Fizzy red wine ...
 

Nitrogen ?
CO2 ?

Although I don't notice it my wife, and several others, have commented that
my wine "tastes" fizzy.
Looking at the bottle there are bubbles clinging to the glass on the surfce
of the wine - that does not go away quickly.
Tiny bubbles can be seen rising if looked at closely.
If I pull a partial vacuum on the bottle - with one of those vacu-vin
corks - larger bubbles are drawn out.

I keep my red wine in stainless 58 litre beer kegs.
When wine is required I decant it from the keg for immediate use.
Wine is decanted from the keg with nitrogen (not CO2 or beer-gas) running at
about 5-10 lb.

Not knowing any better I have assumed the bubbles were nitrogen.
Recently someone suggested the bubbles are CO2 and I should "degass".
None of my books mention degassing.

I make my wine outside, from grapes, in October.
After the primary the wine sits in a 200 litre blue plastic barrel (full)
under an airlock.
I rack three or four times with the final rack to the SS beer kegs in March.
At that time the wine is still and clear.

Can anyone comment ?
Anyone have this "fizzy" problem ?

Thanks

Roger

I have run into some fizzy wine. One time I made some Shiraz with much
gas in it. It is CO2 gas still desolved in your wine from the
fermentation. You do need to degas your wine when you stabilize it. It
merely consists of a good strring after you have put your stabilizing
chemicals in. Some wine kit instructions suggest a vigorous stirring
for 2 min, wait 15 minutes, and do it again. When you do it, it feels
quite labor intensive. Also, you'll see a frothy foam as the gas comes
out of solution. Other degas method involve a strirring device you can
attach to a hand drill. Either way, try it on your batch and see if it
helps.

Steve
Lynchburg, VA

On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 16:57:21 GMT, "RogerD" >
wrote:

>Nitrogen ?
>CO2 ?
>
>Although I don't notice it my wife, and several others, have commented that
>my wine "tastes" fizzy.
>Looking at the bottle there are bubbles clinging to the glass on the surfce
>of the wine - that does not go away quickly.
>Tiny bubbles can be seen rising if looked at closely.
>If I pull a partial vacuum on the bottle - with one of those vacu-vin
>corks - larger bubbles are drawn out.
>
>I keep my red wine in stainless 58 litre beer kegs.
>When wine is required I decant it from the keg for immediate use.
>Wine is decanted from the keg with nitrogen (not CO2 or beer-gas) running at
>about 5-10 lb.
>
>Not knowing any better I have assumed the bubbles were nitrogen.
>Recently someone suggested the bubbles are CO2 and I should "degass".
>None of my books mention degassing.
>
>I make my wine outside, from grapes, in October.
>After the primary the wine sits in a 200 litre blue plastic barrel (full)
>under an airlock.
>I rack three or four times with the final rack to the SS beer kegs in March.
>At that time the wine is still and clear.
>
>Can anyone comment ?
>Anyone have this "fizzy" problem ?
>
>Thanks
>
>Roger
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

I have run into some fizzy wine. One time I made some Shiraz with much
gas in it. It is CO2 gas still desolved in your wine from the
fermentation. You do need to degas your wine when you stabilize it. It
merely consists of a good strring after you have put your stabilizing
chemicals in. Some wine kit instructions suggest a vigorous stirring
for 2 min, wait 15 minutes, and do it again. When you do it, it feels
quite labor intensive. Also, you'll see a frothy foam as the gas comes
out of solution. Other degas method involve a strirring device you can
attach to a hand drill. Either way, try it on your batch and see if it
helps.

