Grape wine tastes really floral...

So I made a wine with concord grape jam and concord grape juice and it's in the secondary now with a gravity reading of 1.01 it tastes really good but is quite flowery. Not what I expected but quite good is this normal? I'm really only used to home made country wines and sweet reds from a local winery so im no expert. Just thought I'd ask.

What yeast did you use? What temp did you ferment at? What was OG and start date? Does it smell like geraniums by chance?

saramc said:

What yeast did you use? What temp did you ferment at? What was OG and start date? Does it smell like geraniums by chance?

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I used red star champagne yeast and it stayed at about 70 degrees it's very high alcohol which is what I was going for with that yeast. Idk what geraniums smell like. What's the significance?

Didn't take a gravity reading when I started cuz I had broke my hydrometer but I'd say it was pretty high it's been going for four weeks one in primary and three in secondary

I think it has something to do with the yeast maybe cuz all three things I have going with it smell the same

The sg has stayed the same for a few days but I still have air lock bubbles is this because my wine is degassing itself? It tastes better today too!

winenewb172 said:

The sg has stayed the same for a few days but I still have air lock bubbles is this because my wine is degassing itself? It tastes better today too!

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If your gravity is above 1.000 then you are more than likely still fermenting, though since we do not know a starting gravity it is truly hard to say. It honestly can sometimes take a few weeks for those last points to drop. Your yeast has a tolerance of 13-15%, so my gut says still fermenting especially since you are just beyond four weeks (though it is a shot in the dark since we do not know OG).

If it were mine, I would rack in another week if necessary, otherwise rack in about a month and then every 1-2 months as long as dropping sediment. Just about every jam wine I made was racked monthly & clear/degassed & being consumed as early as 90days, but it gets really good with age. My 2011 boysenberry is my favorite along with black raspberry.

Anyway, if it is still percolating it will just do its thing. Remember to dose with SO2 at least quarterly & specifically before you initiate degassing (if you do that vs allow nature to do it).

How much does temp affect the hydrometer reading cuz my hydrometer says 65 degrees on it and mine wine is a bit warmer? Can I just cool my sample down a bit?

winenewb172 said:

How much does temp affect the hydrometer reading cuz my hydrometer says 65 degrees on it and mine wine is a bit warmer? Can I just cool my sample down a bit?

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Many hydrometers have a set temperature standard of 59F or 60F, your hydrometer should say it, usually on the inset scale or package insert.

This provides an easy overview along with a precalculated table, I believe it is based on a 59F calibration point, http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixA.html


And Dreaded Dave's allows you to plug in original gravity data plus the temperature of the must and it adjusts per 60F calibration to calculate potential ACV. Then when ferment is complete, you plug in the final gravity plus temp at that time and it gives you actual ACV, etc. You can also establish actual ACV by plugging in different data combos like if your FG is 1.000 @68F, or 0.998 @67F--so you can get a better idea of where your actual ACV will be if it finishes at a certain SG vs another. It makes a big difference on your ACV if you fail to calibrate. http://dd26943.com/davesdreaded/tools/convert.htm

saramc said:

Many hydrometers have a set temperature standard of 59F or 60F, your hydrometer should say it, usually on the inset scale or package insert.

This provides an easy overview along with a precalculated table, I believe it is based on a 59F calibration point, http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixA.html

And Dreaded Dave's allows you to plug in original gravity data plus the temperature of the must and it adjusts per 60F calibration to calculate potential ACV. Then when ferment is complete, you plug in the final gravity plus temp at that time and it gives you actual ACV, etc. You can also establish actual ACV by plugging in different data combos like if your FG is 1.000 @68F, or 0.998 @67F--so you can get a better idea of where your actual ACV will be if it finishes at a certain SG vs another. It makes a big difference on your ACV if you fail to calibrate. http://dd26943.com/davesdreaded/tools/convert.htm

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Thanks so much you've been very helpful!

Just an update I went ahead and racked/degassed and put it on some medium toast oak and omg does it taste good! I made another batch exactly the same and the OG was 1.12 so maybe that's why it only got to 1.00 either way it's really good still a bit of bite but I know age will help alot