I recently finished my first batch of wine, a nice Cianti from packaged juice. Its only about 6 weeks old but it has a faint sulfur taste just at opening. Serving at a chilled condition and letting it breathe for about 30 minutes helps the wine a lot. Any thoughts on my next batch ? I just purchased a Winexpert Crushendo Kit for the Corvina Classico di Veneto and I would like to improve on the next batch.
Sulfur in the first batch ?
- Thread starter mongoose
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PolishWineP
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Mongoose, Questions about your Chianti with sulfur smell. How many bottles of this have you opened and gotten the sulfur smell? Did you prep your corks? Can you give any more information?
PolishWineP;
I originally put up 24 bottles. We have consumed about 9 so far. Each have the faint smell and odor of sulfur. I did leave the wine in the carboy for about 3 weeks longer than called for by the directions. The temperature before racking was about 55 to 60 degrees F. The bottles were all washed with a sanitizer and rinsed with tap water immediately before use. The corks were soaked in boiling water for about 1/2 hour before they were used. Any insight you can provide would be a great help. Thanks!
I originally put up 24 bottles. We have consumed about 9 so far. Each have the faint smell and odor of sulfur. I did leave the wine in the carboy for about 3 weeks longer than called for by the directions. The temperature before racking was about 55 to 60 degrees F. The bottles were all washed with a sanitizer and rinsed with tap water immediately before use. The corks were soaked in boiling water for about 1/2 hour before they were used. Any insight you can provide would be a great help. Thanks!
The sulfur smell and taste could betoo much sulfite in your wine. Letting it breath after pouring allows the excess sulfite to dissipate enough where it tastes better. Sometimes dissolved C02 will bring out the sulfur smell aroma when a young wine is first poured.
Was this a kit wine with pre-measured ingredients?Is the smell a rotten egg sulfur or a burnt match sulfur ?
Edited by: masta
Was this a kit wine with pre-measured ingredients?Is the smell a rotten egg sulfur or a burnt match sulfur ?
Edited by: masta
geocorn
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Also, don't soak your corks for so long. A 5-10 rinse in sulfite solution should be good for most corks, especially if you are using my corks. Over-soaking any cork will make it too soft for the corker and, as a result, may not seal properly.
Geocorn;
One of the books I received advised boiling the corks for 1 hour to condition them. You are right, the corks I was using were very soft by the time I seated them. So far, all good seals though. Is pre-softening by boiling (soaking) not necessary?
One of the books I received advised boiling the corks for 1 hour to condition them. You are right, the corks I was using were very soft by the time I seated them. So far, all good seals though. Is pre-softening by boiling (soaking) not necessary?
geocorn
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If you are using the Portuguese Hand Corker that I sold you, you should not need to soak or boilyour corks at all, escpecially with my corks. I just soak mine for about 5-10 minutes just to sanitize them and make them a little easier to insert. I think most wine makers do not boil their corks, anymore. The practice was used to sanitize the corks, but with the sanitizers available now, it is really an unnecessary step and could be worse for your wine. Stick with my corks and my method and you will not have any problems with your corks.
The burnt match smell indicatesit is from the sulphur dioxide (sulfites) added to the wine. Do you remember how muchPotassium Metabisulfite was added to wine (grams in packet)?
What did you use for sanitizing your equipment?
A rotten-egg smell would indicate it is from hydrogen sulphide which occurs when the yeast takes the wrong path.
Stirring your wine well when you make it up not only mixes it well but provides plenty of oxygen for the yeast to multiply and develop properly.
Stir your must well before and even more after fermentation!
What did you use for sanitizing your equipment?
A rotten-egg smell would indicate it is from hydrogen sulphide which occurs when the yeast takes the wrong path.
Stirring your wine well when you make it up not only mixes it well but provides plenty of oxygen for the yeast to multiply and develop properly.