Steve
Lynchburg, VA

On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 16:57:21 GMT, "RogerD" >
wrote:

>Nitrogen ?
>CO2 ?
>
>Although I don't notice it my wife, and several others, have commented that
>my wine "tastes" fizzy.
>Looking at the bottle there are bubbles clinging to the glass on the surfce
>of the wine - that does not go away quickly.
>Tiny bubbles can be seen rising if looked at closely.
>If I pull a partial vacuum on the bottle - with one of those vacu-vin
>corks - larger bubbles are drawn out.
>
>I keep my red wine in stainless 58 litre beer kegs.
>When wine is required I decant it from the keg for immediate use.
>Wine is decanted from the keg with nitrogen (not CO2 or beer-gas) running at
>about 5-10 lb.
>
>Not knowing any better I have assumed the bubbles were nitrogen.
>Recently someone suggested the bubbles are CO2 and I should "degass".
>None of my books mention degassing.
>
>I make my wine outside, from grapes, in October.
>After the primary the wine sits in a 200 litre blue plastic barrel (full)
>under an airlock.
>I rack three or four times with the final rack to the SS beer kegs in March.
>At that time the wine is still and clear.
>
>Can anyone comment ?
>Anyone have this "fizzy" problem ?
>
>Thanks
>
>Roger
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

RogerD wrote:
> Nitrogen ?
> CO2 ?
>
> Although I don't notice it my wife, and several others, have
commented that
> my wine "tastes" fizzy.
> Looking at the bottle there are bubbles clinging to the glass on the
surfce
> of the wine - that does not go away quickly.
> Tiny bubbles can be seen rising if looked at closely.
> If I pull a partial vacuum on the bottle - with one of those vacu-vin

> corks - larger bubbles are drawn out.
>
> I keep my red wine in stainless 58 litre beer kegs.
> When wine is required I decant it from the keg for immediate use.
> Wine is decanted from the keg with nitrogen (not CO2 or beer-gas)
running at
> about 5-10 lb.
>
> Not knowing any better I have assumed the bubbles were nitrogen.
> Recently someone suggested the bubbles are CO2 and I should "degass".
> None of my books mention degassing.
>
> I make my wine outside, from grapes, in October.
> After the primary the wine sits in a 200 litre blue plastic barrel
(full)
> under an airlock.
> I rack three or four times with the final rack to the SS beer kegs in
March.
> At that time the wine is still and clear.
>
> Can anyone comment ?
> Anyone have this "fizzy" problem ?
>
> Thanks
>
> Roger

It's CO2, either left over from the alcoholic fermentation or from your
wine undergoing ML in the kegs. Do a chromatography test to check for
the latter possibility.

Degassing is often required for wines fermented in colder temperatures
and bottled relatively young. It's usually not a big issue for reds,
but your procedure sounds like there is not enough time for the wine to
degass on its own, so you might have to help it with some vigorous
stirring in the drum.

Pp

RogerD wrote:
> Nitrogen ?
> CO2 ?
>
> Although I don't notice it my wife, and several others, have
commented that
> my wine "tastes" fizzy.
> Looking at the bottle there are bubbles clinging to the glass on the
surfce
> of the wine - that does not go away quickly.
> Tiny bubbles can be seen rising if looked at closely.
> If I pull a partial vacuum on the bottle - with one of those vacu-vin

> corks - larger bubbles are drawn out.
>
> I keep my red wine in stainless 58 litre beer kegs.
> When wine is required I decant it from the keg for immediate use.
> Wine is decanted from the keg with nitrogen (not CO2 or beer-gas)
running at
> about 5-10 lb.
>
> Not knowing any better I have assumed the bubbles were nitrogen.
> Recently someone suggested the bubbles are CO2 and I should "degass".
> None of my books mention degassing.
>
> I make my wine outside, from grapes, in October.
> After the primary the wine sits in a 200 litre blue plastic barrel
(full)
> under an airlock.
> I rack three or four times with the final rack to the SS beer kegs in
March.
> At that time the wine is still and clear.
>
> Can anyone comment ?
> Anyone have this "fizzy" problem ?
>
> Thanks
>
> Roger

It's CO2, either left over from the alcoholic fermentation or from your
wine undergoing ML in the kegs. Do a chromatography test to check for
the latter possibility.

Degassing is often required for wines fermented in colder temperatures
and bottled relatively young. It's usually not a big issue for reds,
but your procedure sounds like there is not enough time for the wine to
degass on its own, so you might have to help it with some vigorous
stirring in the drum.

