he didn't rack it!

[maenad]

My friend in another town bought his first wine kit and, following my instructions & the instructions on the box, made the wine. (White chardonnay.) He tasted it when he added the finings and confirmed that so far it tasted like "really cheap crap wine." We agreed to leave it to age for a couple of months before bottling, when I promised to bring the equipment and help him.

It's been four months now, and I've just discovered that he never bothered to rack it.

When I visit him tomorrow, HOPEFULLY it'll taste good and we can just bottle it. However, what kinds of problems can I anticipate? And are there any solutions?

He won't be home until I get there, so I can't ask him to check it.

 

[madscientist451]

It will be ok, you can rack it now and let it bulk age, or bottle it. I usually bottle my white wines after 1 year, but have started drinking them in as little as 6 months.

 

[Maylar]

There's a chance of off-flavors from sitting on the gross lees for so long, but rack it, sniff and taste it to find out.

 

[bernardsmith]

The one possible problem I can imagine is that if there was a great deal of headroom in the primary there may now be a great deal of oxygen and that oxygen over a period of four months may have reduced the shelf life of the wine through oxidation. Color may have become tinged with brown and flavors may taste "not right".