Kit Wine: How long is too long on the lees?

[DonnieZ]

So I'm still in the middle of making my first kit wine - WineExpert Chianti.

Due to life, you know that thing that happens when you're busy making other plans... My kit wine has kind of sat by the wayside for about a month and a half.

You may remember I posted a while back about degassing issues and never quite getting it to degass correctly. Well, I haven't gotten back to it again to check it and now it's been sitting on the lees for maybe a month and a half. Is this going to be problematic flavor wise?

I'll probably have some time this weekend to try and degass again, but if too much autolysis has occured, I may just have to lose faith in this batch and try again later. I still have to put the final fining in and let it settle out again.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
- DZ

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

If you are concerned, why not just rack it off the lees and let it sit longer? Racking will drive some of the gas out too. If the wine tastes fine, then the wine is fine.

 

[TexasWine]

Re-read your previous post. Sounds like you're at the third step in your kit, meaning you've already racked it twice and you're no longer sitting in the primary on the lees that dropped during the most active fermentation. I'd say theirs little to no chance you've experienced autolysis.

Did you ever pull 20+ inches Hg vacuum on the carboy? What about warming it up as another reader suggested? If not, give it a try.

Another question. Have you stabilized with the metabisulfite and sorbate? If so, you could always just let time do the degassing for you. The rule of thumb I've seen is to rack every 60 days or when there's 1/4 inch lees in the bottom.

Best thing to do is suggested above. Taste it. Then decide what to do.

EDIT: Just read your post more closely and realized you said you hadn't had time to get back to the degassing effort. Sorry for being a broken record and talking about degassing again!

 

[DonnieZ]

Was not able to pull 20 inches no matter how hard I tried. Got to about 17 and that was it. No matter how hard I tried that was about the limit. Wine was completely still, unlike what I've seen in videos.

For whatever reason, the directions on this kit explicitly stated that sediment had to be stirred back in for finings to work properly, contrary to what other kit directions state.

I'm gonna give it another go at degassing today and see what happens.

 

[TheKeggingPart]

Don't lose hope! I'm a huge fan of these wine kits and haven't produced a bad one yet! A little extra aging in the vessel doesn't hurt a bit. Just think - whatever lees settle in the carboy are lees that won't settle in your bottle. Better out than in! I'd go so far as to say that forgetting about the wine for a few months only helps improve it. Wine ages more slowly in bulk so I wouldn't worry about that.

Regarding lees and finings, there needs to be something in solution for the fining agent (usually isinglass or kierosol/chitosan) to grab on to, otherwise it'll just float to the bottom and miss some of the smaller things. The metabisulphate and the sorbate aren't really finings although they do help stabilize the wine. Dead yeast don't swim particularly well, which helps to clear the wine.

Degassing is always a pain and is my least-favorite part of the process. Get yourself a mix-stir style agitator and attach to an electric drill. Whir, whir, reverse direction, repeat. I like to let it sit for a week after that to make sure that everything has has a chance to come out of solution, either gas going up or sediment falling to the bottom.

 

[DonnieZ]

Well, there's a sucker born every minute and apparently I was that sucker.

The "Wine Whip" thing I bought at the LHBS is pretty much useless. Ran that for about 20 minutes back and forth and the wine didn't seem all that much different. I think the core of it's issue is that it's not long enough to be effective in a standard 6G carboy. I ended up cutting an old wire coat hanger into a shape that I could easily get down the neck but would cause much more agitation action. I santized it, ran that back and forth for about 5 minutes and the wine appears to be mostly, if not wholly degassed. It's as good as it's going to get, we'll put it that way. If I do this again, I think that's what I'm going to try from the start.

Added the finings and we'll see. I tasted a hydrometer sample before I put the fining agent in (Last pack of liquid fining) and it already after a month or so seems to have mellowed out a lot from the time the initial fermentation was done. At that time, it had a sharp alcohol nose and burn, it's still present but much more "relaxed". (I'm no wine expert. As long as it tastes somewhat dry and it's a red, it's probably something I'd drink.)

Off to the liquor store to get some similar wine to top up with. Hopefully this turns out at least drinkable. Thanks for the advice everyone!

 

[Flame-Tamer]

I have a Pinot Kit that has been in a secondary for over a year. Just bottled it. AMAZING!!!!!!!