Tart Wine

May 06, 2004 3 Replies

I have some young (bottles 3/5/04) red wine I made this from a kit. According to the kit instructions, it is supposed to be drinkable by now. I just tasted it and it has a tart flavor, I assume this is too much acid. Will it mellow with age, or should I chill it. If I were to chill it, what temp and for how long?


Jethro,

How long ago did you actually make the wine, and how long did you bulk age it? Did you follow the kit instructions when you made it?

Kit wines are well balanced in terms of acid, so I doubt that's what you're tasting. Did you degass it well? If not, you might be tasting CO2.

If you're going for "6 weeks and it's ready to drink" then it's just too young. The earliest I've bottled a red kit wine is 8 months, and then it still needed a few months to finish smoothing out and taste good.

Ed

I followed the kit instructions exactly. I think it was about 2 months old when I bottled it. The kit says it should be drinkable by now. Will it continue to mellow in flavor?

I made the same kit last year and it was good almost immediatly after bottling.

It will probably mellow further but what wine is it? (Brand and type) Some wines are designed to be tart.

Ray

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