sulfur smell

[Bracketts]

My friend and I began making wine from kits during the last year. What fun! Several have been of the RJ Spagnols En Primeur series, specifically the Rosso Grande, Bella Bianco and Montepulciano.We also have some experience with the Vino del Vida kits. We have been using One Step to clean and sanitize, and we have had good results so far. We haven't been adding any sulfites to the wines other than the bisulphite that comes with the kits. My question is this: several of our wines, particularly a Cabernet, have a very sulfurous odor and taste when a bottle is first opened. We decant it, and this improves the taste, but is there something we should be doing to prevent this to begin with? How long can these wines safely age without added sulfites?

 

[Wade E]

The answer to this can vary dramatically to the questions we are going to ask you to further answer this question. What type and size cork are you using. What temps are you storing these bottles in, what humidity, and is this temp pretty consistent or does it vary 5 degrees from day to day. I will say that a bigger red kit will last longer then a smaller kit will and a kit using oaks will also help last longer.