Thanks for the input Mark . Im going to take your advice and start the mlf .Its hard to find out here on Long Island (correction: impossible)so i had to send away for it. My opinion is that a few more days shouldnt matter since the numbers i have at the 1st racking(from primary into carboy) are as follows: PA 3% SG 1.021 brix 7 ...according to my reading (and confusion) I should have a few days of play till i get a steady SG reading of .995. This is when I've read ML bacteria should be started. Care to add anything? Is there still a good chance that there'll be wine for Easter??
This 2nd question is a little harder to explain. I opened up a Merlot that was started in March of this year. It was a kit wine from Brew King and all instructions were followed to the letter. Its been sitting in a carboy , sealed up since April. It was opened today for the first time.It tastes very good except for a slight aroma that I cant seem to place. I have a feeling that it should be sealed up again and forgotten about till xmas 2004. Would that be too long for a kit wine? It should be also duly noted that this wine has also discovered a new shade of blue. While rinsing out the siphons and wine thiefs theres a reaction with the sanitizer and wine that turns everything a shade of navy blue that looks like it'd would be great for tatooing. Any idea what this is a sign of?????...................jb