Where did I go wrong? (Fairly long)
 

Hello,

I am very new to this and so far despite having about 14 gallons on the go
in one gallon demijohns I only have one gallon bottled (which furnished me
with four bottles).

I had a look at my bottled white wine a while ago and noticed it had stuff
suspended in it. Sorry to give the comparison but it looked like somebody
had had a hearty sneeze into the bottles. I left it for a while to see if
it would settle out but it stubbornly stayed where it was.

The other day I got hold of a wine filter so thought I would try this on the
bottles. I sterlised a new bottle using VWP and started filtering. Anyway,
the filtering worked well for about a bottle and a half before getting
clogged up and then I knocked the damn thing over and spilled it. I was
left with the bottle and a half so I corked the full bottle and tasted the
half. The wine smelled quite bad and didn't taste to great either, although
it was much improved over the unfiltered wine.

The bottle I have left I put to one side upright for a fewdays. It was
crystal clear and I was quite hopeful. About 12 hours ago I laid it on its
side to get the wine in contact with the cork. This morning I look at it
and the deposit has started to return.

Now, I did notice something brown oozing from the cork a bit when I put it
in the bottle but assumed this was probably normal (not sure, I am new to
this!) Also, it was a cheap kit so this probably didn't help (CWE White
Wine). I know I probably get what I paid for but this must be wrong.

Can anybody help? I don't want my other 13 gallons to end up down the sink
too!

R-D-C wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I am very new to this and so far despite having about 14 gallons on the go
> in one gallon demijohns I only have one gallon bottled (which furnished me
> with four bottles).
>
> I had a look at my bottled white wine a while ago and noticed it had stuff
> suspended in it. Sorry to give the comparison but it looked like somebody
> had had a hearty sneeze into the bottles. I left it for a while to see if
> it would settle out but it stubbornly stayed where it was.
>
> The other day I got hold of a wine filter so thought I would try this on the
> bottles. I sterlised a new bottle using VWP and started filtering. Anyway,
> the filtering worked well for about a bottle and a half before getting
> clogged up and then I knocked the damn thing over and spilled it. I was
> left with the bottle and a half so I corked the full bottle and tasted the
> half. The wine smelled quite bad and didn't taste to great either, although
> it was much improved over the unfiltered wine.
>
> The bottle I have left I put to one side upright for a fewdays. It was
> crystal clear and I was quite hopeful. About 12 hours ago I laid it on its
> side to get the wine in contact with the cork. This morning I look at it
> and the deposit has started to return.
>
> Now, I did notice something brown oozing from the cork a bit when I put it
> in the bottle but assumed this was probably normal (not sure, I am new to
> this!) Also, it was a cheap kit so this probably didn't help (CWE White
> Wine). I know I probably get what I paid for but this must be wrong.
>
> Can anybody help? I don't want my other 13 gallons to end up down the sink
> too!
>
>
Hi R-D-C

How soon after fermentation did you bottle?

Regards

Frank

R-D-C wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I am very new to this and so far despite having about 14 gallons on the go
> in one gallon demijohns I only have one gallon bottled (which furnished me
> with four bottles).
>
> I had a look at my bottled white wine a while ago and noticed it had stuff
> suspended in it. Sorry to give the comparison but it looked like somebody
> had had a hearty sneeze into the bottles. I left it for a while to see if
> it would settle out but it stubbornly stayed where it was.

The stuff suspended in the bottle is a bacterial infection. You can often
resolve it in the carboys by adding sulfite, but if the smell is as bad as
you describe it might be too late. Did you use any sulfite while processing?


>
> The other day I got hold of a wine filter so thought I would try this on the
> bottles. I sterlised a new bottle using VWP and started filtering. Anyway,
> the filtering worked well for about a bottle and a half before getting
> clogged up and then I knocked the damn thing over and spilled it. I was
> left with the bottle and a half so I corked the full bottle and tasted the
> half. The wine smelled quite bad and didn't taste to great either, although
> it was much improved over the unfiltered wine.
>
> The bottle I have left I put to one side upright for a fewdays. It was
> crystal clear and I was quite hopeful. About 12 hours ago I laid it on its
> side to get the wine in contact with the cork. This morning I look at it
> and the deposit has started to return.
>
> Now, I did notice something brown oozing from the cork a bit when I put it
> in the bottle but assumed this was probably normal (not sure, I am new to
> this!) Also, it was a cheap kit so this probably didn't help (CWE White
> Wine). I know I probably get what I paid for but this must be wrong.
>
> Can anybody help? I don't want my other 13 gallons to end up down the sink
> too!
>
>


--
ernie San Francisco Bay AVA
California, USA
to reply, rack off the lees.

Well, being my first batch I had the newbie impatience so it was about four
weeks. Still longer than the kit said but I know now it should've been
longer.

