What to do with bad wine?

[BIGJEFF]

Last year I coudn't make wine so I asked a friend to make a kit for me (argentia ridge Shiraz from costco) for me and....IT TASTE REALLY BAD !!

It's been aging for many months already and it taste like tinted alchool with hints of Shiraz!( I think he left it to long at secondary fermentation)

So now i'm wondering what to do with it? I hesitate about using for vinegar since it's virtualy tasteless but I don't relly want to poor it down the drain either...

I taught about freeze-distill some of it and I'll keep some for cooking wine, any other ideas?

Could I turn it into port or something like that?

 

[woodsxdragon]

what about running it in a carbon filter? maybe get some of the bad taste/smell out?

 

[BIGJEFF]

what about running it in a carbon filter? maybe get some of the bad taste/smell out?

It doesn't taste like it's contaminated...it smells like wine, looks like wine but tastes like red water with alcool in it!

 

[BobF]

Botlle it and give it to people that ask for your wine. This will discourage them from asking again in the future, reserving more GOOD wine for own consumption!!
::

 

[BIGJEFF]

Botlle it and give it to people that ask for your wine. This will discourage them from asking again in the future, reserving more GOOD wine for own consumption!!
::

I love it!!
I has been bottle for about 4 months now...

 

[jet]

Good question, I wish I had a good answer. Barring a cellar miracle, I'll have 30 bottles to deal with next year.

 

[woodsxdragon]

you could always "irish" it up and make a fortified wine or something...

 

[NSwiner]

Does it taste so bad you couldn't use it to top up other wines ? I think from what I've heard those Costco kits are poor tasting anyways .

 

[Dugger]

My suggestion would be to put them away for another year and try them again. I had made some of these kits years ago and they were less than great, although we drank them anyway! I misplaced a couple of bottles, found them again when they were 2 years old and they were surprisingly not bad - I think it was a Merlot kit.
So I would put at least some away and use some for topping up as Darlene said.

 

[wines just fine]

I agree the kits you get from Costco (PakLab) taste much better if you give them a year.

 

[JohnT]

Big Jeff,

Are you saying that there are no "off" flavors or aromas in this wine? This wine is not oxidized and is not suffering from the effects of any sulfur compounds?

If this being the case, and the wine simply tastes flat, then blending with another, more hearty, wine is worth a shot.

If this is not the case, and the wine is truly "off", then I would look into what happened. If the wine has a sulfur problem, then a copper treatment could correct it. If it is oxidized, then there is not much that can help you.

I am sure that you will find that blending and filtering will not solve your problem. Blending will only produce more bad wine and filtering will not remove any of the off flavors I speak of.

 

[robie]

I agree with Dugger, a couple of years won't cost much, other than the bottles being tied up. You might be pleasantly surprised... or not.

 

[JohnT]

I agree with Dugger, a couple of years won't cost much, other than the bottles being tied up. You might be pleasantly surprised... or not.

I guess it couldn't hurt, but I have my doubts. Flavors usually soften with age.

 

[jet]

I marked it on my calendar to open the first bottle one year after bottling.

 

[Rock]

Lifes to short to drink bad wine dump it in the back yard.

 

[Wade E]

Thats why I dont waste my time or money on cheap kits! You get what you pay for .

 

[BIGJEFF]

Thats why I dont waste my time or money on cheap kits! You get what you pay for .

I made that kit many times before, I like having as a "later in the evening" wine...you know...when we reach the point where people don't even taste the wine anymore

Everytime I made it, altaugh it's not a grand cru, it's usualy a pretty descent wine....that batch is just bad...I asked him about it and he said that he left it about 2 months in secondary fermentation could that be the cause?