Question:
I checked my notes & found that I had fined the Riesling in question with 1.8g/USGal of bentonite & nothing more (as the wine was quite clear). Maybe a combination fining would have helped with the problem…However,… This wine displayed _NO_ bitter character at bottling…not even a hint. Moreover, it was perfectl fine 8 months after bottling. The bitterness manifested after about 1 year under cork.
I had it in my head that you still had the wine in bulk. Not much you can do now. I’ve heard others with the same problem and it’s quite the poser. How does one predict & deal with the possibility of a problem which might occur 12 months down the road?
My only thought is ‘experience’. This is why winemakers like to work with specific vineyards, and also why appelation is such a selling point. If you know that the winemaker has been working with the same vineyard over a period of time, he probably has figured out most of the quirks of the grapes. If you have opportunity to make wine from this same source again, you might try another fining agent. It would be a blind shot, but it sounds like the only one available. Actually, here’s another thought: The winemaker at St. James, John Hofherr, has told me about the difference in several plots of Seyval blanc that they grow. One particular block always requires a serious dose of gelatin in the juice stage to prevent a bitter note from occuring, but he described the incidence as happening while still in bulk. latron clyde – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Thanks Again: Ed The Viticulture FAQ & Glossary: http://www.itsmysite.com/vitfaq "Wine is more Guts than Brains". -Thomas Schmidheiny, Swiss Winemaker * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!
Response:
Ed G., The subject of a bitter note in Riesling was raised recently, and I mentioned our similar problem in the ‘99 Chardonel. Thought you might be interested in the results of the lab trials: PVPP (Polyclar AT) removed the least amount of aroma and flavor and some of the tannins, but a slight bitter note remained. Casein was the most impactive by stripping flavor and aroma without any noticable effect to any portion of the tannic structure. Gel/Kies was most effective at removing *all*of the tannins including the bitter note. Some loss of aroma was noticable, but deemed acceptable as the end product was much improved. Quite quaffable! kT and another local wine industry friend tasted the samples blind, both with the same conclusions as mine. Final tank treatment for 405 gallons was: 25 gms Gelatin (stirred for a full 15 minutes) then 200 ml Kiesesol (stirred for 10 minutes more) note the rate for Gelatin that I use for a minimal dose is 0.0567 gm/ gal and then adjust for increasing severity of the problem. Kies was used at 0.5 ml/gal. This was done yesterday at 4:00 pm and today it is ready to rack….hope to be bottling tomorrow. latron clyde
Response:
Ed G., The subject of a bitter note in Riesling was raised recently, and I mentioned our similar problem in the ‘99 Chardonel. Thought you might be interested in the results of the lab trials: …snip… Gel/Kies was most effective at removing *all*of the tannins including the bitter note. Some loss of aroma was noticable, but deemed acceptable as the end product was much improved. Quite quaffable!
Hi Clyde: Thanks very much for the very informative post. I checked my notes & found that I had fined the Riesling in question with 1.8g/USGal of bentonite & nothing more (as the wine was quite clear). Maybe a combination fining would have helped with the problem…However,… This wine displayed _NO_ bitter character at bottling…not even a hint. Moreover, it was perfectl fine 8 months after bottling. The bitterness manifested after about 1 year under cork. How does one predict & deal with the possibility of a problem which might occur 12 months down the road? Thanks Again: Ed The Viticulture FAQ & Glossary: http://www.itsmysite.com/vitfaq "Wine is more Guts than Brains". -Thomas Schmidheiny, Swiss Winemaker * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!
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