Smell

wine takes time.i am new at winemaking too. the wine i made in early june was stinky. but improved greatly when i bottled it a couple weeks ago.everything ive read here said this is normal and will improve with age. lucas

I just don't want to have the problem that they were talking about that you can fix if you catch it in time and your wine is bad if you don't.

Roy, What yeast did you use? Describe the smell more. Is it like vinegar, rotten eggs, nail polish remover????

Joe

Roy Boy wrote:

It smells like it did when it was fermenting. It is kind of a musty smell. The instructions that I was going by did not say anything about a ML fermentation. I am wondering if maybe it is the acid, because the white wines do not have this smell.

I am new to wine making. I've made 6 gallons of Shiraz and 6 of Pinot Noir using kits. Both wines are in the 1-3 month bottling hold time. But when I bottled them, it WAS a fermenting musty smell.(they were totally done fermenting) The taste was great, better than my favorite store bought, but the store bought had a better nose. It was not rotten, or earthy or stinky, just a little like the must spell while in carboys. I am hoping with age, this gets better. Is it normal for wines to taste better than they smell when you are bottling them? I am now into a 6 gallon Cranberry wine from juice and berries. And man, the smell is heavenly and the taste, though sweet since it's only 5% alchohol so far, is great. But that is cranberries (with 2 cans of welch white concentrate). I also have a 1 gallon Welch's concord under way - and it smells great. Taste is like grape juice, but it's only been a few days.

So if anyone knows if shiraz and Pinot Noir or red wines have a poor nose upon bottling, but typically get better, that would help. thoughts? DAve

Roy Boy wrote:

I made this wine from grapes off the vine. It does taste good for a young wine, but there is no way I would serve this to anyone else with the smell.

The wine I made from a blush grape (type unknown) I took from my brothers vines does not have this smell after the second racking. The water melon wine that has only been racked once has the smell. The reason I question if something is wrong is because the red wine is clear and I have not had any settlement after the last racking. I would think if it was the yeast, it would of gone with the yeast.