I am presently buying Sauvignon Blanc white juice from California, it
arrives in a refrigerated truck is nice and clear and I believe has
not had any SO2. My question is should I bother to try and put this
wine through ML? I would be using Scott Lab MBR31 and optimalo.

"Jim" > wrote in message
...
>I am presently buying Sauvignon Blanc white juice from California, it
> arrives in a refrigerated truck is nice and clear and I believe has
> not had any SO2. My question is should I bother to try and put this
> wine through ML?

It all depends on your taste. If you like your wines on the soft, buttery
side then you probably want to run ML. If you prefer lean and crisp wines
you should probably try to inhibit ML.

A lot is going to depend on the juice's numbers. If the pH is at 3.3 to 3.4
you could easily go either way. If it's above 3.5 it'll likely go
spontaneous ML and you'd have a hard time stopping it. In fact, you should
probably bring the pH down prior to fermentation or the wine will end up
tasting flat. OTOH, if the pH is 3.2 or lower you may need to run ML to
prevent it from tasting like battery acid.

Tom S

Thank you very much for the information Tom I will have to check the
specks.
What I have noticed that after alcoholic fermentation there is only
dead yeast and yeast nutrient at the bottom of my fermentor and was
wondering if this would constitute fine lees and would it be
sufficient to perform ML?
I thought I mite need some bits of grape skin.

On Sun, 16 Oct 2005 23:57:42 GMT, "Tom S" >
wrote:

>
>"Jim" > wrote in message
.. .
>>I am presently buying Sauvignon Blanc white juice from California, it
>> arrives in a refrigerated truck is nice and clear and I believe has
>> not had any SO2. My question is should I bother to try and put this
>> wine through ML?
>
>It all depends on your taste. If you like your wines on the soft, buttery
>side then you probably want to run ML. If you prefer lean and crisp wines
>you should probably try to inhibit ML.
>
>A lot is going to depend on the juice's numbers. If the pH is at 3.3 to 3.4
>you could easily go either way. If it's above 3.5 it'll likely go
>spontaneous ML and you'd have a hard time stopping it. In fact, you should
>probably bring the pH down prior to fermentation or the wine will end up
>tasting flat. OTOH, if the pH is 3.2 or lower you may need to run ML to
>prevent it from tasting like battery acid.
>
>Tom S
>

"Jim" > wrote in message
...
> What I have noticed that after alcoholic fermentation there is only
> dead yeast and yeast nutrient at the bottom of my fermentor and was
> wondering if this would constitute fine lees and would it be
> sufficient to perform ML?
> I thought I mite need some bits of grape skin.

What you need is an inoculum of ML culture. Grape skin is not necessary.
Addition of ML nutrient and vitamins is recommended. And be sure to hold
off on the sulfite/Campden until ML finishes.

BTW, even though you are fermenting only juice, what remains in the bottom
of your fermenter is still gross lees. That's not necessarily a bad thing
to leave the wine in contact with, but if you do you need to be watchful for
H2S formation - at least until ML is finished. Stirring up the bottom every
couple of days until ML finishes helps to prevent H2S problems.

Tom S

Thanks Tom what I will do is pump the wine out of the primary into 23
liter jugs stir in the nutrients, ML culture and put an air lock in
the top and leave the carboids in a warm place for 2 weeks and by that
time the acid conversion should be complete.

On Mon, 17 Oct 2005 04:37:35 GMT, "Tom S" >
wrote:

>
>"Jim" > wrote in message
.. .
>> What I have noticed that after alcoholic fermentation there is only
>> dead yeast and yeast nutrient at the bottom of my fermentor and was
>> wondering if this would constitute fine lees and would it be
>> sufficient to perform ML?
>> I thought I mite need some bits of grape skin.
>
>What you need is an inoculum of ML culture. Grape skin is not necessary.
>Addition of ML nutrient and vitamins is recommended. And be sure to hold
>off on the sulfite/Campden until ML finishes.
>
>BTW, even though you are fermenting only juice, what remains in the bottom
>of your fermenter is still gross lees. That's not necessarily a bad thing
>to leave the wine in contact with, but if you do you need to be watchful for
>H2S formation - at least until ML is finished. Stirring up the bottom every
>couple of days until ML finishes helps to prevent H2S problems.
>
>Tom S
>

"Jim" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks Tom what I will do is pump the wine out of the primary into 23
> liter jugs stir in the nutrients, ML culture and put an air lock in
> the top and leave the carboids in a warm place for 2 weeks and by that
> time the acid conversion should be complete.

Don't leave too much headspace. ML fermentation isn't anywhere near as
vigorous as the primary, so you don't have the heavy stream of CO2 purging
the air.

You should be able to see the activity while it's going. When no more
bubbles are rising, it's done. Then you may wish to degas the wine, sulfite
it, top up and bulk age it while it settles.

Tom S

Thank you Tom.

On Mon, 17 Oct 2005 12:52:24 GMT, "Tom S" >
wrote:

>
>"Jim" > wrote in message
.. .
>> Thanks Tom what I will do is pump the wine out of the primary into 23
>> liter jugs stir in the nutrients, ML culture and put an air lock in
>> the top and leave the carboids in a warm place for 2 weeks and by that
>> time the acid conversion should be complete.
>
>Don't leave too much headspace. ML fermentation isn't anywhere near as
>vigorous as the primary, so you don't have the heavy stream of CO2 purging
>the air.
>
>You should be able to see the activity while it's going. When no more
>bubbles are rising, it's done. Then you may wish to degas the wine, sulfite
>it, top up and bulk age it while it settles.
>
>Tom S
>

"Tom S" > wrote in message
.. .
>
> "Jim" > wrote in message
> ...
>> What I have noticed that after alcoholic fermentation there is only
>> dead yeast and yeast nutrient at the bottom of my fermentor and was
>> wondering if this would constitute fine lees and would it be
>> sufficient to perform ML?
>> I thought I mite need some bits of grape skin.
>
> What you need is an inoculum of ML culture. Grape skin is not necessary.
> Addition of ML nutrient and vitamins is recommended. And be sure to hold
> off on the sulfite/Campden until ML finishes.
>
> BTW, even though you are fermenting only juice, what remains in the bottom
> of your fermenter is still gross lees. That's not necessarily a bad thing
> to leave the wine in contact with, but if you do you need to be watchful
> for H2S formation - at least until ML is finished. Stirring up the bottom
> every couple of days until ML finishes helps to prevent H2S problems.
>
> Tom S

Where do you find ML nutrient and vitamins? I asked my local store and know
nothing about this and I have gone to many internet stores and can not find
it.

"Roy Boy" > wrote in message
...
> Where do you find ML nutrient and vitamins? I asked my local store and
> know nothing about this and I have gone to many internet stores and can
> not find it.

I buy it from either the Wine Lab in Napa or the Home Winemaking Shop in
Woodland Hills, CA.
http://www.thewinelab.com/
http://www.homebeerwinecheese.com/

Tom S

Either you are looking at the wrong stores, or not looking in the right
places.

Presque Isle (www.piwine.com) sells "Bactiv-aid Malo-Lactic Nutrient"

Beer, Beer & More Beer (www.morebeer.com) sells Acti-ML, "a nutrient
supplement for malolactic cultures under harsh or low nutrient
conditions"

Scott Labs (www.scottlaboratories.com) sells MALOSTART, "a complete
activator developed for malolactic fermentations."

I'm sure if you check out some of the companies that cater to
commercial wineries, you'll find more, although possibly in larger
quantities than you want.

Doug