On Nov 20, 7:07 am, michael > wrote:
> 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

Michael,
It's probably a combination of both. You use sulfur sprays so your
wine probably contains small quantities of sulfite anyway. If you
want to avoid it's use be very careful when racking to avoid splashing
of any kind; insert your racking drain all the way into the receiving
container and let it fill gently with no splashing. Try to limit
your racking to one or two before bottling. Some prefill containers
or bottles with CO2 to avoid oxygenation also.

I use sulfite in small amounts. 1/8 teaspoon of pot meta per 5 gallon
US is usually enough to protect a wine.

One thought might be to split your batches and sulfite one and not
sulfite the other to see how it fares; you would be able to see how it
affects your wife also without risking the whole batch.

Joe