Ohio Bob
Senior Member
Agreed. Now that my process is settled on routinely adding that much, my shopping list has a jug at the top of the list.
BTW, I do about 20-30 gallons of wine a year and 3 gallons of port, which I add 8-12 oz per 3 gallons.
Taming Tannins
- Thread starter mainshipfred
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BTW, I do about 20-30 gallons of wine a year and 3 gallons of port, which I add 8-12 oz per 3 gallons.
If stored well, glycerin has a 2 year shelf life (according to some vendors). I buy a gallon when getting ready to bottle and the previous gallon won't cover it. Generally I use most of it up at 2 bottlings (roughly 1 year apart) and the remainder during the following year. So far I've had no problems.
I really must try egg white fining.
I have a few bottles of Cab Sauv that still have the seed tannin bitterness on the end of the palate and I wonder if egg whites are the secret. I can sacrifice a bottle to the cause. The bitterness is greatly diminished from when the wine was young, but I can mildly detect it. I thnk that is what is holding me back from the "commercial quality" wine level. Also, I serve wine to people who have little experience beyond two-buck chuck and have a hard time understanding that homemade wine is sometimes a "taste adventure"
I have a few bottles of Cab Sauv that still have the seed tannin bitterness on the end of the palate and I wonder if egg whites are the secret. I can sacrifice a bottle to the cause. The bitterness is greatly diminished from when the wine was young, but I can mildly detect it. I thnk that is what is holding me back from the "commercial quality" wine level. Also, I serve wine to people who have little experience beyond two-buck chuck and have a hard time understanding that homemade wine is sometimes a "taste adventure"
Since making the original post I've been researching other production methods and came upon carbonic maceration as an alternate. I also seem to remember a commercial winemaker telling me about it. This year I'm going to split a batch of Tannat and PV to do one carbonic and one conventional. The fining products I ordered just arrived so there is going to be some experimentation this weekend.
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IME all wine tasting is an adventure.
Wine varies so much it's not a surprise that many folks are afraid to get into drinking it, or go with a label they like and choose to drink nothing else.
I'm very adventurous and am happy to try new things. Yet I use ratings, online services, wine distributors, and the like for help. I let others take the risk.
Beginners rarely understand that we will make less than stellar wines on occasion. Threads like this one help us make those unhappy occasions rare.
Gelatin reduces tannins very well with little affect on flavor. Of course time is the best way to mellow tannin.