Stir your must well before and even more after fermentation!
masta-
I do not recall how much Potassium Metabisulfite was in the packet, but I have a new kit (similar to the last one) comming. When it arrives, I will take a look. Thanks for the pointer--STIR, STIR, STIR, then mix just for good measure!
I do not recall how much Potassium Metabisulfite was in the packet, but I have a new kit (similar to the last one) comming. When it arrives, I will take a look. Thanks for the pointer--STIR, STIR, STIR, then mix just for good measure!
To All...
Thnaks for your input. I just received my shipping conformation on the next batch of juice (PLUS SKINS!), so I will report how that turns out. Has anyone ever used a "paint stir" that is hand drill mounted to get very even stirring? We might want to coat it so that the wine (acids) do not interact with the metal. What do you think?
Thnaks for your input. I just received my shipping conformation on the next batch of juice (PLUS SKINS!), so I will report how that turns out. Has anyone ever used a "paint stir" that is hand drill mounted to get very even stirring? We might want to coat it so that the wine (acids) do not interact with the metal. What do you think?
Mongoose,
Those metal "paint mixers" I would stay away from. Any attempts to "paint coat" them would be fruitless and your'e looking for more problems down the road. You are betteroff using a long plastic spoon and mount it to a cordless variable speed drill for "slow stirring."
Those metal "paint mixers" I would stay away from. Any attempts to "paint coat" them would be fruitless and your'e looking for more problems down the road. You are betteroff using a long plastic spoon and mount it to a cordless variable speed drill for "slow stirring."
The first part of your question is easy...yes the amount of free SO2 will decrease slowly over time.
The second part (bottle vs carboy) is a great question and I need to research this and add any info I can find to the article I am working on for the May newsletter.
The amount of sulfite needed to protect your wine is related to the pH of the finished wine and how long you plan to age it. The amount of sulfite included in the kits are matched up with the type of wine in the kit and the typical aging period. The Crushendo kits for example have more sulfite included since these kit are design to be aged longer. A ballpark figure for a red wine with an average pH would be ~50 ppm of free SO2 to provide you protection for at least 2 years of aging.
More on this subject will also be included in the sulfite article coming out in the newsletter.
The second part (bottle vs carboy) is a great question and I need to research this and add any info I can find to the article I am working on for the May newsletter.
The amount of sulfite needed to protect your wine is related to the pH of the finished wine and how long you plan to age it. The amount of sulfite included in the kits are matched up with the type of wine in the kit and the typical aging period. The Crushendo kits for example have more sulfite included since these kit are design to be aged longer. A ballpark figure for a red wine with an average pH would be ~50 ppm of free SO2 to provide you protection for at least 2 years of aging.
More on this subject will also be included in the sulfite article coming out in the newsletter.
To All...
I have just started a new batch of red wine. Just to try to reduce the amount of Potassium Metabisulfite that is inadvertently introduced into the wine, I have taken the following precautions:
1) After sanitizing the fermenter, I allowed it to drain well.
2) All tools which are sanitized are rinsed well immediately before use.
3) The air lock bung on my carboy has the capacity to fill it with Potassium Metabisulfite during aging. In my first batch, I had filled the bung with sanitation grade Potassium Metabisulfite. I had not seated the airlock well and all of this liquid leaked into the wine. This time I will seat the lock well and use wine strength Potassium Metabisulfite to guard against microbial attack.
I have just started a new batch of red wine. Just to try to reduce the amount of Potassium Metabisulfite that is inadvertently introduced into the wine, I have taken the following precautions:
1) After sanitizing the fermenter, I allowed it to drain well.
2) All tools which are sanitized are rinsed well immediately before use.
3) The air lock bung on my carboy has the capacity to fill it with Potassium Metabisulfite during aging. In my first batch, I had filled the bung with sanitation grade Potassium Metabisulfite. I had not seated the airlock well and all of this liquid leaked into the wine. This time I will seat the lock well and use wine strength Potassium Metabisulfite to guard against microbial attack.
