Howdy,

Just found this board, and I can believe I never thought [before] of
looking to newsgroups for information on winemaking.

Anyway, something is driving me nuts about my Zin (2003). I made Zin,
Cab, and Merlot, in 2003. I just finished bottling and I noticed something
that I thought I corrected.

During my last racking, I racked my Zin into 2 - 6.5 gallon carboys, and
3 - 1 gallon glass jugs. All had airlocks with rubber bungs securely in
place. For the last couple of months, I made a couple of trips down to the
pulling our the 1 gallon jugs to drink (couldn't wait till bottling), and I
discovered an off-taste. Tart - similar to over-oxidation.

Only 2 of the 3, 1 gallon jugs had this off taste .. so I convinced
myself that I must have had a slow air leak in these containers.

Well... I just bottled the 13 gallons of Zin and whamo.. there it is
again..

Funny thing about it is.. my family loves the wine.. I am the only one
who can really notice it. Still, I am pretty ****ed..

My question is. I am good about sterilization, oxidation and that sort
of thing.. Anyone else have a similar experience?

P.S. My Merlot and Cab is incredible with no after taste ..

Pete,
It's hard to say, how do your airlocks look? When you buy them they
usually have a little waste on them on the seams. I trim that off
where it goes into the bung. I had a few wines go off for no reason I
understood untill I began doing that, I get it smooth on all of them
and have no issues now.

Joe

"Pete" > wrote in message >.. .
> Howdy,
>
> Just found this board, and I can believe I never thought [before] of
> looking to newsgroups for information on winemaking.
>
> Anyway, something is driving me nuts about my Zin (2003). I made Zin,
> Cab, and Merlot, in 2003. I just finished bottling and I noticed something
> that I thought I corrected.
>
> During my last racking, I racked my Zin into 2 - 6.5 gallon carboys, and
> 3 - 1 gallon glass jugs. All had airlocks with rubber bungs securely in
> place. For the last couple of months, I made a couple of trips down to the
> pulling our the 1 gallon jugs to drink (couldn't wait till bottling), and I
> discovered an off-taste. Tart - similar to over-oxidation.
>
> Only 2 of the 3, 1 gallon jugs had this off taste .. so I convinced
> myself that I must have had a slow air leak in these containers.
>
> Well... I just bottled the 13 gallons of Zin and whamo.. there it is
> again..
>
> Funny thing about it is.. my family loves the wine.. I am the only one
> who can really notice it. Still, I am pretty ****ed..
>
> My question is. I am good about sterilization, oxidation and that sort
> of thing.. Anyone else have a similar experience?
>
> P.S. My Merlot and Cab is incredible with no after taste ..

Hi.....for what its worth,my Zin last year had an off taste that I
couldn't identify....almost sherry like.....I recently talked to my
produce supplier about this years winegrape order and was informed
that last years shipment of california grapes was very poor , also
confirmed by a local fellow winemaker I recently met....perhaps
sprayed with a preservative of some sort???.andy j.

"Andy j." > wrote in message
om...
> Hi.....for what its worth,my Zin last year had an off taste that I
> couldn't identify....almost sherry like.....

That's almost certainly due to too much oxygen exposure and insufficient
free SO2.

Tom S

Andy,
I don't know about that. I made California wines last year and they
are good. Western Pennsylvania grapes were awful, that I agree with.
They still made good wine, just took more effort (A lot more effort).

A sherry-like taste is usually a sign over-oxidation, either not
enough sulfite or too much headspace ( more likely). The preservative
they usually spray on grapes has sulfur in it and you don't spray them
near harvest; the problem that usually causes is a stink, like rotten
eggs (H2S).

Joe

(Andy j.) wrote in message . com>...
> Hi.....for what its worth,my Zin last year had an off taste that I
> couldn't identify....almost sherry like.....I recently talked to my
> produce supplier about this years winegrape order and was informed
> that last years shipment of california grapes was very poor , also
> confirmed by a local fellow winemaker I recently met....perhaps
> sprayed with a preservative of some sort???.andy j.

Hi......glad your grapes were good last year......ours were not
apparently.....this was a direct confession by the supplier/produce
wholesaler who supplies our region....he had plenty of complaints 4
months after delivery I guess........my sherry like observation may
have been inaccurate as the amount of sherry i've drank in my life
might fill a thimble.......the grapes(zin) were high
brix....26-27.....and I may have left too many stems in the must
.....prolly 20%....I sulphited as would normally but have no accurate
way of measuring ph.....I made 2 batches of "false wine" as well and
results were the same....drinkable but disappointing...hoping for
better luck with merlot in a few weeks.......ALSO.......how accurate
are litmus strips?.....andy j.

"Andy j." > wrote in message
om...
> ALSO.......how accurate
> are litmus strips?

Nowhere near good enough for winemaking. Even narrow range pH paper is
useless. You need a pH meter with resolution to 0.01 pH units.

