Mosti Mondiale Mosti Fresco Barolo

[KG233]

I just picked up a Mosti Fresco Barolo yesterday. This morning it is fermenting away. I was thinking about adding raisins or currants to this, based upon what I have read in some forums. Just wanted to geta few moreopinions on it. Do I use regular sunmaid raisins? How much should I use for a 6+ gallon bucket?


I am going to oak after it's in the carboy - I think with Medium French, unless the Hungarian is a better option... I know it is all in personal preference.


Just looking for opinions on what has worked for anyone else.

 

[geocorn]

I would skip the raisins and use hungarian oak. It is how they are made in Italy and we just tasted ours. It is going to be very, very good.

 

[KG233]

Any suggestions on whether I should let this go through MLF, or not? I was thinking about stabilizing it around 0.994 or so (by adding the potassium metabisulfite and sorbate).


I have seen two different sets of instructions from Mosti saying to let it go to 0.990/0.992 and not add any potassium metabisulfite or sorbate until ready to bottle. One set of instruction said I could do that after clarification - which I am guessing it would not go through MLF then.


Wasn't sure if a Barolo would benefit from MLF. I am very new to this - so open to ANY suggestions at all! Thanks.

 

[Wade E]

Get a Malic acid tester to see if it needs it. If it does then inoculate it only if you have not added any sulfites. If it does not need it then proceed as instructions say by clearing or adding k-meta or stabilizer when prompted.

 

[KG233]

Thanks Wade. Will definitely look into getting a tester very soon, and go from there.

 

[grapeman]

George did this one and it turned out very good. Just ask him if he did an MLF on his- probably not. If not, then I wouldn't bother. Unless it is very acidic tasting, it probably doesn't need it. The Malic acid gives it a tart taste- if malic concentration is low, there is no real benefit to it. Also if pH is above 3.5, I would forego it. If you perform a MLF on a higher pH wine, you run the chance of getting an undesireable bacteria working along with the malolactic bacteria.

 

[geocorn]

I am not a fan of MLF unless absolutely necessary. I need to discuss this in a featured article, but in short, MLF only reduces malic acid and should only be done when malic acid is high. MLF will only reduce the malic acid portion of total the total acids. For example, if total acids are 8 and the malic portion is .5, if the MLF reduces ALL of the malic acid, your total acids will be 7.75 after the MLF. This is not a large reduction in total acids and, as such, I would not do MLF.


As an aside, I have never done and MLF as I have not found a batch of wine in which an MLF would make that large of an impact. In addition, I have read where a lot of MLF is done by wineries for the simple reason of getting the wines to market faster. Not to really improve the wine, but accelerate cash flow. For the home wine maker, the quality of the product is the end game, so I would only use MLF when I definitely knew it would have a noticible effect on the finished wine.

 

[KG233]

Thanks again for everyone's input. I tasted the juice/wine, and it's pretty good. My SG is at .998 right now, so I am thinking I will forgo the MLF and stabilize it around .994 or so.


I am thinking I just might have to try a Meglioli kit next... I am considering the Chardonnay.

 

[jjk1991]

I debated myself to do MLF or not and I have so far held off. In fact, I have done some simple testing on winexpert and mosti kits, and quite honestly, they do extremely well with nothing to add. Yes, I do taste my wines during a transfer process to get a "taste" where I'm at. I have had a couple of kits where I know my acid levels werehigh, but I let it go "all naturale."These kits are just that good. With that said, winexpert is a kit designed for quick turnaround and they are good. The alljuice takes at least a year to sense any quality measures that may suggest a good wine. The only thing I add is oak. Now this you do have to be careful. Research you oak types well in addition to your wine type. It's still the winemakers decision as to what they want to their taste, but you can over oak your kit, which will make a difference to a "true type" of wine. I do Italian wines and I do oak them only slightly since the Italians don't like to oak as much as the French. I like the oak, but I don't want my Amarone' to taste like a Cab. So, I do concur with George, but be careful if you oak more than what comes with the kit.