Odd wine kit - what should I do?

[Dazzathedrummer]

Hi,
I put on a Cellar7 Malbec on 21st November thinking I’d have a quick supply of red to keep me going.
It did nothing for over a week despite a constant 24C so I put 5g of Wilkos wine yeast in it and it started to ferment.

Presumably the Wilkos yeast isn’t as aggressive as the 7day yeast as I took a reading yesterday (after two weeks of fermenting) and we’re still only up to 9.7% - this doesn’t bother me too much as long we get to around 11%.

My main concern is that there’s quite a bitter after-taste. It tastes ok to begin with but there’s a nasty taste to the back of the mouth afterwards.
it’s been a few years since I last made wine so I can’t remember - is this normal and will go away after stabilisation or is it a sign that something’s not right?
If it’s gone wrong, can it be rescued, or for the sake of £20, should I start again?

 

[Dazzathedrummer]

Another test today and it’s still at 9.7% and now tastes even more like vinegar

…I think I’ll ditch and start again.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Maybe get some spices together and make mulled with with it. I believe the practice originated as a way to salvage bad wine, which I'm guessing is all that was left late in the cold season. Better than dumping it at any rate.

Also, sipping a mug of hot spiced wine outside on a cold day is a lot more fun than it sounds, and to my palate a bit of vinegar goes really well with the fruit and spices.