How do you know when wine is done de-gassing?

[jacksmith]

I have a white wine (Traminette) that I made last October. It has been racked several times, cold stabilized for a few weeks, racked off the tartrate crystals, fallen very clear, and is tasting good. It has been bulk-aging in the low 60's F since the end of fermentation, except for the few weeks in the fridge at 38F.

I think I'm ready to bottle it, but I'm not sure if has too much CO2 still in suspension. A few weeks ago when I racked it off the tartrate crystals while it was still cold, I got a lot of off-gassing activity for the next few days. How do I know when a wine is done de-gassing. Aren't white wines usually bottled in May or June of the year after they're fermented? When do you usually bottle them?

 

[REDBOATNY]

I bottled my Traminette in March. I would stir with a brewers paddle while in the bottling bucket in the past. This year I started using a vaccum pump.

You could put some in a bottle and shake with your thumb on top. Some wines degas on there own from racking, some don't.

 

[cpfan]

is tasting good.

You should be able to taste the CO2. Maybe feel it on your tongue, if there is a lot of it.

Steve

 

[jacksmith]

It's not fizzy and I see no bubbles in the glass when I take a sample. But it does taste a little more tart than the TA & pH allude to. I kind of want to chalk that up to CO2. Shaking a glass of the wine does not cause it to foam up, but putting a vacuvin on a bottle of it and pumping does cause it to release bubbles.

 

[robie]

As Steve said, you can generally taste the CO2... that is the main reason to degas - because a wine doesn't taste very good with CO2 in it (Champagne and coke are the exception of course). The warmer the wine, the more CO2 will be expelled. if you have kept your wine very cool, it would not have expelled as much CO2 in the same time period as it would have warmer. Think of a can of coke. The warmer it is when you open it, the more pop and fizz you get from all the CO2.

Warm your wine up to about 75F; stir it really well, taste it. As mentioned, put some in a bottle and shake it. If you get a pfsst when you release the pressure and lots of tiny bubbles (like in the coke), stir it some more and repeat.

As I mentioned before, if you taste the fizz, you likely still have to much CO2. The CO2 taste is fizzy and a little bitter. Concerning bitterness, just bare in mind that lots of time a young wine will have a little bitterness, more because of age than CO2. Only age will solve that problem.

 

[robie]

It's not fizzy and I see no bubbles in the glass when I take a sample. But it does taste a little more tart than the TA & pH allude to. I kind of want to chalk that up to CO2. Shaking a glass of the wine does not cause it to foam up, but putting a vacuvin on a bottle of it and pumping does cause it to release bubbles.

If you put water in a bottle and shake it, you will get bubbles. If they are CO2 bubbles, they will be tiny bubbles. As I mentioned in my other post, young wine has a tartness or bitterness that only time will take away.