closed (with a fermentation trap) container. Rack after 3 weeks.

For yeast, I recomend RC 212. Adding some yeast neutriant would also be a good thing.

johnT.

 

[TurdFurguson]

The link that robie provided was great. I also went to my local beer / wine hobby shop and talked to them. They also agreed on adding Kmeta and adding my own yeast. In addition, they said to check the Brix or SG of the must and adjust to 22-24 Brix to get the proper alcohol (don't want cooking wine). I have a hydrometer, so I can do this. The last thing they suggested is to check the acid in the must. I picked up a basic acid kit while I was there. This is all easy stuff I can do after we crush the grapes (except a return trip to the guy's house next day to pitch the yeast). All these sites, including the above link, recommend several other additives..enzymes, yeast nutrient, color enhancers, etc...are these necessary or nice to have? Do you see anything wrong with my basic plan below:

1. Buy grapes.
2. Crush grapes.
3. Measure Brix & acid and adjust as necessary.
4. Add Kmeta.
5. Come back in 24hrs and pitch yeast.
6. Have guy mix everyone's must daily.
7. Regroup in a week to press into secondary w/ airlock.
8. Rack in 3-4 weeks.
9. Rack in 2-3 months & add more Kmeta.
10. Bottle some time after? Drink and enjoy.

Last year I skipped 3-5 and racked maybe 2x. Tried some maybe 2 months after pressing...not bad. Better 3-4 months later.

 

[joea132]

You should try to punch down the cap 3 times a day at least. I do 5 a day. The other stuff is not necessary but nice to have. I've gone way overboard with equipment like some other members but you're off to a great start. The only thing I do recommend is a product like color pro. I've really had good results from that, even though it's a little on the pricey side. Again, not a necessity.

Congrats on taking the next step!

 

[TurdFurguson]

Just wanted to give an update and ask for a little more advice.

I decided to add kmeta after the crush and then pitched my yeast the following day. I did test brix and came out with 23. I also used my acid test kit and got around .6%. I wasn't sure I trusted my results since I wasn't sure what to look for in color change. However, one of the grape suppliers who also makes wine said he has not had to adjust any of the cali grapes for acid, so I didn't either. We pressed the following weekend into carboys and I parked them in the basement (averaging mid to low 60s). I took a gravity check after the press and it was pretty far along, but not complete.

It's now been about 2.5 weeks in the secondary. I pulled a sample and checked gravity. It was just below 1.000, so I guess it's done. I snagged a pH meter from work to check TA in a more scientific way. It looks like I'm around .625%. Using the color change method, I got .6%, so close results. However, just sticking the pH meter in the wine sample gave a result of 3.98 - 4.00. That seemed high given the TA. I don't have calibration solution at 4.01, so maybe it's just off. Should I be concerned?

I tasted a sip and it didn't taste great. Maybe it will improve with age. I didn't taste the Barbera until a couple of months had passed. Not sure how to describe the taste, but it seemed kinda sharp. Would MLF help? Is it too late to add? I wasn't planning on doing that since I didn't last time. Any thoughts or feedback would be great. Thanks.