I bought a 23 litre bucket of Red ZINFANDEL juice and fermented it to
dryness.. It is still very harsh after bulk aging for six months.
Does this wine require Malochic (sp) fermentation? If so, how do I go
about it?

I ususally make country wines and have little experience with grape
wines except kits and Welch's.. I would like to get this wine bottled
but do not want a harsh wine.

Thanks,
A. J. Rawls
Anchorage, Alaska, USA

"A.J. Rawls" > wrote in message
...
> I bought a 23 litre bucket of Red ZINFANDEL juice and fermented it to
> dryness.. It is still very harsh after bulk aging for six months.
> Does this wine require Malochic (sp) fermentation? If so, how do I go
> about it?
>
> I ususally make country wines and have little experience with grape
> wines except kits and Welch's.. I would like to get this wine bottled
> but do not want a harsh wine.

You can inoculate for ML (malolactic) but unless high acidity (tartness) is
your problem that won't help much.

I'd guess that the wine is rather tannic rather than too acidic. You could
tame that with some gelatin fining, which would "sand off" the rough edges.
Somewhere between ½ and 1 lb gelatin/1000 gallons of wine should be about
right, but I'd suggest that you try it on a small quantity (a bottle) and
see how you like the effect before committing the entire batch. Be sure to
thoroughly dissolve the gelatin in warm water before adding it _slowly_ to
the wine, while stirring vigorously.

Tom S

On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 05:36:25 GMT, "Tom S" >
wrote:

>
>"A.J. Rawls" > wrote in message
.. .
>> I bought a 23 litre bucket of Red ZINFANDEL juice and fermented it to
>> dryness.. It is still very harsh after bulk aging for six months.
>> Does this wine require Malochic (sp) fermentation? If so, how do I go
>> about it?
>>
>> I ususally make country wines and have little experience with grape
>> wines except kits and Welch's.. I would like to get this wine bottled
>> but do not want a harsh wine.
>
>You can inoculate for ML (malolactic) but unless high acidity (tartness) is
>your problem that won't help much.
>
>I'd guess that the wine is rather tannic rather than too acidic. You could
>tame that with some gelatin fining, which would "sand off" the rough edges.
>Somewhere between ½ and 1 lb gelatin/1000 gallons of wine should be about
>right, but I'd suggest that you try it on a small quantity (a bottle) and
>see how you like the effect before committing the entire batch. Be sure to
>thoroughly dissolve the gelatin in warm water before adding it _slowly_ to
>the wine, while stirring vigorously.
>
>Tom S
>


If it is tannin I suppose I should let it age and mellow on it's own.
Maybe I will just bottle it and try it again next year.

Thanks,
A.J.

>
> I'd guess that the wine is rather tannic rather than too acidic.
>
> Tom S

My guess would be the same as Tom'S in that tannins are causing the
harshness, but higher acidity can accentuate the harshness.

Fining with Gelatin would only be my choice if the tannins were of
poor quality (bitter). Age will soften the wine. ML will obviously
lessen the acid.

If the wine is to be aged for any extended period of time, MLF is a
good idea, less it occur in the bottle.

clyde

A.J. Rawls wrote:

> I bought a 23 litre bucket of Red ZINFANDEL juice and fermented it to
> dryness.. It is still very harsh after bulk aging for six months.
> Does this wine require Malochic (sp) fermentation? If so, how do I go
> about it?

Six months seems a little early to look at drinking a red... perhaps
give it some more time?

--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields

I agree with Charles H. For a rich red, 6 mo's is too early to judge it. I
always bulk age my reds 18-24 mo's before deciding how they are going to
come out. MLF may help (may not) but by this time you have probably already
sulfited it and that will make MLF difficult. Give it more time in bulk
aging. Kits are designed to be drinkable by this time. Fresh grapes are
not.

Ray

"Charles H" > wrote in message
...
> A.J. Rawls wrote:
>
> > I bought a 23 litre bucket of Red ZINFANDEL juice and fermented it to
> > dryness.. It is still very harsh after bulk aging for six months.
> > Does this wine require Malochic (sp) fermentation? If so, how do I go
> > about it?
>
> Six months seems a little early to look at drinking a red... perhaps
> give it some more time?
>
> --
> charles
>
> "Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
> forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
> - W.C. Fields

Ray wrote:

> I agree with Charles H. For a rich red, 6 mo's is too early to judge it. I
> always bulk age my reds 18-24 mo's before deciding how they are going to
> come out. MLF may help (may not) but by this time you have probably already
> sulfited it and that will make MLF difficult. Give it more time in bulk
> aging. Kits are designed to be drinkable by this time. Fresh grapes are
> not.
>
> Ray

I think A.J. stated he used juice... and I've read that Zin tends to
mature sooner thna Cab blends, but I think a combination of time, and
gelatin if it is tannins causing the harshness will prove to be a good
course of action.

--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields