WineXpert Selection International Montepulciano

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pettyus

Junior
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Well, getting near the point of bottling my first kit and was wondering what others thought about additional k-meta addition for continued protection in the bottle. It has been about 6 weeks since I finalized the stabilizing and clearing step (step 3), and two weeks after that I racked (step 4--so wine has been sitting undisturbed for ~1 month). After bottling, I know that I will leave some of the wine to continue to age for 6+ months, but I don't think that I can wait that long to at least try a couple of bottles (I will wait at least one month before uncorking the first one). Because I will let some age, I would think that adding some additional k-meta to the bottling bucket (1/4 tsp) would be recommended, but will this give an off flavor to any of the bottles that I open a bit early? Thanks!
 
i would not recommend additions without a way to measure where you currently are and determine what additions might be necessary. (so2 test kit, titrates, etc.) others may have a different viewpoint, but with only one month in bulk aging, i would suspect sulfite levels are still probably still fine for bottling, and provided you are santizing bottles and other equipment with k-meta during the bottling process, the gasses and residual sulfite droplets should account for minimal air exposure during the racking/bottling process IMHO.
 
You are safe to follow what WE suggests for additional sulphite if you do plan to age your wine longer. Since this is your first kit I just have to ask you though. Do you really think any bottles will make it past a year? :D I think it wasn't until kit #3 that I finally had some bottles that made it past the 1 year mark.
 
My dealer told me not to worry about adding any K-meta unless I planned to age for over two years. I agree with the previous post, if you are sanitizing your bottles and corks while bottling this residue is equivalent to 1/4 tsp per batch anyway.
 
Thanks for the tips everyone...I didn't even think about the trace k-meta left in the bottles after sanitizing. And Racer, you are probably right!!!
 
So, after getting our son down to bed, my wife and I got geared up to bottle tonight. Because we wanted to make sure everything was "kosher" before we put the wine into bottles we had a small taste...and then realized that we better not bottle yet. The wine still had a bit of a "yeasty" smell and kind of "tingled" our tongues, almost as if it was slightly fizzy. I'm guessing that this is CO2, probably there because we didn't whip the wine long enough during step 3. I'm thinking about picking up a MityVac tomorrow to try to drive off more gas. Any other thoughts? Thanks in advance!
 
As far as the fizzy taste, that sounds right in terms of degas again. I don't think you can hurt anything.

I'm a newbie, but I find the kits all (well... all the reds, that's the only ones I have tried) have what I describe as a "green" taste when they are young, sort of like the taste of green leaves or green tea. I don't know what the term "yeasty" means really, can you describe it another way? What I do know is that the green taste goes away completely in 6 months, at least that has been my small experience. I think the WE Monte is really terrific once it get 6 months in the bottle.
 
Jim - good choice on waiting. Wine making is a practice in the art of patience. You will be rewarded. Nothing wrong with letting the wine sit in a carboy for a few months, as long as its topped up and protected. Yes - sounds like there still is Gas in the wine.
 

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