Tom S

"Andy j." > wrote in message
om...
> ALSO.......how accurate
> are litmus strips?

Nowhere near good enough for winemaking. Even narrow range pH paper is
useless. You need a pH meter with resolution to 0.01 pH units.

Tom S

"Andy j." > wrote in message
om...
> ALSO.......how accurate
> are litmus strips?

Nowhere near good enough for winemaking. Even narrow range pH paper is
useless. You need a pH meter with resolution to 0.01 pH units.

Tom S

Hi......glad your grapes were good last year......ours were not
apparently.....this was a direct confession by the supplier/produce
wholesaler who supplies our region....he had plenty of complaints 4
months after delivery I guess........my sherry like observation may
have been inaccurate as the amount of sherry i've drank in my life
might fill a thimble.......the grapes(zin) were high
brix....26-27.....and I may have left too many stems in the must
.....prolly 20%....I sulphited as would normally but have no accurate
way of measuring ph.....I made 2 batches of "false wine" as well and
results were the same....drinkable but disappointing...hoping for
better luck with merlot in a few weeks.......ALSO.......how accurate
are litmus strips?.....andy j.

Andy,
I don't know about that. I made California wines last year and they
are good. Western Pennsylvania grapes were awful, that I agree with.
They still made good wine, just took more effort (A lot more effort).

A sherry-like taste is usually a sign over-oxidation, either not
enough sulfite or too much headspace ( more likely). The preservative
they usually spray on grapes has sulfur in it and you don't spray them
near harvest; the problem that usually causes is a stink, like rotten
eggs (H2S).

Joe

(Andy j.) wrote in message . com>...
> Hi.....for what its worth,my Zin last year had an off taste that I
> couldn't identify....almost sherry like.....I recently talked to my
> produce supplier about this years winegrape order and was informed
> that last years shipment of california grapes was very poor , also
> confirmed by a local fellow winemaker I recently met....perhaps
> sprayed with a preservative of some sort???.andy j.

Pete,
Are you sure it isn't C02? Take a bottle and drink half. Then shake
the bottle vigourously. If there is more than 1/2 inch of foam you
could still have dissolved C02 in it. I "think" that might be your
answer.

Bob


"Pete" > wrote in message >.. .
> Howdy,
>
> Just found this board, and I can believe I never thought [before] of
> looking to newsgroups for information on winemaking.
>
> Anyway, something is driving me nuts about my Zin (2003). I made Zin,
> Cab, and Merlot, in 2003. I just finished bottling and I noticed something
> that I thought I corrected.
>
> During my last racking, I racked my Zin into 2 - 6.5 gallon carboys, and
> 3 - 1 gallon glass jugs. All had airlocks with rubber bungs securely in
> place. For the last couple of months, I made a couple of trips down to the
> pulling our the 1 gallon jugs to drink (couldn't wait till bottling), and I
> discovered an off-taste. Tart - similar to over-oxidation.
>
> Only 2 of the 3, 1 gallon jugs had this off taste .. so I convinced
> myself that I must have had a slow air leak in these containers.
>
> Well... I just bottled the 13 gallons of Zin and whamo.. there it is
> again..
>
> Funny thing about it is.. my family loves the wine.. I am the only one
> who can really notice it. Still, I am pretty ****ed..
>
> My question is. I am good about sterilization, oxidation and that sort
> of thing.. Anyone else have a similar experience?
>
> P.S. My Merlot and Cab is incredible with no after taste ..

Pete,
Are you sure it isn't C02? Take a bottle and drink half. Then shake
the bottle vigourously. If there is more than 1/2 inch of foam you
could still have dissolved C02 in it. I "think" that might be your
answer.

Bob


"Pete" > wrote in message >.. .
> Howdy,
>
> Just found this board, and I can believe I never thought [before] of
> looking to newsgroups for information on winemaking.
>
> Anyway, something is driving me nuts about my Zin (2003). I made Zin,
> Cab, and Merlot, in 2003. I just finished bottling and I noticed something
> that I thought I corrected.
>
> During my last racking, I racked my Zin into 2 - 6.5 gallon carboys, and
> 3 - 1 gallon glass jugs. All had airlocks with rubber bungs securely in
> place. For the last couple of months, I made a couple of trips down to the
> pulling our the 1 gallon jugs to drink (couldn't wait till bottling), and I
> discovered an off-taste. Tart - similar to over-oxidation.
>
> Only 2 of the 3, 1 gallon jugs had this off taste .. so I convinced
> myself that I must have had a slow air leak in these containers.
>
> Well... I just bottled the 13 gallons of Zin and whamo.. there it is
> again..
>
> Funny thing about it is.. my family loves the wine.. I am the only one
> who can really notice it. Still, I am pretty ****ed..
>
> My question is. I am good about sterilization, oxidation and that sort
> of thing.. Anyone else have a similar experience?
>
> P.S. My Merlot and Cab is incredible with no after taste ..