Still a little "yeasty" tasting at bottling

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

spleisher

Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Messages
47
Reaction score
0
Hello again,

Well, we just bottled our first kit tonight.

It's a RJ Spagnols Gran Cru International Red Zinfandel.

All along, I've tasted what I believe to be the yeast in the wine as it was moving through the process. It was most noticeable earlier on, and has gotten less and less so as it has gotten closer to bottling time.

The wine was nice and clear when we bottled it, and we bottled later than the kit called for (about 45 days instead of 35).

But, I still taste a hair of that "yeasty" flavor.

My question is, would that be typical at this point, and is that one of the reasons I've often read that while you can bottle when the wine is finished, it's really not ready to drink?

In other words, should I expect that flavor to further diminish as the wine sits in the bottles for a couple of months?

More generally, just how different can I expect my wine to be several months down the road from its flavor at bottling time?

Thanks so much for your continued patience. I'm learning a LOT!
 
I usualy dont taste yeast at this time but do taste a very young wine. This wine will still change dramatically over time. It is still very young at this time, I usually dont bottle a red for still another 3-4 months. It may still drop some sediment in the bottle and thats the main reason I dont bottle this early. You will have a better wine in about 4 months.
 
spleisher:

Are you sure it's a yeasty taste? Could it be CO2?

Steve
 
Hmmm, maybe it is. Not sure now. I did degass the heck out of it with a drill attachment, and it was certainly not doing any bubbling or foaming the last time I racked it or when I put it in the carboy to bottle. It seems very clear and still.

Is it possible to still have CO2 taste at bottling time and that not be an awful thing?

I dunno, I am guessing I just have to wait and wait some more now. Maybe we will open one bottle in a month to see how the taste is progressing.
 
in my experience, the flavor change as well as aromas, will be substantial over the course of the first year. it is a good experiment to bottle up two bottles worth of your batch into half-bottles, so you can try them at one month, 3 months, 6 months, a year without having to open a 750ml bottle. this will give you a real good idea on how the wine develops over time.
at bottling i usually find my wines to be hot with alcohol and off-notes, harsh and sometimes bitter, not well-integrated flavors... very jumbled. with even a short amount of age (3-6months) i can sense things coming together, the nose gets more delicate, the flavors more integrated and lasting, better mouthfeel, more balance.
 
C02 will usually tingle a little on your tongue, next time you open a bottle of this put your thumb over the top after un corking and shake it a bit and then release your thumb, if you get a good poof then you still have C02 in your wine.
 
at bottling i usually find my wines to be hot with alcohol and off-notes, harsh and sometimes bitter, not well-integrated flavors... very jumbled. with even a short amount of age (3-6months) i can sense things coming together, the nose gets more delicate, the flavors more integrated and lasting, better mouthfeel, more balance.

i agree. i can however, get a feel for where the wine is headed. whether it will be bad, ok or great. i try to taste around the "freshness" and get a feel for it. sometimes it takes longer than others to come around. my mother will taste the wine and go, "blah, tis no good." and the truth is, "yet.":dg

if it had an off aroma or taste, it might be better to let it bulk age.
 
Well, for what it's worth, it is certainly not CO2. Not wanting to wait a couple of months to see if I had a problem, I opened a bottle tonight to check for any signs of carbonation. Nothing. Maybe it just simply needs to hang out for a bit. It'll be interesting to see how much it changes over the next 3-6 months.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top