We fermented some Merlot last year. It was fermented to "0" sg and it had a good flavour. Some ws bottled, the rest left in a demi. Yhis year it is extremly smooth and tastes great except it is very sweet tasting. Any comments as to what went wrong?
Thanks
Bill
Assuming you mean that the _same_ wine "had a good flavour" last year, and is now "very sweet":
Also assuming that you mean an SG of 1.000 (an SG of 0 is impossible, although a Brix of 0 is a valid figure):
Prior to fermentation, an SG of 1.000 would indicate the absence of any sugars. However, since the sugar in a must is converted to alcohol, which has an SG much lower than 1.000, a finished dry wine will have an SG around
0.990. Thus, your "finished" wine probably had considerable residual sugar, which you didn't notice earlier because of the pre-aging roughness.Either that, or the sugar fairy paid visit to your cellar.
Not necessarily true. If the fermentation stuck for some reason an SG of
1.000 is definitely in the realm of possible. Maybe there was too much sugar to begin with or not enough nutrient. If you are fairly new to winemaking and the young wine was harsh and maybe fairly acid you might think that it was dry when it had some residual sugar. Now that it has mellowed the sugar would come out more.Just a guess.
Ray
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