Dear winemakers,
I need some advice on how to mature and
store wine in a
reasonably organic way.I have been growing enough grapes in the last
couple
of years to make about 5 gallons of wine each year.I live in
Herefordshire in
the U.K.,and have a south facing limestone site which seems to ripen
the
grapes by about mid October.The only spray I use is wettable sulphur
every
two weeks or so throughout the growing period.I pick the
grapes,discarding
any rotten ones,and wash them carefully.I then proceed to crush and
press
the white grapes immediately and leave the reds to ferment on the
skins for
four or five days before pressing them.Fermentation usually begins
within a
day or so,and I keep the juices under an airlock.The fermentation
usually
lasts about four to five weeks,and I then rack the wine off the lees
on a cold
day.At this stage the wine tastes very promising-very fruity and not
too sharp.
Indeed,it is very drinkable!

My problem comes when I leave the wine(in 1
gallon
demijohns)to mature for several months,and particularly with the
whites.The
wines seem to become much duller and lose their fruity taste and
aroma.
I keep the airlocks in the demijohns in this period in case of a
period of warmer
weather which could start off the fermentation again.
For example,a gallon of Schonberger (a full
flavoured white)
harvested in October 2006 fermented out by end of November 2006,tasted
extremely good until about May 2007.From then on the colour has
slightly
darkened,and the quality has gone to such an extent that the wine is
now
only just drinkable.
At all stages,I do not use metabisulphite
and am wondering
whether this is the problem.My wife seems sensitive to sulphites in
commercial
wine,so I am trying not to use them-hence the careful washing of the
grapes.
I have now read that organic winemakers are allowed to use a small
amount
of sulphite,but I do not know when it is added or how much.

Could someone please identify whether my
problem appears
to be lack of sulphites,and whether perhaps the dissolved oxygen in
the juice
at different handling stages is enough to cause the wine to
deteriorate,even
though the wine in an airlocked demijohn is basically closed to air.

Thanks,Michael