Pp

You are bottling at only 6 months old. If you are not degassing it could be
CO2 that is still dissolved. With 4 rakings I would think that it would
clear up by then but maybe not. It could also be a MLF fermentation that is
ongoing when you bottle. This is actually considered good for your wine but
can cause the fizziness if it is still going on when you bottle. MLF will
soften a rough wine. It is hard to detect except by paper chromatography.
If you do not want to fool with the chromatography, which I do not do, you
can wait longer to bottle if you want to let it go, then use a proper dose
of sulfite and make sure the ph is at a level that will inhibit MLF before
bottling.

Ray
"RogerD" > wrote in message
news:RVc6e.15445$VF5.12715@edtnps89...
> Nitrogen ?
> CO2 ?
>
> Although I don't notice it my wife, and several others, have commented
> that my wine "tastes" fizzy.
> Looking at the bottle there are bubbles clinging to the glass on the
> surfce of the wine - that does not go away quickly.
> Tiny bubbles can be seen rising if looked at closely.
> If I pull a partial vacuum on the bottle - with one of those vacu-vin
> corks - larger bubbles are drawn out.
>
> I keep my red wine in stainless 58 litre beer kegs.
> When wine is required I decant it from the keg for immediate use.
> Wine is decanted from the keg with nitrogen (not CO2 or beer-gas) running
> at about 5-10 lb.
>
> Not knowing any better I have assumed the bubbles were nitrogen.
> Recently someone suggested the bubbles are CO2 and I should "degass".
> None of my books mention degassing.
>
> I make my wine outside, from grapes, in October.
> After the primary the wine sits in a 200 litre blue plastic barrel (full)
> under an airlock.
> I rack three or four times with the final rack to the SS beer kegs in
> March.
> At that time the wine is still and clear.
>
> Can anyone comment ?
> Anyone have this "fizzy" problem ?
>
> Thanks
>
> Roger
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Thank you everyone.

CO2 huh ...
I am located in Vancouver, Canada.
Temperatures in the winter usually get down around freezing for a couple
weeks
My wine sits outside - for convenience and for cold stabilization before
"bottling" in March.
2004 Lodi Merlot dropped out a lot of TA.

I will stir well before the final racking of my next wine (from frozen
Yakima Cab left over from 2004 harvest).

Malolactic had not occured to me.
I will get a kit and run the test.

Thanks again.

Roger


"Ray Calvert" > wrote in message
. ..
> You are bottling at only 6 months old. If you are not degassing it could
> be CO2 that is still dissolved. With 4 rakings I would think that it
> would clear up by then but maybe not. It could also be a MLF fermentation
> that is ongoing when you bottle. This is actually considered good for
> your wine but can cause the fizziness if it is still going on when you
> bottle. MLF will soften a rough wine. It is hard to detect except by
> paper chromatography. If you do not want to fool with the chromatography,
> which I do not do, you can wait longer to bottle if you want to let it go,
> then use a proper dose of sulfite and make sure the ph is at a level that
> will inhibit MLF before bottling.
>
> Ray
> "RogerD" > wrote in message
> news:RVc6e.15445$VF5.12715@edtnps89...
>> Nitrogen ?
>> CO2 ?
>>
>> Although I don't notice it my wife, and several others, have commented
>> that my wine "tastes" fizzy.
>> Looking at the bottle there are bubbles clinging to the glass on the
>> surfce of the wine - that does not go away quickly.
>> Tiny bubbles can be seen rising if looked at closely.
>> If I pull a partial vacuum on the bottle - with one of those vacu-vin
>> corks - larger bubbles are drawn out.
>>
>> I keep my red wine in stainless 58 litre beer kegs.
>> When wine is required I decant it from the keg for immediate use.
>> Wine is decanted from the keg with nitrogen (not CO2 or beer-gas) running
>> at about 5-10 lb.
>>
>> Not knowing any better I have assumed the bubbles were nitrogen.
>> Recently someone suggested the bubbles are CO2 and I should "degass".
>> None of my books mention degassing.
>>
>> I make my wine outside, from grapes, in October.
>> After the primary the wine sits in a 200 litre blue plastic barrel (full)
>> under an airlock.
>> I rack three or four times with the final rack to the SS beer kegs in
>> March.
>> At that time the wine is still and clear.
>>
>> Can anyone comment ?
>> Anyone have this "fizzy" problem ?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Roger
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>