White Film, Bubbles, Rotten Eggs- This day just gets worse.

I think we are going to need a bit more information. When did you start the wine? What is the history on the batches so far? What was the Brix? Did you ever rack the wine? What was / is the pH? Did you add SO2 prior to ML?

Wine started on October 14th- spent about 2 hours in a jug as I moved it. No SO2 added, ML added on day 5 of fermentation. Wine racked, then oaked, and maintained at 68-72F. Initial Sugar SG was 1.085. Wine was racked 2x- carboys were sterilized with Iodine at 35ppm for a min of 10 mins. Prior to and during the racking process the carboys were inerted with CO2- three 'strong' blasts lasting 5 seconds each, then a long slow purge to maintain a layer of CO2 over the wine. ML was with the 3x from PiWine and fed with Bactivaid or (whatever) the nutrient is that they offer to go with it. ML was proceeding just fine according to MLC- last CHR was done about 4 weeks prior- I tend to do 1/2 batch every 2 weeks or so, depending on the strength of the 'spot'.

Does this help any?

Jason

The pictures seems to show that your carboys are not topped up. I fear that your problems may be a direct result of this. Have they been like this the entire time? What does the wine taste like?

RD

Jason, Too much oxygen may be your basic problem. Using inert gases effectively involves much more than a few squirts of carbon dioxide gas. More info here

Good luck Lum Del Mar, California, USA

No idea yet on the taste. I didn't want to disrupt the surface tension until I knew what actions I wished to take- and inserting a

2mm syringe might work, but the surface is fairly well covered. Previously (2 - 3 weeks ago) it tasted fine. The carboys have been topped down at this level the entire time, approximately 1/3 the neck (I'd estimate about 24 square inches of SA).

I have the equipment also to rig a vacuum aspirator / suction setup to remove the top layer without using a spoon...

I truly appreciate everyone's help. This has not been a particularly happy week on any front, and if I come across as, well, cross, it's not directed at anyone here.

Jason

Also, I am guessing that what looks like a bacterial infection to the layeye - like my own - doth not encourage thee to drink it!

Jim

here

Thanks Lum-

I was mainly describing the process to show my attempts at minimizing oxidation and blow out any particulates during the racking process- no CO2 was kept over the surface during the aging process. That Argon system sounds very nice tho- I'm sure I could get an Argon MIG setup fairly cheap...

Jason

Well, I gave her another whiff and they both had hints of H2S. What was interesting is that a 3rd bottle, 3L in size, had H2S but no foam on the surface. Not knowing what else to do I rigged up a 7 gallon vaccuum aspirater, and then gently 'sucked' off as much of the layers as I could. This wine I discarded.

I prepared the carboys for transfer by sterilizing (yes) using 1 capful of Iodophor in 3L of solution- approximately 40 ppm ( >3x the

12.5ppm for 60 seconds mandated by law).

I then racked the wine and, during the racking process, injected it with 60 ppm K-Sulphite (2.6g/7 gallons) using the standard technique of weighing, placing it in a shot glass, adding 5 cc of boiling water via sterilized syringe, and then replunging until it's mixed. Wine was topped off to within 1" of the surface. Used oak was discarded. No new oak was added.

I'll let it sit now for a little while, unless anyone suggests I should go ahead and sterile filter it. It tasted 'off', no berry taste, just some of the oak overtones. Drinkable (and not a large amount of H2S which was surprising to me), just not 'great'.

Now the Merlots, on the other hand, taste very berry and would be an excellent blend if I have any cab left at the end of the year.

Thanks for the support and ideas-

Jason