MLF in barrel

I have always just used a fermentation bung and have had no problems. Tim

A bung is a bung, so long as it does the job?

I have always wanted to try MLF in the barrel but I have been hesitant since MLF does not like SO2 and I am afraid to leave my barrel with non sulfited wine.

Joe

I've felt the same way, but I'm working up the nerve to do it this year. I'm hoping to get some feedback from those who've done this - particularly with reds. RD

I believe there are some ML cultures that supposedly can withstand pH down to 3.2 and SO2 less than 50ppm. If you got your pH down to about 3.35 to

3.4 range and your SO2 in the 35 to 40 ppm range the Enoferm_Alpha strain might work.

'enoferm%20alpha'

I just finished adding sulfur dioxide to 112 barrels of 2005 wine this week. Thirty PPM of SO2 was added to the grapes at the crusher, but no additional SO2 was added until MLF finished. After fermentation, the wines were placed in tanks for a couple of weeks and then moved into barrels for aging. Over the past three months, 50 PPM of sulfur dioxide was added as each wine finished MLF, but about 1/3 of the barrels when without SO2 from early October, 2005 until January 11, 2006.

Thanks for all your input. My Cab's pH is 3.3 and the only sulfite (added prior to alcohol fermentation) was 25 ppm. I think I'll give this a go. RD