Recent content by hmillard

Ok, speaking as a professional winemaker, SO2 is not used to sanitise must worldwide. Without skins, sure. Of course then it's juice, not must. It is used in must but not to sanitise, it is to prevent oxidation of anthocyanins to brown quinones. On the note of fermentation, some yeast will be...

I think I'll be fine. Might be out of work if not. Thought there might be some demand for this kind of thread but evidently not.

Just to be clear, somewhere to post if you want a detailed answer. Not specifically from me. Lots of knowledgable people here.

Just thought it might be interesting and maybe helpful to put up a thread for anyone with specific technical questions. I've noticed a lot of partially answered questions ar questions answered in ways that are somewhat inaccurate. Most of the time simple is fine but if anyone wants a little more...

Sounds like you're on track then. Good luck.

:confused: Maybe not ideal. Not only will this not sanitise as the sulphur will bind in the skins but would need a low pH to work regardless. Furthermore you might need to do secondary later and you just made primary harder and secondary near impossible.

Sulphur, sweeten and carbonate would be my suggestion. You can do that after bottle ageing too. While I realise we're talkin peach wine here it is how Champagne is made. Bottle age, sweetening and a dose of sugar to carbonate.

Not really. I would just advise that you ensure the final settling is post racking. Reds throw more lees than whites.

CO2 dozen't degas through the wood, the rough surface of the barrel acts to aid nucleation of bubbles. They degas instantly during filling, not slowly. As to O2 coming in, it does. Oxidised wine is really bad but slow oxidation, known as micro oxidation, is highly beneficial and increases colour...

Since you're making a red it's really your call. As to O2 ingress, the agitation from plunging will be plenty. You will definitely need to get some in as red ferments tend to get rather stinky otherwise and it's easier to get oxygen in now than to have to clean up with CuSO4 later. You have to...

Bin them.even if they were still good, cork in a haven for all sorts of nasty microbes.

Two concerns I have here. The first is this, did you ensure the cherry pits were removed before adding to primary? Lignified tissue like drupe pits can result in methanol production during ferment. Second, in terms of ageing you might end up with an aged product that is worse than the original...

Well when wine ages initially in bulk (traditionally in barrel) a number of things happen. Firstly there is a slow oxidative process which causes colour to stabilise and astringency to be reduced as phenolics oxidise. This will also have a binding effect on any sulphites. These bits also happen...