Got a funk smell

[Jim857]

This is my second year making wine from grape. I crushed in Oct so I'm in that quite period. Fermentation went fine ...second fermentation as well. Here is my concern. Last year I had this funky smell that I just counldn't get rid of. It disapated over the year but it did carry into the final product. I have the same smell this year...not as pronounced but would like to nip it early if possible. Please share any ideas or thoughts.

Thanks
Jim

 

[Julie]

Hi Jim,

Welcome to winemakingtalk. When you say second fermentation are you talking about an MLF?

What type of grapes are they and how big of a batch are you making, are you fermenting in carboys or oak barrels?

 

[Rocky]

A little more information would help us. Can you describe the smell a little better for us? Is it a sulfur smell (rotten eggs) or a musty smell? What kind of container is the wine in right now? How much wine did you make? What variety of grapes did you use? Did you record the initial and final SGs? Did you fully de-gas the wine?

 

[djrockinsteve]

Add to this how long did wine sit on the lees and are you sulfiting proper amounts?

 

[Jim857]

Yes Second Fermentation = MLF
I would say more of a musty smell
I used glass carboys
for the initial fermentation I use a 44 Gal food grade container
10 cases of Cabernet Sauv from California
8 packets of Yeast – Lalvin Bourgouin RC 212
5 vials of malolactic bugs WLP675 – White labs – add at 5 brix
Crush 10/1
First rack into carboys
Init SG - 22 Brix/ 1.090
Final - for some reason I didn't record but it was below 0 brix
Added 20 campden Potassium Sulfate during crush
Added 2 campdems per carboy at racking

Last year I thought I may have brought over to much sediment/ lees at the first racking and then let it sit for a couple weeks doing MLF. This year I was more carful tranfering and racked again 1 week later. Then again a month later. I splashed the carboys as the were fill as I read this will clear some smells.