4 replies to this topic

[North]

I opened up a few bottles of Merlot that I made that was about 15 months old. It seemed to have slightly carbonated. Like some white fizz/foam. Nothing that ruined the taste but did not look like it should be there. any ideas on what this was? prevention in future?

[Mynameisluka]

out of curiousity, what brand was it? i had something similar happen to an inexpensive bottle of wine before. i figured it was because they tried to cut corners and bottle early.

[strangebrewer]

So it did in fact carbonate? Is the wine still clear or is it hazy? Any off flavors? Carbonated red wine has a distinct flavor to it and if you got a secondary fermentation in the bottle the wine won't be crystal clear anymore. I've also seen cases where residual soap in a glass also caused a reaction resulting in effervescence.

[North]

I made this wine from a kit. it was a merlot. i am not 100% sure it carbonated. it had the white'ish look to it. the wine itself was very clear and there were no 'off' flavors

[strangebrewer]

I made this wine from a kit. it was a merlot. i am not 100% sure it carbonated. it had the white'ish look to it. the wine itself was very clear and there were no 'off' flavors

Do you have one of the wine vacuum pumps for sealing a wine back up after only drinking half the bottle (not that I understand how anybody does such a thing)? If so I'd open a bottle and pour a glass then try and seal it back up. When you pull the vacuum watch for bubbles coming up the shoulders of the bottle and foaming. If that happens then you may not have degassed your wine well enough though if this is the case then you would have noticed the fizzyness from the first bottle. Another possibility is was the wine ever exposed to large temperature swings? Particularly high heat? Being left in the car in the summer and then put back into a wine cellar would qualify.If none of these add up I'd go back to looking at residue in the wine glass.