"Darwin Vander Stelt" > wrote in message
...
> My 2004 reds had a lot of powdery mildew on them and after culling half, I
> made wine, hoping the levels would be low enough to tolerate. They were
> not,
> and after a year in the barrels (15 and 30 gals), there is a distinct
> mildew
> taste. I hate to throw this all away, and am wondering if there is a
> fining
> process which might remove some of this. Other than the mildewey
> aftertaste,
> the wine is pretty good.
> Some of the ideas I have considered are, heavy gelatin fining, followed by
> bentonite, then perhaps adding some concentrate (from a kit) and a little
> water to restore the lost flavor and also dilute the stuff a bit. I'm
> assuming the fermentation would restart. Or maybe I should just throw it
> away and forget 2004. Any thoughts?

I'm afraid your wine is past the point of retrieval. You might be able to
reduce it slightly by bentonite fining, but once you get that flavor in
there it's there to stay.

There's more bad news. Those barrels are probably history too. You _might_
be able to save them with percarbonate, but I wouldn't bet on it. Sorry.
:^(

Tom S