my first wine

[johnthemc]

hi,
last fall i got 6 gal. of muscat juice from a local guy, juice came from chile. This guy is very reputable and became kind of a friend. I know it was all me, i bought elderberries followed the directions added, added sweetener after raking until very clear. I had no problems-so I thought, bottled. sat in the dark part of the basement until last week and I tried a it. It tasted like sature with some kind of funky additive!! In the bottle at the bottom to about 1/2 way up, there is a ghost floating. It reminds me of what my grandmother called the "mother"in cider vinegar after sitting. call someone help me? this was my first.
Thank You

 

[Tom]

If you just got this around April you bottled way to soon.
Chilean juice is only available in the spring.

 

[johnthemc]

Tom,
I'm sorry the juice I have going now is from chile. This came out of New Jersey.

 

[Runningwolf]

I am also a little confused. As Tom said this is only available in the spring and you said you got it in the fall. Is the issue with the muscat or the elderberry. Please give us more details with dates.

 

[johnthemc]

My mistake, it came out of New Jersey started 10/22/10. Stanta Clara california, the juice I have going now is from chile! sorry!

 

[Tom]

OK so it was a CA wine U R having a problem with.

The juice would be from Gino's then, or Corrados in N. Jersey

 

[johnthemc]

that i'm not sure, but I pre-ordered and they picked up in New Jersey. But can you give me an idea what I did wrong and is there anyway that I can save it, or should I dump 25 bottles down the sink?
I'm new to this so if you can help me I would deeply appreciated it.
Thank You

 

[djrockinsteve]

Don't dump anything. Give us more details as to what you have done and a time line so far. What if any additives, specific gravity etc. and we'll see if we can help you out.

 

[Tom]

Ditto.
Need step by step of what you did and added to botteling.

 

[johnthemc]

Thank You both,
I will get back to you this weekend.
John

 

[johnthemc]

this is what I did with the wine.
I picked up the wine and yeast from my supplier on 10/22/10 which he picked up in new jersey 4 days before. When I got it home, I called kurt the supplier and said that it was already bubbling a little and he said it started working.
i got right to it and started it. through out i was very careful of sanitation.
it quit working in 3 days. i left it for a week anyway. i called kurt and he thought that was quick.so i bought a hydrometer from him and it was @ 1.0 i racked it into sanitized plastic bucket and added 5 campden tablets.I racked it again in 3 weeks and added the elderberries. i bought these from kurt which were dried and i hydrated them in water over night and put them in cheese cloth. i left them in until the next racking-3 more weeks with 3 campden tablets.
on 1/8 added wine conditioner and let sit for 2 weeks then bottled.
tried the wine 2 weeks ago and wrote my post.
i used "the home winemaker''s companion" by gene spanziani and kurt as my guide.
any help would be appreicated. this has me very discourgage.
John

 

[djrockinsteve]

Trying to understand this. You fermented the juice. Then added Camden tablets then added fruit followed by more Camden tablets. Then bottled later.

First do not add anymore tablets now. I'm thinking you need to put this into a carboy and completely clear the wine if it's not already clear and let it age. You obviously have yeast odors and sulfur from all the tablets.

I posted a tutorial on the home page in the Tutorial Section on basics of making wine. Review that to what you have done. Wine making takes time and patience. When things are rushed you could have problems.

Don't dispair. Learn a little and try to understand what your wine has gone thru. This will help you with this. I think a good racking and aging will help this.

What was the specific gravity before you bottled?

 

[johnthemc]

i didn't check the s.g. before i bottle it, but it was very clear and smelled and tasted great, now it has this cloud in the middle of the bottom of the bottle and it floats up tp the middle of the bottle like how old cider vinegar gets if you know what i mean. like cobwebs.
I will read it as you advise but you think i might be able to save this?
should i go ahead and put it into a carboy then rack it?

 

[Tom]

If I am reading this right from start to bottle is 11 weeks? Way to soon to bottle. 1 year is norm.
I and Steve are confused how much campton you added please break this down.
You need to keep better records. from starting gravity to timing to bottling and everything you did.

 

[johnthemc]

i do realize that i have to keep better records than what i had done. the total campden tablets i used was 8. do you think i can save it if i put it back into a carboy and let it sit?

 

[Tom]

yes I would