Hi all,
So I entered my first two wines in the MVWS Wine Competition this year. They were my first two wines I have made, a Concord and a Riesling, both Alexander's. I think the Concord was anyway, might have been another brand, but canned concentrate for sure.
At any rate, I got my actual score sheets back today from these wines and wanted to share some of the comments and hopefully get some feedback from you guys as to how I can address some of them going forward! Definitely some productive feedback I thought. I think anyway, haha.
Okay so wine #1 - Johannisberg Riesling, sweet Vinifera
-All judges loved the clarity and the sparkle, remarked on the color.
-The biggest complaint was the nose - two remarked that it was a vinegared smell, they all agreed that it was very unpleasant. One said not vinegared, remarked it was a sulfury odor.
-However, they all marked me well for taste, all three remarking that it was surprisingly nice tasting considering the nose.
-Overall notes were that the taste and look were quite wonderful but that the nose ruined the quality of the wine.
So, certainly I had noticed a nose that I didn't entirely like to this wine. The taste was always fine though, so I never paid too much attention to it. Not sure how I would have gotten a vinegared smell to it, but perhaps the sulfur smell was being misidentified by some of them?
wine # 2 - Concord, NA sweet
-Judges commented on the dark/oxidized coloring of the wine.
-Again commented on the lack of bouquet, 1 mentioned too much sulfur, and the other mentioned a vinegary/sulfury smell.
-Again they all remarked on great flavor and fruitiness. Also remarked on nice finish.
So here my question is the following - how can a wine be both over-sulfited as well as oxidized? Wouldn't one prevent the other?
TAKE-HOME MESSAGES
Seems like the nose is where my wines need the most work. Could this be to oversulfiting? I was pondering this the other day, and thinking that I sulfite at every racking. I have since switched to every other, but perhaps that could be where my problem was? Any other comments/suggestions? It seemed like the taste was on, which is good if nothing else!
Thanks for the help!
So I entered my first two wines in the MVWS Wine Competition this year. They were my first two wines I have made, a Concord and a Riesling, both Alexander's. I think the Concord was anyway, might have been another brand, but canned concentrate for sure.
At any rate, I got my actual score sheets back today from these wines and wanted to share some of the comments and hopefully get some feedback from you guys as to how I can address some of them going forward! Definitely some productive feedback I thought. I think anyway, haha.
Okay so wine #1 - Johannisberg Riesling, sweet Vinifera
-All judges loved the clarity and the sparkle, remarked on the color.
-The biggest complaint was the nose - two remarked that it was a vinegared smell, they all agreed that it was very unpleasant. One said not vinegared, remarked it was a sulfury odor.
-However, they all marked me well for taste, all three remarking that it was surprisingly nice tasting considering the nose.
-Overall notes were that the taste and look were quite wonderful but that the nose ruined the quality of the wine.
So, certainly I had noticed a nose that I didn't entirely like to this wine. The taste was always fine though, so I never paid too much attention to it. Not sure how I would have gotten a vinegared smell to it, but perhaps the sulfur smell was being misidentified by some of them?
wine # 2 - Concord, NA sweet
-Judges commented on the dark/oxidized coloring of the wine.
-Again commented on the lack of bouquet, 1 mentioned too much sulfur, and the other mentioned a vinegary/sulfury smell.
-Again they all remarked on great flavor and fruitiness. Also remarked on nice finish.
So here my question is the following - how can a wine be both over-sulfited as well as oxidized? Wouldn't one prevent the other?
TAKE-HOME MESSAGES
Seems like the nose is where my wines need the most work. Could this be to oversulfiting? I was pondering this the other day, and thinking that I sulfite at every racking. I have since switched to every other, but perhaps that could be where my problem was? Any other comments/suggestions? It seemed like the taste was on, which is good if nothing else!
Thanks for the help!