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HELP!!! Watered Down Wine

I have a question for the group. In my first attempt at winemaking, I used a 48oz can of SunCal zinfandel concentrate and followed the instructions on the can verbatim for a 5 gallon batch. That was my mistake... while the instructions actually said to use one can of concentrate for a 5 gallon batch (I also topped off with one gallon of commercially produced Zin to fill my 6 gallon carboy), I have found the resultant wine to have a very "watered down" taste, not at all like the full body one would expect from a zin. This batch has completed fermentation and has aged for approximately two months.

At this point it seems that my options are to either:

  1. Bottle the wine anyways, but just use it to top off carboys as it tastes too watered down to truly enjoy. or
  2. Try to "Strengthen" the flavor by introducing more concentrate and re-starting fermentation.

Here are my thoughts on a procedure for option #2: I would split the wine into two 3 gallon batches. To each 3 gallons of "Weak Wine", I would add 3 additional gallons of a less diluted concentrate/water mixture, one packet of yeast, tannins, acid blend and yeast nutrient. I would then re-start the fermentation process and treat the wine as if it was starting from scratch. This would also give me an opportunity to add bennonite for clearing. I was not familiar with bennonite when I started this first batch.

Following this process, would I be able to expect the same results as I would have if I had started with a less dilute concentrate in the first place, or is this just a recipe for disaster?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Luckily, one of the employees of my local home-brew store caught me before I made the same mistake with my second batch... a Johannesburg Riesling that is in cold stabilization currently and is due to be bottled in about a month.

Thanks,

Chris Hertling North Kansas City, MO

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Reply to
Chris Hertling
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Chris, In my opinion it won't improve so don't bottle it.

I would suggest you modiify your process in two though.

I would begin the second batch all on it's own and add your weaker wine in once it was going well, maybe in stages. You will be trying to start your yeast in a alcoholic environment of 4 to 6% with your current process. That's not necessarily bad, most yeast could care less but if it's cold yeast is less vigorous to begin with. You may risk the ferment dying off too soon and a resultant sweeter wine if it never gets a good start.

Bentonite can strip red color and concentrates may not have a lot of color. You may want to consider other fining agents. I use sparkleoid on reds if i use anything, but there are many others.

Joe

Reply to
Joe Sallustio

Personally, I wouldn't mess with it. At least not the whole batch. For experimentation perposes I would split it in 2 and bottle the first

3 gallons and try to improve the second 3 gallons. If it works out, great, if not, you still have the 15 bottles of drinkable wine. When I would pull a bottle out to drink, I'd be aware of the limitations of it and enjoy it as is.

I've made 3 batches from kits now to date and have improved on each from experience. The first batch I made was a Pinot Noir. I added too much water to fill the carboy back up to within 1/2" of the bung. I knew it was watered down when I bottled it and enjoyed every single of the 28 bottles I've drunk so far because I knew what to expect when I drank it.

I'm not saying not to experiment, but this is your first batch. Save some of the wine that you've made before you 'mess' with it. Get that experience under you belt and proceed from there.

Mike

Reply to
Amphey

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