"Frank Mirigliano" > wrote in message
...
> R-D-C wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I am very new to this and so far despite having about 14 gallons on the
>> go in one gallon demijohns I only have one gallon bottled (which
>> furnished me with four bottles).
>>
>> I had a look at my bottled white wine a while ago and noticed it had
>> stuff suspended in it. Sorry to give the comparison but it looked like
>> somebody had had a hearty sneeze into the bottles. I left it for a while
>> to see if it would settle out but it stubbornly stayed where it was.
>>
>> The other day I got hold of a wine filter so thought I would try this on
>> the bottles. I sterlised a new bottle using VWP and started filtering.
>> Anyway, the filtering worked well for about a bottle and a half before
>> getting clogged up and then I knocked the damn thing over and spilled it.
>> I was left with the bottle and a half so I corked the full bottle and
>> tasted the half. The wine smelled quite bad and didn't taste to great
>> either, although it was much improved over the unfiltered wine.
>>
>> The bottle I have left I put to one side upright for a fewdays. It was
>> crystal clear and I was quite hopeful. About 12 hours ago I laid it on
>> its side to get the wine in contact with the cork. This morning I look
>> at it and the deposit has started to return.
>>
>> Now, I did notice something brown oozing from the cork a bit when I put
>> it in the bottle but assumed this was probably normal (not sure, I am new
>> to this!) Also, it was a cheap kit so this probably didn't help (CWE
>> White Wine). I know I probably get what I paid for but this must be
>> wrong.
>>
>> Can anybody help? I don't want my other 13 gallons to end up down the
>> sink too!
> Hi R-D-C
>
> How soon after fermentation did you bottle?
>
> Regards
>
> Frank

I used a campden tablet when racking it after the fermentation stopped.

"ernie" > wrote in message
...
> R-D-C wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I am very new to this and so far despite having about 14 gallons on the
>> go in one gallon demijohns I only have one gallon bottled (which
>> furnished me with four bottles).
>>
>> I had a look at my bottled white wine a while ago and noticed it had
>> stuff suspended in it. Sorry to give the comparison but it looked like
>> somebody had had a hearty sneeze into the bottles. I left it for a while
>> to see if it would settle out but it stubbornly stayed where it was.
>
> The stuff suspended in the bottle is a bacterial infection. You can often
> resolve it in the carboys by adding sulfite, but if the smell is as bad as
> you describe it might be too late. Did you use any sulfite while
> processing?
>
>
>>
>> The other day I got hold of a wine filter so thought I would try this on
>> the bottles. I sterlised a new bottle using VWP and started filtering.
>> Anyway, the filtering worked well for about a bottle and a half before
>> getting clogged up and then I knocked the damn thing over and spilled it.
>> I was left with the bottle and a half so I corked the full bottle and
>> tasted the half. The wine smelled quite bad and didn't taste to great
>> either, although it was much improved over the unfiltered wine.
>>
>> The bottle I have left I put to one side upright for a fewdays. It was
>> crystal clear and I was quite hopeful. About 12 hours ago I laid it on
>> its side to get the wine in contact with the cork. This morning I look
>> at it and the deposit has started to return.
>>
>> Now, I did notice something brown oozing from the cork a bit when I put
>> it in the bottle but assumed this was probably normal (not sure, I am new
>> to this!) Also, it was a cheap kit so this probably didn't help (CWE
>> White Wine). I know I probably get what I paid for but this must be
>> wrong.
>>
>> Can anybody help? I don't want my other 13 gallons to end up down the
>> sink too!
>
>
> --
> ernie San Francisco Bay AVA
> California, USA
> to reply, rack off the lees.
>

I used a campden tablet when racking it after the fermentation stopped.

"ernie" > wrote in message
...
> R-D-C wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I am very new to this and so far despite having about 14 gallons on the
>> go in one gallon demijohns I only have one gallon bottled (which
>> furnished me with four bottles).
>>
>> I had a look at my bottled white wine a while ago and noticed it had
>> stuff suspended in it. Sorry to give the comparison but it looked like
>> somebody had had a hearty sneeze into the bottles. I left it for a while
>> to see if it would settle out but it stubbornly stayed where it was.
>
> The stuff suspended in the bottle is a bacterial infection. You can often
> resolve it in the carboys by adding sulfite, but if the smell is as bad as
> you describe it might be too late. Did you use any sulfite while
> processing?
>
>
>>
>> The other day I got hold of a wine filter so thought I would try this on
>> the bottles. I sterlised a new bottle using VWP and started filtering.
>> Anyway, the filtering worked well for about a bottle and a half before
>> getting clogged up and then I knocked the damn thing over and spilled it.
>> I was left with the bottle and a half so I corked the full bottle and
>> tasted the half. The wine smelled quite bad and didn't taste to great
>> either, although it was much improved over the unfiltered wine.
>>
>> The bottle I have left I put to one side upright for a fewdays. It was
>> crystal clear and I was quite hopeful. About 12 hours ago I laid it on
>> its side to get the wine in contact with the cork. This morning I look
>> at it and the deposit has started to return.
>>
>> Now, I did notice something brown oozing from the cork a bit when I put
>> it in the bottle but assumed this was probably normal (not sure, I am new
>> to this!) Also, it was a cheap kit so this probably didn't help (CWE
>> White Wine). I know I probably get what I paid for but this must be
>> wrong.
>>
>> Can anybody help? I don't want my other 13 gallons to end up down the
>> sink too!
>
>
> --
> ernie San Francisco Bay AVA
> California, USA
> to reply, rack off the lees.
>