Help! my bottled wine tastes bad after 6 months

[kglynch42]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice on a post-bottled wine problem I'm having.

I bottled our carmenere wine about 6 months ago. Yesterday I opened a bottle to taste it and see how it was coming along. When I bottled it, I sampled it and it tasted fine, like I expect from a new wine going into bottles. The taste of the wine yesterday was not good at all... hard to describe, but there was just no real wine flavor or smell. It seems like it spoiled.

It is aging in my basement... Could there be an environmental issue going on? Was there a problem with the corks? My basement is cool, but it does have a humidity problem. It also has a few cracks and water seeps in after heavy rains. We have a dehumidifier down there that seems to run nonstop trying to keep up with the humidity levels.

Any ideas of what might have happened? I appreciate any feedback.

 

[salcoco]

without further definition of bad it is difficult to provide advice. one issue wine does go through and up and down cycle over time as it ages until it finally settles out. you may have caught it during a down cycle. be patient try again in six months. if worse so be it, but it could be better. wish you luck.

 

[Runningwolf]

I don't think your problem is he environment. It may be going through MLF. It could also be a bacterial problem in the wine or from an unsanitized bottle or equipment. You said the wine tastes bad but has no aroma. A wine that has gone bad would normally also have a bad aroma.

 

[kglynch42]

Thanks for the replies!

I'm still pretty new to winemaking and this is the first time I have any any issue with my bottled wines... I will be more careful bottling and ensuring all my bottles and equipment are sanitized!

Since MLF should complete while bulk aging, I think this issue points to a sanitation issue. I'll try a bottle every couple months to see if it turns around.

Thanks!

 

[ibglowin]

Hard to even make an intelligent guess without first knowing if this is wine from a kit, juice bucket, fresh grapes, what was added or not added. How long the wine was bulk aged and what it was stored in, has there ever been any ML bacteria in your wine making area? How long have you been making wine?

 

[kglynch42]

The wine (carmenere) was made from fresh juice from Chile (Forget the name of the producer). I started the fermentation in the 6 gallon bucket it came in. The only addition to the juice was yeast and oak staves after fermentation.

After initial fermentation, I racked into a 6 gal glass carboy and topped it off with some wine from a previous batch (Petite sirah, tasted it first, it was good). I racked again 3 months later and again 2 months after that. Another month later I bottled it (it tasted fine at bottling time, just "young" as expected).

I discovered the problem because I was racking an "old vine Zinfandel" from a juice bucket I started about 2 months ago. I was racking to another carboy and getting ready to top it off with the Carmenere. When I opened the Carmenere, it didn't smell quite right and the taste was just off... I will open a bottle of it later and try to describe it better.

In any case, I haven't had any issues like this in the past. I'm still relatively new to winemaking. Here is a list of things I've tried:

1. Pinot Noir from concentrate
2. Cabernet Sauvignon from concentrate
3. Blueberry port from frozen berries (3 gal)
4. Orange Chocolate Port from concentrate (3 gal)
5. Mead from local honey (3 gal)
6. Strawberry wine from local fruit (1 gal)
7. Petite Sirah from fresh juice
8. Carmenere from fresh juice
9. Mead from local honey
10. Old Vine Zinfandel from fresh juice

 

[kglynch42]

For posterity, I wanted to reply to these posts... Thanks everyone for contributing. I think I figured out the issue... I had my friends at the wine supply store taste the "bad" wine and we all concurred that I must have forgotten to add in potassium metabisulfite before bottling.

I bottled the wine in my basement, which was about 50 degrees at the time, because it was winter up here in the Northeast. When I first went to taste it, things had warmed up to the 70s down there, so I think the free bacteria was able to start spoiling things. My plan is to try to salvage the batch by opening all the bottles and pouring them back into a carboy with some sweetener and k-meta.. hopefully that will help, but if not, lesson learned!

 

[Turock]

Without meta, the taste might be that of an oxidized wine. Minimal oxidation gives a nut flavor. But when it becomes severe, it tastes metallic.

If you sweeten, don't forget the sorbate.

You also did not mention nutrient in these buckets. You always need nutrient.