Referment or a Champaign Wanna be...

[jobe05]

I made and bulk aged a Scuppernong wine last year, back sweetened and bottled back in early September, 2006. I have shared a few bottles of this wine with several members on this board.........

If you still have a bottle aging somewhere, LISTEN UP!!!!!!!

I just took a bottle out of the wine fridge and opened and let sit for 15 minutes or so. I got a glass and poured it, and WOOOooooooooHa........ In one glass of wine it had a 1" foam head on top and bubbles galore!

Has it started fermenting again?

My normal practice is to add 1/2 tsp of K meta during stabilization. Then I bulk aged for about 3 months........(ok...... maybe thats not bulk aging, but thats good for me)...... I filtered this wine, then added another 1/2 tsp of K meta, added sugar/water to sweeten, and let sit for a few days, usually 3 days, but for some reason I want to say this one went a week before I bottled it.

It's been in the bottle for 15 1/2 months, could it have started fermenting? There was no signs of pressure on the cork when I pulled it, Actually when I used my opener, it pushed the cork in about an inch. I had to make an adjustment, then it worked fine............

I have to admit, it taste good as a champaign style wine I like it..... Just wasn't expecting it....... and don't have it in the right bottles..............

I have about 8 bottles left, I may take a couple and put into champaign bottles and let them sit and see what they do...........

 

[Wade E]

I didnt see any sorbate in this equation! Did you add what prevents re-fermentation?

 

[jobe05]

Yes, There was a 3/4 tsp total, 1/2 at stabilization and 1/4 at sweetening time......... Don't know why I didn't include that...................

Well........... except for the fact I'm enjoying this bubbly a lttle too much......

 

[Wade E]

I know you know how to make wine but I must ask so we can all learn, what was the starting SG and finish SG before sweetening and what yeast did you use? Did you riddle and degorge?

All I can say is S#$% happens!

Edited by: wade

 

[jobe05]

The yeast was D-47............ was thinking of putting that in the first post also............. sigh...........

I'm not looking at my notes but I'm quite sure, because I make most, if not all my fruit wines with a starting SG of 1.082 +.003 and it will finish on the dry side of .998

Your gonna have to stick around for the riddle and degorge part......... I may need some help there...

 

[jobe05]

Actually........... another after thought........

I was thinking, how could one make a "sweeter" champaign? If you put yeast in the bottle, won't it just take it to dry.....

As I'm drinking this stuff, I wish it could stay JUST LIKE IT IS! It's on the sweeter side, bubbly (could use a little more bubbles)........

And why did this start fermenting IN THE WINE FRIDGE? I don't see any on the wine rack like this..................... yet...

 

[Wade E]

If you wanted to make a sweet Sparkling wine, after doing everything to make the Sparkling wine do this right at degorging time:



Next, place your
bottles in a freezer and chill the wine to about 25ºF. This usually takes two
to three hours. You may see a little ice within the bottles when they are
ready. Now get an equal number of champagne bottles. Put into each of these
bottles one ounce standard sugar syrup and one tablet of wine stabilizer
(Crushed and dissolved potassium sorbate), and put these bottles into the
freezer along with the wine. The stabilizer is essential to inhibit the yeast
and prevent a third fermentation and possible explosions.</span>

When the wine is cold
enough, bring out one bottle of wine and one champagne bottle. Uncap the wine
and siphon it gently into the cold <st1lace wt="on">Champagne</st1lace>
bottle, taking care to leave the sediment behind. Since the wine is cold, it
will loose very little gas. Now insert the plastic stopper and wire it down.
Then invert the bottle several times to mix the syrup and wine.</span>

This wine will be very
palatable almost immediately after bottling. Note, that one ounce of syrup
gives brut (Slightly Sweet) wine. If you want a Sweet wine, use two ounces of
syrup per bottle, plus the wine stabilizer tablet.</span>

* Sugar Syrup 2 cups of
sugar per one quart water yields five cups of syrup.</span>

 

[joeswine]

JoBe5//could of been stuck fermentation,and under colder conditions the fermentation continued but at a much slower rate,did the same thing to a reisling quite refreshing acctually

 

[Waldo]

jobe , ya sure you had not just finished off a bottle of your superb Blackberry Port , somewhat, "stumbled" to the fridge, and reaching in for a bottle of your Scupperong you inadvertently grabbed the remnants of that bottle of Champagne from Christmas

 

[jobe05]

Ya know, I have had 2 bottles since then and nothing....... Normal!

How can one bottle start to referment and not the rest?........

After opening that bottle, I left it open for a few hours to let the air get to it, then I closed it up and put the vacuvin to it......... couldn't get that many bubble, just a couple really big ones, so I left it for a couple of days. Last night I opened it and poured it into a glass and again, about a 1 inch head of foam, tasted bubbly but not as good because I had it opened for so long.............

I may just take the rest of this batch and put it in Champaign bottles and try it that way.