WineXpert a question on de-gassing....

[kitten]

ok so i have made 2 wines now... the blueberry pino noir.... it turned out ok and the montagnac syrah... they both kind of tase off... cant really explain it. the blueberry almost tastes fizzy... if i open a bottle and let it sit for in the fridge for a bit it is better but it still tastes like it has gone bad.... my question is.. is this from not de-gassing enough or from too much air contact in the carboy? i am lost and confused and would like to get an idea of what i did wrong before i botch another 6 gallons of potentially good wine

 

[Racer]

When you open a bottle pour a small amount out into a glass. Then put your thumb over the top of the bottle to close it off and shake the bottle vigorously for a few seconds. After you stop shaking it remove your thumb from the top and listen to it, if you hear a "poof" you haven't de-gassed the wine enough. That can explain an off taste to it.

 

[MBRA]

Testing desolved CO2 by putting your thumb on a bottle and shaking it would be to harsh a measurement. You dont want to strip the wine of all co2 else it wil be flat and lifeless. If you are gonna do a strong red id suggest degassing in the future on a white wine you can have a lot of fizz before it becomes a problem.

 

[Luc]

You dont want to strip the wine of all co2 else it wil be flat and lifeless.

So, you really think there is a lot of CO2 trapped in commercial wines ????

When a wine is flat and lifeless it is due to a lack of acid or tannin, or low on dissolved solids (body) that give you a certain mouthfeel.

Luc

 

[Wade E]

I have to agree MBRA on this. I degas my wine very well using a drill mounted stirrer, time, and a vacuum pump and if bottled there will always be a little poof is shaken with the finger and I have yet to ever buy a commercial wine that didnt poof either!

 

[Racer]

Since the wine is already bottled is there another suggestion to try so kitten might be able to understand what is wrong or off with their wine?

The only other way I know of to check for possibly excessive CO2 in the wine would be to open a new bottle pour a glass worth out put a vacu-vin stopper on and pump the bottle a few times so a vacuum is pulled on the bottle. If a foam ring forms greater then an 1/8" at the top of the wine it probably has an excess amount of trapped CO2 in it.

One other possible answer to the "off" taste might just be a wine that is recently made and bottled. Young wines need time to settle down and mature. Allowing a wine to mature for a few months can make a world of difference in it's taste too.

 

[MBRA]

Degassed a 40 000 liter tank this weekend, we use a machine to get the exact amount present. You will stil get the poof sound around 0.8 g/l desolved CO2 (DCO) at 1.2g/l witch is textbook perfect for white wines (0.9 for red) there is a lot of 'POOF" .

DCO is very important for the freshness of a wine, try over degassing some whine and have a blanco( undegassed sample) and taste the difference. We sparge over aged red wines with CO2 liven it up. Not that mutch that it turns spritsy but just small amounts can be the differebce between gold and silver.

Options for the wines mentioned is, if it is under real cork, leave it the gas should settle over time.

OR

This is the fun way. Decant your wine back into a fermenter, the large amount of DCO wil protect it against oxygen to a limit. Degas the wine tilit tastes right(ALWAYS WORK WITH A WINE GLASS!!!!!) add a small amount of K-Meta(40-60mg/l) to protect the wine because you would have lost a lot of your free SO2( the part of the sulfur that protects the wine) may be ad 0.5 - 2 g/l of sugar to give it the panty dropper effect and rebottel.

OR

Count your losses and drink it in large amounts and very cold everything tstes better after 2 bottles

Cheers