Need help for a slack-azz wine problem

[rlmblm21]

So last year I received tons of concord grapes, which I carefully cleaned, de-stemmed, fermented and then racked into two 6 gallon glass carboys. Well, there it has sat for exactly a year now. Is it still good? I'm afraid to break the seal before I am ready to take the next step, so I haven't tasted it. There is a tiny bit of white soot on the top. I've seen the wine do this before as a means of blocking the air. The carboys were filled to the neck, so not a lot has been exposed to air.

Can I save it? I now have another ton of concords given to me yesterday, and want to get this next batch going. Is there any hope for last year's batch?

 

[hikingthehills]

You may have vinegar now.

 

[rlmblm21]

You may have vinegar now.

Dammit; don't say that! What am I going to do with 12 gallons of red wine vinegar????

 

[hikingthehills]

Dammit; don't say that! What am I going to do with 12 gallons of red wine vinegar????

Make lots of salad?

 

[Glockspeed31]

You should be fine. Take a sample and taste it. You won't hurt anything as long as you sanitize whatever is going to touch the wine. If it taste like vinegar, then it probably is vinegar. If it has a slight off-taste, then it probably needs some Camden tablets or potassium metabisulfite added to it to get the Sulfite levels back up. Wines can be bulk-aged for a few years with no ill-effects, as long as they are stored properly and under air-lock.

 

[rlmblm21]

You should be fine. Take a sample and taste it. You won't hurt anything as long as you sanitize whatever is going to touch the wine. If it taste like vinegar, then it probably is vinegar. If it has a slight off-taste, then it probably needs some Camden tablets or potassium metabisulfite added to it to get the Sulfite levels back up. Wines can be bulk-aged for a few years with no ill-effects, as long as they are stored properly and under air-lock.

Sweet! I just googled it and saw that too, on a wine site. Not sure how much of an expert I am at "bulk storage", but I am going to hope I got lucky. So it will for sure need to be sweetened. Do I sweeten it, and then put in the stuff to stop the additional fermentation, and then immediately bottle it? Or does it have to get racked to another carboy again? I'm thinking if it's good, then it's sweeten, stop the fermenting, and then right in the bottles?

 

[Glockspeed31]

You do need to rack it to a different vessel to get it off the sediment. You will also need to add Potassium Sorbate to halt any further fementation. You can add this at the same time you rack to the other vessel, just add it to the new vessel as you are racking. About 2-3 days after you add the Sorbate, then you can back sweeten it.
Take a measured amount (4-6 oz) and add your sweetener in a measured amount. Once you find what is perfect for you, then do the math and sweeten. You want to back sweeten just as your bottling.

 

[rlmblm21]

Thanks!

 

[Glockspeed31]

Here is a website that you can check out. I used to work for this company and they are good people. The owners have been making wine for over 25 years.
https://www.barleynvine.com/blogs/how-to/127297027-stabilizing-your-wine#comments

 

[mickbear]

run it thru a still. you'll have some good brandy