WineXpert did i screw it up?????

[tarasite]

i am on on my first kit, wine expert chilean merlot. i think i screwed this whole thing up.

on 4/3 i started my primary fermentation. all seemed to be well, themust was fizzing along within 24 hours. the sg was at 1.10
on 4/10 fizzing had all but stopped and the must just bubbled about once every 5 seconds. sg reading was at 1.00
i transfered the must into my carboy. since then i have not noticed anymore visible fermentation, no bubbling in the airlock or in the carboy.


i tried to do as much reading on previous posts and on the winepress forums to find out what i had done wrong. i thought maybe fermentation had almost finished in the primary and tried not to worry too much.


on 4/12 sg reading was at .99


i decided to leave my wine alone and let it do what it had to do.


on 4/23 sg rading was at .99
4/24 sg at .99


i figured maybe it was time to stabilize and clear.
i added metabisulphite and sorbate as per the instructions. stir as much as my little arms could handle. there was some foaming but i don't know if i was actually driving off the c02 or i just just creatingfoaming from my rapid stirring. i decided to just continue on and add the chitosan and hope for the best. more stirring and i'm satisfied i've done what i can at this point.


oh, i forgot to add the temp has been a consistant 68-71 degrees


when i smell my wine at this point it still smells like, well rotting grapes. kind of a sweet nasty smell. is this normal?
i'm afraid i stalled my fermentation and proceeded too quickly with the next steps. can my wine be saved or should i just trash it and try another kit? should i try to restart fermenation or is it too late at this point?

 

[Wade E]

When you say .99, do you mean .990 as this is about as low as a wine
will ferment and that is perfect, From what you have said everything
sounds perfect. Just give it a little time to clear and then rack it
again into another carboy. I believe that you are just not use to some
of the various stages of smells that a wine goes through and never give
up and dump it until it everyone with experience tells you to as there
are many things that can help.

 

[tarasite]

wow! thanks for the speedy reply.
yes i meant the sg was .990


if all seems to be well, and it clears as it should, is it ok to rack back into my primary, as i do not have an extra carboy? (at this point, though i plan on getting another soon)

Edited by: tarasite

 

[PolishWineP]

You can rack it into your primary, clean the carboy, including
sanitizer, and then rack it back into the carboy. Don't leave it
sitting long in the primary. Too much exposure the the air.
When you rack it back into the carboy you'll need to top it up.
Similar wine, water or marbles. Keep us posted!Edited by: wade

 

[Wade E]

Tarasite, by the way welcome to the friendliest forum around. You will
not get a wine to go much lower than .990. I think the lowest Ive ever
heard was .996 to date and that will suck moisture right out of your
body. After racking like PWP says you will probably notice that the
smell is gone and please post to let us know if other measures need to
be taken.

 

[grapeman]

Everything sounds just fine with your wine. I do see one major problem though - only one carboy. Every beginner makes that mistake, run, do not hesitate, do not pass go and buy another carboy or two, or three....... Of course you can get by to rack it into the primary and then back like PWP says, but eventually you will want another carboy. Don't worry about the smells, each batch smell different and a few downright smell bad, but they all seem to come around

 

[Grant]

Welcome Tarasite


Like you I am still a newbie. The Chilean Merlot was my second kit. I too started out with just one carboy. I bought the second a week later. Then 3 & 4, then 5 & 6, now at 7. I bought second primary when I got 7th carboy. The Merlot is 4 months old now and is very nice, we drink the occassional bottle to stop us from drink the Amarone.


We have been doing this for 5 months and are on our 15 kit. We started making alot of the Island Mist kits as they are not bad and they help us leave the premium kits until the mature,


I am sure that you will find that this site is amazing. All questions are answered promptly as it seems that there is always someone on who knows the answers

 

[PeterZ]

tarasite, the smell you smell is the same one I smell in my wine. For us, all newly fermented wines smell this way. Does cilantro taste like soapy water to you, by any chance? It does to me.

The smell will dissappear in a couple of months of aging, either bulk aging in a carboy, or in bottles. Whatever it is we are smelling either breaks down with time, or reacts with other chemicals in the wine to change it. It does not need to sit under an airlock and evaporate out.

One recommendation I can make is to also taste the wine at each stage. A taste will tell you if there is any sugar left unfermented. When I visited George a couple of weeks ago he gave me a taste of one he was testing before selling. It had theat same smell, to me, but the taste - OMG! The complexity of flavor in a wine that young was phenominal! I can't wait to taste it in a couple of years.

 

[tarasite]

the only thing holding me back from ordering another carboy right now this very second is the packing peanuts! i still am finding them all over the house. what a nightmare! i wish there was a better way to ship these things! lol


thanks for everyones input, its much appreciated and has put my mind at ease. i was thinking of the island mist black raspberry merlot as my next kit. i guess i can get over my disdain for shipping peanuts, and order it (and another carboy) very soon.

 

[tarasite]

primary fermentation! i was not expecting that smell!
now i look forward to smelling it again!

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

Each time it gets better, until if you can't smell it, you gotta start one up! I've been contemplating a merlot myself, let us know how it turns out!

 

[Wade E]

Nice Tatts Tara! I bet you can turn those into a label for your wine!


Edited by: wade

 

[tarasite]

i never thought of that, maybe for the next batch!