Dumping some wine, maybe

[cpfan]

I didn't have a vacuum degasser at the time I made the first two wines. However, I vigorously degassed with one of those stirring wands with the foldable tips that fit in a carboy, and I used a drill to spin it. I do have a vacuum degasser now, and the third wine got the benefit of that.

Personally, I do not think that a round-and-round action (ie a drill stirrer) is an effective method of degassing. I prefer a back-and-forth or side-to-side action. I use both. The drill to mix additives, and back-and-forth with a spoon or paddle to degas. And for a long time. To paraphrase Monty Python..."Brian my arm hurts."

Steve

 

[milbrosa]

OK, perhaps I was premature on dumping at least one of the wines. I just opened a bottle of the first one and tasted it. According to my notes, it has been almost 9 months since the last time I opened a bottle of this wine.

This was my very first wine kit. Here are the particulars.

Winexpert Vintners Reserve World Vineyard Chilean Merlot
10 liter kit
OG was 1.081
I did not record the yeast strain
12/18/2008 Started the kit - fermented in 6.5 gallon glass carboy
12/25/2008 SG = 1.001, Racked to secondary, 6 gallon glass carboy
01/06/2009 SG = 0.996, Racked to another 6 gallon glass carboy, degassed, added sorbate and k-meta packets, added clarifiers per instructions, topped with Tin Roof Merlot.
02/22/2009 Rack to bottling bucket and bottled - yield was 28.5 750ml bottles.

The wine is clear, purplish/red color, more purple than red, and thin looking, somewhat translucent. It looks a little darker than I remembered. There is a slight acidic smell, but it no longer reminds me of vinegar. The fruit smell is detectable, but it is muted. That is, I would not say this wine is "fruit forward". There is a hint of sour cherry aroma. There is no prickly sensation on the tongue, and no visible evidence of gas when pouring. The predominant flavor is of grape, and a hint of cherry. I'm not picking up any other fruit or spice flavors. Overall, the wine is soft, thin, not very tannic.

It's not as bad as I remembered. It isn't painful to drink anymore, but it still isn't great. I might even serve this to a guest who liked lighter bodied low-tannin wines. I won't dump this one after all.

I'll try the next wine tomorrow.