New Winemaker, need an opinion from a taste expert

[Excl]

Hi everyone! New to the forum, and really new to wine-making as well. I started making home made wine last March, and I'm currently on my second batch. My first batch was just a homemade kit of juice that I wanted to try to jump in and get the hang of things.

Last September, I bought a 5 gallon frozen must of Merlot grapes, to try and step things up a bit. Everything has gone according to plan, and I'm hitting all my Acid, Brix and PH numbers on the nose. I just did a third racking today, and siphoned off a glass of it as I put it into the glass carboy.

The taste was a little ... strange. I'm really not the best judge of taste (I really just like to 'make' things, I'm not much of a connoisseur). My wife is more of the wine drinker, but even she was puzzled by it. She said it tastes "good", but it still tastes odd. I'm hoping to get some help from some good wine tasters.

The best way I can describe it, It has all of the "kick" right away, but goes down really smooth. I know with cheap wines, you get that alcoholic after-taste. This is almost the opposite. You seem to get that bite right up front. My wife says it tastes "earthy" and almost fruity like a juice. I double checked the brix to make sure actually fermented to dryness and it has. She says the best word to describe it is "branchy", like it tastes like a grapevine but she still thought it tasted really good despite that.

Is this just the taste of a nouveau wine? Will the initial kick mellow out with age? Did I possibly over-oak it or something? Any ideas what might be going on here? I realize this is difficult without actually tasting it, but I was hoping for something.

 

[wm36]

Hi. I'm not the expert you're asking for, going into my 4th year doing this, but I have only done fresh grapes, so just one or two batches a year, starting in the fall.

I had some of the same impressions you describe when I was starting out. What I found was that after bottling and sitting in the bottles for a month, the taste really smoothed out. That initial bite smooths out.

The guy that owns the supply store I use thinks it might have something to do with forcing a little oxygen into the wine during the corking process. I don't know, but anyway, some bottle aging definitely helps.

I'll be watching here too for what the experts say.

 

[vernsgal]

OK I'm just going to venture a guess here and say, quote,( You seem to get that bite right up front.) that's the alcohol in an early wine. Age will mellow it all out.You seem to be tasting the grape but getting too much of the bite. If you got the pail in Sept. I'm going to venture that it is only about 3 months done. Give it another 3 and re-taste, you'll be surprised at the difference.Age 6 more months and you've got yourselves a wine! wm36 was on the right track, I would just age it longer in carboy before bottling.

 

[Excl]

Thanks for the insights guys! I'm glad to hear that this is probably just what an immature wine tastes like. It just had a very unusual taste, and I wasn't sure.

wm, you mentioned getting air to it during bottle, and I'm wondering if that would help. I've been really air-conscience, since the first racking. I aerated the wine down the side of the carboy on the first racking, but have since siphoned it in from the bottom up. I've also put a bit of inert gas into the empty carboy before starting the siphon, and then topping it off with more inert gas before plugging it. Am I being too stringent about the oxygen for a Merlot? Should I be airing it out some more? I guess I'm a little over-worried about spoiling it.

 

[jamesngalveston]

I have never used inert gas in my wine...I have not had a wine go bad by just racking and adding a airlock.
If your wine is properly topped off , you shouldnt have a proplem.
It takes more then a few rackings for wine to start to oxidize,if as stated topped off correctly with minimal air in the carboy.

 

[Julie]

You have a young wine. Remember what it taste like now, taste it at 6 months, then at 9 months and then at 12 months. You are going to be very surprised at the differences a little aging will do to your wine.

It probably isn't a bad idea to be anal about get air in your wine but you won't oxidize your wine just by racking and when aging in the carboys, just make sure you have wine up into the neck of your carboy and you will be fine.

 

[Turock]

Even a lowly concord wine is young tasting until the 1 1/2 year mark, and a Merlot is going to need the aging to bring the flavor forward. No wine is going to be very good at the 3 month mark.

As far as adding oxygen at bottling, you're talking about micro-oxidation done by commercial wine makers. There's no good way for a home winemaker to do this. Just be patient with this wine--let it age. Even wines that need further aging in the bottle, should be bulk aged for at least 1 year before bottling. Much goes on in a wine during the bulk aging process--so don't cut that short and bottle too early.

 

[mmadmikes1]

never judge a wine by how it taste when its young

 

[DoctorCAD]

never judge a wine by how it taste when its young

Although there are lots who can.

Its their job.

 

[DoctorCAD]

A story about what the OP is questioning. Just this afternoon, I racked 12 gallons of wine. Six were Carmenere that I think tastes awful. I dont think its "young" I just hope it gets better. Its 7 months old. The other six are Valpolicella. I did not expect to taste it, its only day 140, but my wife poured a glass. I would say your description is EXACTLY how I would describe this one. Hot up front, more fruity than it should be, and a bit tannic. That is what a young wine should taste like.

Yours (and mine) should be fine in a year.