Hi all:
Fairly new to the craft here. My first batch of wine was a Vinters Reserve savignon blanc. Being a regular white wine drinker, I was very pleased with it. I decided to try something different with the next batch, and got a black raspberry merlot Island Mist kit. Why'd I do something different when I liked the first batch? I dunno.
Well, it's been sitting to clear on the basement floor for about the past week. I took a small glass to look at clarity and taste tonight. Overall, I'm sort of disappointed. OK, maybe I didn't have a good idea of what I was in for. But it's a lot sweeter than I had hoped for, and still a lot of sediment floating around, even taking a sample off the top half of the carboy with my thief.
On the cloudy question, time will probably help. But do I need to give it a good stirring to whip the chitosan up to get it clearing better? Or am I better off to just leave it be for anther week?
Next question is, what can I do to save it in the flavour department? I'm thinking I could leave it in the carboy for now, would it be bad if I were to leave it in the carboy for the next month while making something to save it? Maybe if I were to make another savingnon blanc and cut it half and half with the merlot while bottling, it would make something acceptable to my palate.
Help please! I also bought a strawberry merlot at the same time (darned impulsive nature!), and I'm afraid I'm going to end up with more of this mildly alcoholic Kool-Aid.
KD