Once a year my company brings in wine grapes and buckets of juice for some locals. We usually do it around September. Last week we were moving some pallets around and we found 4 6 gallon buckets of Zinfandel juice. Apparently they have been lost in the shuffle for about 6 months. The tops were still on but they were bulging. I went ahead and popped the top of one and it smelled like wine. I took that one home, pitched some dry red wine yeast and transferred it to a fermenter. The airlock had a little action for a few days but it's died down to nothing now. Should I let that one sit for a few months before bottling? It still tastes slightly effervescent.
Today I took home another bucket since they weren't going to do anything else with them. This time I pitched some Malolactic bacteria. How long should I let that sit to do it's thing? SG on the first bucket was 1.000. The second one was .999. Any tips on making sure that both batches turn out OK? Anything I can expect? Thanks
Today I took home another bucket since they weren't going to do anything else with them. This time I pitched some Malolactic bacteria. How long should I let that sit to do it's thing? SG on the first bucket was 1.000. The second one was .999. Any tips on making sure that both batches turn out OK? Anything I can expect? Thanks