Adding Glycerine - how does it affect aging?

[cocroach]

Last week I experimented by adding a couple of drops of glycerine (from my local wine making store) to a small glass of 2013 RJS Caramel Port, which I happened to have a half-opened bottle in the fridge.

What a difference it made!! I think I now know what the term "mouth-feel" of a wine is. After one drop in about a tablespoon of wine, it tasted great, "thicker" almost! After two drops, it was okay, but it quickly lost the tannin feel that I like; after three drops it gave of a strange aftertaste, but was still okay.

My question is, if I were to use glycerine to improve the "mouth-feel" of a wine, how does this affect how the wine ages?? Does the weird aftertaste go away? Will the wine go back to being thin again over time? Is glycerine the best option for getting mouth-feel?

I was thinking I might split my batches and add this to a Barolo I have on the go right now, or maybe a Shiraz, or Zinfandel/Primitivo.

 

[TicinoVintner]

Is glycerine the best option for getting mouth-feel?
.

No, that would be to simply stir the lees. Or extended time on the skins followed by stirring the lees followed by time in barrel. But I'm a naturalist when it comes to wine. I don't even add yeast anymore.

here is a good mouthfeel article

http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=features&content=68760

 

[cocroach]

TicinoVintner, thanks for the article! Very informative and I respect a purist approach. I have been diligently stirring up the lees and squeezing out skins to get maximum flavour, but I haven't noticed as much of a difference.

I took a leap this morning with a RJS Chocolate Orange Port that I have almost ready to bottle and added about 1/2 teaspoon of the glycerin to a 3 gallon batch (way less than the recommended amount, which would have been about 11 tablespoons for the entire batch size). Before I added the glycerin, the wine tasted very hard, almost acidic. This is because I wasn't paying attention and really screwed up on the instructions earlier, which caused it to go out of balance. I thought of adding precipitated chalk to lower the acidity, but ended up not doing this after I did a small test sample with the glycerin, which seem to correct the harsh taste.

Right now the wine taste perfect! I'm going to monitor this over time to see if and how it changes over the course of a year. If it goes southward, this will be the last of my experimentation with glycerin and I will likely stay the way of the naturalist!

Cheers.

 

[Runningwolf]

Glycerin gives the sense of sweetening, adds body and smooths and mellows wine. For wine, add 1 - 2 ounces per gallon. I would always do a bench trial first.

 

[cocroach]

Runningwolf, I can definitely see that now that I've played with it a couple of times.

Have you ever had to add finishing tannins back to the wine though?? Would doing that just reverse the pluses of adding the glycerin? I do like the heavier feel it does add to the wine, however, I found even with the little glycerin that I added, it did soften the tannins a little beyond what I was hoping. Unfortunately, I don't have any finishing tannins to experiment with, so I'll probably just go ahead and bottle it.

 

[Runningwolf]

I could see how it might soften the tannin's. I have never added them back in. It will soften acid. It will also help stabilize the color.

 

[littlefootwines]

Hi i have used glycerin with a couple of whites and found it to make a good change to the wine never on a red yet but if you search for glycerin like i did here you will find a couple of good threads from people that have been making wine for a while and have used it on good reds. I have found the changes it makes are leading me to do more tests with it.
Shane

 

[cocroach]

This whole winemaking thing is a slippery slope! So many aspects to experiment with! I'm hoping I'll be able to pick up some finishing tannins in the next month or so, I'm going to see what adding it does to wine with glycerin. MUST SATISFY THE CURIOSITY BUG!

 

[Turock]

Glycerin holds up well in the bottle. The doseage I've used in the past is 1 tsp per gallon. That amount seems to work well without getting in the way of the tannin. But you're wise to do bench trials because tannin levels can be very different, one wine to another.

 

[tonyt]

I use glycerin to aid mouthfeel on big reds. I usually add 4oz to 6 gallons of wine, sometimes less but never have needed more. I have never noticed any off flavor. I have had several positive comments and scores on mouthfeel and body from competition judges.

 

[cocroach]

Thanks for all of the feedback! Good to know you didn't get any bad after-taste. I have a Rosso Grande in the primary right now. I might split the batch and add glycerine to one and run a taste test with a few friends.