WineXpert I think my first wine is kaput.....

[Finguy]

I just transferred my WE Merlot for the final clearing before bottling and a taste test was not good. I didn't taste any alcohol or "bite"..just a musty grapey flavor. Now I'm sure I blew it somewhere, I'm just not sure where. The primary fermentation took longer than expected (ten days). I got a brew belt to get the temp up and may have overdone it (80+ deg). The degassing went much easier than expecteed, maybe too easily, as there was not much foaming. My transfers were "adventures" wherein I think I may have overexposed the wine to air in transferring from carboy to carboy.
What is the stuff supposed to taste like at the final cleaning stage, 14 days from bottling?Edited by: Finguy

 

[Waldo]

At this point Finguy it should have a slight "musty" and grapey taste with not much bite to it

Just kidding podner and can't really help you on what the Merlot should be like as I make primarily Country wines but I would offer that I would not be too discouraged and would recomend letting it bulk age a few months in the carboy before bottling and see if it doesn't improve a lot with age. What was your beginning and ending SG readings?

 

[grapeman]

Same question here Finguy- what was your starting and ending specific gravity. Those are your 2 most important readings when making a kit. They will give you your alcohol content of the wine and will tell you if it is working well or not. I have made Merlot before and it also had a slight musty taste when young. You would be surprised how much it will change as it ages.


By the way- Welcome to the forum.

 

[masta]

Welcome and if you completed the kit as per the instructions I doubt there are any issues with the wine other than it is really way too soon to form an opinion on how good or bad it will taste after it has had time develop.


Remember patience isn't included in the kit!

 

[GrapeApe]

Just to put a fine point on Masta's post, we bottled our first kit in March and have been trying it every month since bottling. The first bottle we opened in April, we struggled to drink. The smell was horrible and the taste was off too. The bottle we opened in May showed great improvement and the objectionable smell hadpulled back and thetastewas promising. The bottle we opened last night showed great improvement from last month and was actually quite nice, so I don't think you'll be able to tell if have a problem until 3-4 months AFTER bottling.


Continue to follow the instructions and bottle it. You may be pleasantly surprised in early Sept.


Good luck.


GrapeApe.

 

[smurfe]

As Appleman said, what is the SG? That is the key to assuring proper fermentation. As others have said, some kits taste good at this stage, some not so good. Some kits will have a "grapey" taste. You will read this at times as "kit taste." I have never really noticed that but i do think most kits have a "kit smell" that will diminish with age along with off tastes.


Also, if you drew too much of the gross lees during racking you might have an off taste until the lees settle again. Post up some SG readings if you have them. Was starting around 1.8 or so? Is it now under 1.0, preferably around .090? Give us some numbers and be patient. It normally isn't as bad as one thinks. We have all had horror thoughts at one time or another.

 

[Finguy]

It took a while to get my SG in range because it was very cool in So Calif during May and early June. I finally got todesired range (under 1..010)after 10 days.
I put it into the secondary and got down to around .996 in the 10 days expected.
The wine has been "kicked around" some during racking and degassing but I figured that would not hurt.

 

[smurfe]

Sounds like it fermented properly. Sounds like you are just tasting a "rough" wine. Now we will work on your patience and help you along the way to letting your wine mature. It is actually good that you taste the wine at each step to help understand how the wine will evolve with age. Sounds like you are going along as scheduled to me.

 

[Dean]

To quote Tim V., "just because WE says it's ready to bottle, doesn't mean it's ready to drink" and "Before bottling and aging, anything even remotely resembling wine is pure cooincidence". And that's from the guy who designed your kit! As Masta said, the kit comes with everything but patience.

I'd suggest making a couple of mist kits, while your regular kits age. Mist kits are drinkable right from the carboy after they clear.

 

[PolishWineP]

I know that Waldo isn't going to like seeing me say this but, I'm saying it anyway. I RARELY try a wine until it has been racked twice. I don't like how they taste at at time

and I have faith that they will come out just fine.

 

[Wade E]

Im the same way PWP, I like to save all tasting for when its ready to drink so I dont have to top up as much.