Solstice,Yooper or both?

[KENfromMI]

Hey, is there a lay down period after you add the sulfites etc before you drink the wine. My juice aged for 1yr and I added the chemicals and it tasted great before but not now. I bulk aged in carboy, (screwed up a bit if you read my sulphite post) racked into carboy, degassed with a drill attached whip and it just doesnt taste right, kinda harsh and more alcohol flavor, no sulfur smell etc though. Do you wait before drinking after adding the chemicals? Thanks in advance, Ken

 

[Yooper]

Hey, is there a lay down period after you add the sulfites etc before you drink the wine. My juice aged for 1yr and I added the chemicals and it tasted great before but not now. I bulk aged in carboy, (screwed up a bit if you read my sulphite post) racked into carboy, degassed with a drill attached whip and it just doesnt taste right, kinda harsh and more alcohol flavor, no sulfur smell etc though. Do you wait before drinking after adding the chemicals? Thanks in advance, Ken

Generally, I do wait a bit before drinking my wines. Not because of the sulfite, but because wine seems to go through "bottle shock" from the handling. I will see if I can find a link about bottle shock. One thing that Jack Keller says on his website:
Sulfur Taste or Smell: This may occur after treatment with Campden tablets or potassium or sodium metabisulfite. It will disappear with age, but if present upon opening a bottle-aged wine, decant several hours before drinking. To prevent the preservation of sulfur taste or smell, never bottle immediately after stabilizing a wine.

But since you don't get a sulfur smell, I don't think it's the sulfite. How long ago did you bottle? Is it possible you're getting some taste of oxidation? I had some oxidized wine once, and it tasted bland and alcoholic. If it's newly bottled, then I think time will help. If it's still in the carboy, I'd lean towards possible oxidation or to just needed some time.

 

[KENfromMI]

Thanks for the quick reply once again, actually it had a off smell but a hard one to explain. I just bottled it yesterday into 1 gallon jugs to further age, my plan is to then rack into 750ml bottles as needed. I just chose this route for the first time because my buddies are bugging me to bring a few gallons to deer camp and I dont have my bottles sanitized. It was a mild chemical smell almost of a faint band aid smell. I cracked the lid one one jug this morning(about 12hrs after bottling) and it is almost non existant and the fruit/ wine smell is better so I think like you said it is just the shock of racking and adding the chemicals and hopefully it will dissapear. If not I'll break it out after we are primed on my homebrew at camp and noone will care LOL, Ken

 

[summersolstice]

Hi Ken,

I agree with Yooper that, since it isn't a sulfite smell then it probably isn't sulfites and it's likely an age issue. I'm a firm believer in age prior to drinking but I well remember when I was first getting started and just building my inventory that I didn't always wait long enough. I was invariably disappointed in the results.

Bottle shock is certainly real and does cause adverse flavors and smells. Give it a month or so, minimum, after bottling and you'll find you have a better wine. For a young wine, you might also try vigorously shaking the bottle and then decanting (pouring into another container) for an hour or so prior to drinking. This does improve the taste.

In almost every case, it takes a minimum of one year before most wines begin to shine. Even the lower end kits (I'm not talking about mist-style kits) such as the 8L, 10L, and 12L kits need a year before they begin to be really good, despite the kit manufacturer's contention that they'll be ready in "6 weeks", or even 6 months.