Oxidation or what?

[C B]

I have been making several wine kits over the years (16L-18L) that have turned out OK, not great.

My last batch was a Pinot Grigio that came out crystal clear, the flavor was amazing. It was bottled and put into my father's wine cellar at 60 degrees. The other day we pulled out some wine and tasted a bit more alcohol, or a stronger bite to the wine. Another friend tried one of my reds (Carmenere) and said it had sort of an oxidized flavor to it. A bit rough to drink. Everyone says the reds need age, but I'm not finding that to be removing the roughness that I'm not finding in a commercial $9 wines.

I follow the wine kits exactly. I use a conical Fast Fermenter. When de-gassing I de-gas in the Fast Fermenter with a power drill and a whip, this may expose a lot of oxygen so I may try doing it in a glass carboy instead. I use #9 straight corks 15/16" x 1 3/4" and do not soak in k-meta.

Other family members do similar wine kits and do not have the harsh flavor, can't figure it out.

Any advice would be great. The harsh flavor overrides the original flavor of the wine, but I don't smell vinegar or anything. I'm conservative on the k-meta additions too because I thought maybe I was overdoing it.

Thanks!

 

[heatherd]

I have been making several wine kits over the years (16L-18L) that have turned out OK, not great.

My last batch was a Pinot Grigio that came out crystal clear, the flavor was amazing. It was bottled and put into my father's wine cellar at 60 degrees. The other day we pulled out some wine and tasted a bit more alcohol, or a stronger bite to the wine. Another friend tried one of my reds (Carmenere) and said it had sort of an oxidized flavor to it. A bit rough to drink. Everyone says the reds need age, but I'm not finding that to be removing the roughness that I'm not finding in a commercial $9 wines.

I follow the wine kits exactly. I use a conical Fast Fermenter. When de-gassing I de-gas in the Fast Fermenter with a power drill and a whip, this may expose a lot of oxygen so I may try doing it in a glass carboy instead. I use #9 straight corks 15/16" x 1 3/4" and do not soak in k-meta.

Other family members do similar wine kits and do not have the harsh flavor, can't figure it out.

Any advice would be great. The harsh flavor overrides the original flavor of the wine, but I don't smell vinegar or anything. I'm conservative on the k-meta additions too because I thought maybe I was overdoing it.

Thanks!

Interesting... maybe try using less vigor in degassing to see if that helps with future batches. It could be a few things, like oxidized from your degassing effort or still gassy. Have you tried decanting the wine before drinking?

 

[ceeaton]

Other family members do similar wine kits and do not have the harsh flavor, can't figure it out.

Have you reviewed, in detail, the steps that they are using to make their kits that don't have the harsh flavors? Are there any differences in what you are doing compared to them? It could be something as simple as the water you are using to bring the wine up to it's intended volume before pitching the yeast. Are they using a different water source then you are? Maybe pre-boiling tap water or using bottled water? Just food for thought.

Putting on your Columbo hat might help you find out what is producing the harsh flavors in your wine.