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Trying to fix up high acidity late in the game / other missed steps

I made my first batch of wine (ever) using Concord grapes grown in my yard. I'm sure I made a bunch of mistakes. I think the main problems are that I probably didn't measure the TA correctly at the beginning of the process. Also, I didn't add additional sulfite at end of primary fermentation.

It's been about 8 months, and I just pulled out some of the wine to try to retest the TA. Based on today's test it should TA of .973. (As best as I can tell, I'm never sure if I'm getting the reading right, because seeing the color change seems so subjective). I also tasted the wine. It smelled reasonable, tasted a bit acidic and a bit bitter. The body is also a bit thin, probably because I added some water at beginning of secondary fermentation. (Another mistake).

So I'm wondering if I can try to fix this up. I have some malolactic culture that I got for another batch of wine I was making with Syrah grapes from Chile. (These grapes were very low in acid -- I had to add acid blend --so it seems they don't need the Malolactic fermenation?)

Is it possible, and would it make any improvement to add the malolactic culture to the Concord grapes even though it's so late in the game? (And on the other hand, would you add malolactic culture to wine that started out with low acidity.)

Any advice is appreciated...

Thanks.

Reply to
Shalom Shachne
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While it is fun to make wine out of local grapes, Concord grapes will not make a wine much like what you find in the store. In most cases, when working with native or cold-hardy grape varieties, you may need to add sugar. You don't indicate what the starting SG was, or if you added sugar. Hopefully you are OK on that front.

A TA reading of .973% (or nearly 10g / liter) is fairly high. Some sugar should help balance the acidity. It probably won't change the bitterness much. If the bitterness is caused by tannins, there are things you could do to reduce that (e.g., fining with a little egg white). If it is caused by other factors, there may not be much you can do. There isn't a lot you can do if the wine is too thin. Next time, try not to add much (if any) water. One thing that might help would be to get some dried elderberries and add them to the wine for a few weeks. They can add some interesting flavors, which may reduce the "thin" perception. You could also look at some of the processed yeast products like Bio-lees or "Sur Lie", as they can add a bit of body or "mouth-feel".

I think I'd skip the malo-lactic with this batch (I don't think it would fit well with the Concord flavor profile), just add sulfite and potassium sorbate to prevent renewed fermentation, then sweeten a bit to take the edge off the acidity. A small addition of sugar will not come across as sweet, but will reduce the perceived acidity. Larger sugar additions will produce a wine that will taste sweet. Do some "bench trials" -- small samples (maybe a few ounces at a time) with measured amounts of sugar, to see what effect it has on the wine. You may find a particular level of sweetness that appeals most to you. Or you could choose to bottle some with little or no sugar, and some with more sugar, for different occasions or preferences.

It sounds like a little tweaking should result in a pretty pleasant wine. Best of luck, and happy fermenting.

Doug

Reply to
Douglas Hudson
Reply to
Shalom Shachne

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