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.
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.
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