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help needed

Hi everyone....thanks in advance if anyone can assist me here. I used to help my grandfather make wine...he used to make some quality zinfandel.....so i thought i would try to make some myself...i purchased the juice of five types of grapes....zinfandel, merlot, cab sav, barbera and sangiovese......in sept 06...my question concerns slowness of fermenting...i tasted the wines today to see how they were progressing and all had some yeast taste...some a small amount and some quite a bit...the wine cellar is a steadt 62 degrees....the wine is stores in 6 gallon carboys w an air lock...sediment was removed when i transferred in to the carboys from other carboys back in late november 2006

i am willing to be patient as needed, i just do not recall how long he waited for his wine to be ready.....he never used any of the tools of the day such as hydrometers etc....just oak barrels ( i used chips) and then tasted per his own liking. He also never stirred once the barrels were sealed. I am following suit.

Does anyone see any see a future for my wines? The previous year I made w zin and muscato.....similar situation occured but i still bottled at 10 months and the white zin is aging very well and taste gets better.......w time.......the muscat seems like it could have stayed in the carboy a bit longer as it still seems a little yeasty?

Thank you

AL

Reply to
thewarzone
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Young wine can taste a little yeasty. If you last racked it in november it is probably a good idea to rack it again now. There is probably some sedement on the bottome that includes some yeast cells.

How long should it wait. The easy answer is untill it starts tasting good. For reds I would say that will be at least a year. I often bulk age for 2 years or more, but then I have a large amount in bottle so I do not have to hurry it. But the basic rule it that when it starts tasting good, start drinking it. I have never kicked myself for drinking a good wine that could have been better if aged longer. I have really kicked myself when I age a good wine too long and it starts declining and I realize that I have 5 or 10 gallons of the stuff and could not posibly drink it all before it is well past it's prime.

Ray

Reply to
Ray Calvert

******** Hi Ray and thank you...yes there is still some sediment which I will rack off tomorrow since it is snowing here in Nh and not much to do outside anyways :) - AL
******Ok thank you,,,,,,my thought was that yes I had to wait one year, but have seen some local wineries bottling after 8 months. So if i understand you correctly, my yeasty characteristics should wane in the upcoming months and I will be able to start bottling. What would you suggest would be too long to wait and signify some type of problem? - AL
Reply to
thewarzone

I have known Ray for years but occasionally we still disagree on some things.

If you have already racked the wine off the gross lees, I would leave on on the fine lees. It can improve mouthfeel. The French have a saying "The lees feed the wine", or something like that.

Reply to
Paul E. Lehmann

Hi Paul, you wrote: I have known Ray for years but occasionally we still disagree on some things.

If you have already racked the wine off the gross lees, I would leave on on the fine lees. It can improve mouthfeel. The French have a saying "The lees feed the wine", or something like that.

**** Ok, so i understand both sides.....leaving some lees around build taste and character....are you of the view then that my wine just needs time to finish off properly before properly? Certainly it makes life easier in not having to rack once again, although I do not mind it.

Also let me throw out something additional.....in November when we last racked the merlot and cab sav, for instance, tastes not so yeasty...in fact it tasted pretty good.....is it noormal for the wine to go from sweet tasting to close to normal wine tasting and *then* have the yeast taste grow so very powerful before it comes back to being drinkable?

Thank you so much to both of you for your time...it is greatly appreciated - AL

Reply to
thewarzone

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