I have had very good results with my own grapes and cans of juice (Alexander) and decided to try a 6 gallon Kit. It is a Winexpert Merlot. I have read repeatedly that a kit should be made exactly according to the instructions for the first time. (Unfortunately, I did not follow the "extended" instructions on Keller's website).
This wine kit started out with a very low s.g. of 1.080 and very low acid. It is now at day 32 and I find it to be very very bland! The acid is about .55%, pH is about 3.4 and does not seem to have much tannin (in addition to the low abv).
I plan to bulk age it for at least a few more months ( in addition to at least 60 days in the bottle to recover from bottle shock). At this point I need to live with the low achohol but I think I need to add at least 1 1/2 tsp of tannin and at least a few tsp of tartaric acid. I can check it again in 30 days at the next racking.
Is there any reason why I should not do this? Is it too late to add tannin and acid? Is Is there a better way to salvage this wine? (On the next kit, I plan to boost the tannin, acid, and s.g. prior to primary fermentation.)
Thanks in advance, Roger L. Pelletier , Aurora, NE USA