Cellar Craft wine, barrel and sulfites.... oh my!!!!!

[markb1983]

Hello!

I just added my wine to a barrel about 2 weeks ago. I also added 5 camden tabs. I just got home from my army annual training so naturally I wanted to taste it. Its absolutely over s02. I can slightly taste the sulfur.

How long will it take to dissipate? Should I be worried?

Just some spec's on the wine and barrel

I have a 6 gallon hungarian oak from Vadai. The wine is a bulk aged Rossio fortossio by cellar craft.

 

[ibglowin]

So how old is the wine and exactly how much Sulfite has been added all together?

 

[markb1983]

It's about 1 year old. I added the Camden tabs just before I put in the barrel. It's been in the barrel for 2 weeks

 

[ibglowin]

The small barrel will "eat" SO2 in short order. If its a new barrel you may have to pull it out and rotate another wine in but you can always rotate this one in again down the road. You didn't mention this but you did add the supplied packet of Sulfite when you fined and stabilized a year ago right? 12 weeks in a 23L Vadai and you will go from 50ppm free SO2 down to about 2-3ppm free SO2.

 

[markb1983]

Yes I made this kit exactly as the instructions said. So, was that was the perfect amount of sulfite to add?

 

[ibglowin]

The only way to know what the "perfect" amount to add is to test for free SO2 with a A/O Rig or a Vinmetrica analyzer and then bring it up as needed based on the wines pH. Once you put a wine into a barrel your SO2 will drop rapidly especially with the small barrels. If you added 5 tablets, that is equal to ~ 2.2 grams of Sulfite or about 50% of what you added in the package at stabilization. If this wine is one year old and has been aging in a carboy the SO2 levels should have dropped a bit but without testing its impossible to know where you were. You could have been low, you could have been just fine if the wine had a low pH. You have to have a way to test for free SO2 if you have a barrel. The problem will correct itself with time in the barrel but once you pull it out and go back to carboy you will be in the dark about your SO2 levels without an accurate way to test them via one of the above methods.

 

[markb1983]

Do you recommend any particular instrument to test s02? I think using a barrel and properly testing for s02 is the responsible thing to do.

 

[ibglowin]

I personally use the $99 More Wine Aeration Oxidation Rig. It has a little bit of a learning curve but there are online videos on how to set it up and do the analysis. The only other option is the Vinmetrica SO2 Tester. Much more expensive but easier to use and quicker to set up and put away. Either one will give you good results.

 

[markb1983]

Wow not cheap at all lol! But it's not worth the gamble of bad wine!

 

[SouthernChemist]

Wow not cheap at all lol! But it's not worth the gamble of bad wine!

It's a good investment if you're going to use a barrel.