Sediment in the bottle

[jas3019]

Patience got the best of me. I bottled my Chilean sauvignon blanc back in November. It was 6 months old with a solid 4 months in the carboy just aging. Now I'm kicking myself because it's still throwing off some sediment in the bottle.

Here's the struggle and where I hope someone with more experience might weigh in. I've already bottled, shrink capped, and labeled these bad boys. Should I throw all that out and open them to let it sit a little longer? To complicate things, I have no free carboys to hold the wine if I did this. At best, I could empty them into a bucket and stick it outside to help settle things out faster. Maybe add a little extra k-meta if I do this to make sure nothing creeps in there. After a day or two I could then bottle them again and just live with the results.

Any thoughts?

 

[Kraffty]

I've done the same and gone with both options. I think it comes down to whether you give away or share many of them or drink them yourself. If used as gifts I'd re-bottle them, if for personal consumption I'd live with it and figure lesson learned. You could also just re-bottle a small amount and reserve those for guest occasions.
Best of Luck
Mike

 

[richmke]

If you have an all-in-one, and you want to rebottle, here is what I would do:

1) Set the bottles upright, and let them settle for 6 more months
2) When you have a free carboy ...
3) Use the AIO to remove most of the clear wine
4) Combine the residual into one or a few bottles, and let them settle a few weeks.
5) Rebottle the clear wine from step 3
6) When you want to enjoy a bottle, decant a bottle from step 4.

 

[heatherd]

I have done the same thing. My solution was to live with it, keep them for myself, and decant prior to drinking.

 

[jas3019]

Wow thanks for the quick replies! I could just live with it but I was thinking about giving some away. It reminds me that I do have a half gallon growler free that I could possibly use to work in small batches and get maybe 10 bottles that could be given away.

Also, I don't have a pump but that suggestion makes me think maybe I could just leave them in the bottles to clear more, rack out of the bottle into a bucket (sounds like a PITA but lesson learned), then rebottle from that immediately.

 

[GaDawg]

If you live with it I bet you will not repeat it

 

[Sage]

Why not let it settle in the bottles for several months then gas a new bottle and go directly into it? Don't go down to the sediment level. Pour the last few oz's into a bucket and bottle that later after it settles. Don't pinch, toss the very last as the sediment starts out.

Or, do what I do when I rack. Dump that last oz(s) into a clear pop bottle. It will settle and then I use it personally. Just gas the bottle and put it in the fridge.

 

[JohnT]

I would live with it and decant the wine prior to drinking.

 

[Boatboy24]

I'd live with it. If you were thinking of gifting some, there are approximately 5 bottles to a gallon. Open 5 and pour them into a gallon jug. Then let 'em sit for a month or two (or longer) before racking and rebottling.

I did that with a Chardonnay and decided to live with it.