Starting malolactic fermentation late

[pcorbell91]

Hello,

Apologies if I haven't followed posting guidelines, as I am new here. This past fall I made a cabarnet sauvignon, it's been through primary fermentation and is on it's way through secondary now. The wine tastes quite tart in my opinion and I wanted to try malolactic fermentation, but I couldn't find any information on if it's too late to start. I understand that the later you start, the later you'll finish, but is the wine two nutrient-low for malolactic fermentation to succeed at this point? I was considering the lalvin VP41, as I have read on here that it is quite effective.


Cabarnet sauvignon (Presents a slight H2S smell, but it is slowly disappearing with subsequent rackings)
pH = 3.6
%ABV = 12.5
TA = ? (Unknown, but I plan to check this week)


Thanks,
Phil

 

[Johnd]

Hello,

Apologies if I haven't followed posting guidelines, as I am new here. This past fall I made a cabarnet sauvignon, it's been through primary fermentation and is on it's way through secondary now. The wine tastes quite tart in my opinion and I wanted to try malolactic fermentation, but I couldn't find any information on if it's too late to start. I understand that the later you start, the later you'll finish, but is the wine two nutrient-low for malolactic fermentation to succeed at this point? I was considering the lalvin VP41, as I have read on here that it is quite effective.


Cabarnet sauvignon (Presents a slight H2S smell, but it is slowly disappearing with subsequent rackings)
pH = 3.6
%ABV = 12.5
TA = ? (Unknown, but I plan to check this week)


Thanks,
Phil

If you haven’t added any sulfite to the wine yet, it’s not too late!! If you don’t know your YAN, follow the recommended dosage for nutrients (I’d recommend Opti-Malo for your VP-41). You can also improve your chances of success by rehydrating your MLB with Acti-ML.