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- Sep 2, 2020
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Hey everybody. First time making wine here.
TL;DR: Do gross lees always provide a concerning smell when first racking?
I'm making from fresh Zinfandel grapes that I picked. Learned a lot already (like when it's too late to pick Zinfandel grapes).
I just pressed the must and racked off the gross lees. I read in at least one place to just let the wine sit for 24-48 hours after pressing to let the main stuff fall to the bottom. My wine is definitely still actively undergoing alcoholic fermentation and so far most indications are pretty good. I took a couple small samples while racking to take some measurements and couldn't resist taking a sip.
It smells awful. Like pretty gut wrenching. I don't know how to describe it. At first it smells pretty yeasty, but in a really bad way (I've grown to really like the smell of yeast after all the sourdough starter and beer batches). When I smelled the carboy I'd just wracked off, the smell was even stronger.
But it tastes like a pretty decent table wine. Like a cheap $4 bottle of table wine, but drinkable nonetheless ... if it didn't smell so awful.
Should I be worried about this off smell? I'm concerned that I might age the thing and this will just be an early indication of what's to come. Should I be worried about off flavors too? Or do the gross lees just always smell this strongly?
TL;DR: Do gross lees always provide a concerning smell when first racking?
I'm making from fresh Zinfandel grapes that I picked. Learned a lot already (like when it's too late to pick Zinfandel grapes).
I just pressed the must and racked off the gross lees. I read in at least one place to just let the wine sit for 24-48 hours after pressing to let the main stuff fall to the bottom. My wine is definitely still actively undergoing alcoholic fermentation and so far most indications are pretty good. I took a couple small samples while racking to take some measurements and couldn't resist taking a sip.
It smells awful. Like pretty gut wrenching. I don't know how to describe it. At first it smells pretty yeasty, but in a really bad way (I've grown to really like the smell of yeast after all the sourdough starter and beer batches). When I smelled the carboy I'd just wracked off, the smell was even stronger.
But it tastes like a pretty decent table wine. Like a cheap $4 bottle of table wine, but drinkable nonetheless ... if it didn't smell so awful.
Should I be worried about this off smell? I'm concerned that I might age the thing and this will just be an early indication of what's to come. Should I be worried about off flavors too? Or do the gross lees just always smell this strongly?
