First time making riesling

Winemaking
1

I am making my first 5-gallon batch of Reisling. It’s been in the demijohn since September, racked a few times, very clear, but still tastes off. How long should I expect to have to wait until it is time to bottle? I am hoping the off-taste is just because it is not yet ready and not because I did something wrong and the whole batch is ruined.

Thanks

2

If it has been in the carboy since september it was probably ready to bottle by october or november. If it is clear and stable you can bottle it.

Questions:

A) What are the off flavors you are detecting?

B) Is this a kit wine? Which exact kit are we talking about?

3

[quote=“Brew Meister Smith”]If it has been in the carboy since september it was probably ready to bottle by october or november. If it is clear and stable you can bottle it.

Questions:

A) What are the off flavors you are detecting?

B) Is this a kit wine? Which exact kit are we talking about?[/quote]

I just saw your comments - sorry for the delay in responding. This is not a kit wine - I started with a 6-gallon tub of Riesling juice and followed directions from the supplier. I can’t pinpoint if the off taste is because it is still young or if it is turning. A Google search turns up a whole lot of conflicting opinions. I was hoping there was a Riseling maker on this board to help.

4

Can you describe the off taste? Three months of bulk aging following the completion of fermentation should be plenty. Did you it go through MLF? Have you measured TA?

5

It’s slightly sour but not acidic and not to the point of tasting like vinegar. At this point I’m thinking the thing to do is bottle it and give it a month or two to mature further before drinking. Keeping it in the demijohn any longer is not likely to help any. Does that sound right?

6

Sometimes sour can be due to acidity. Its always a good idea to measure pH & TA.
I don’t see much of an advantage of further bulk aging.

7

Since this is not a kit wine, there can be a few more factors involved here. And I will definately be generalizing not knowing too much about the juice you got.

Factors:

  1. Where were the grapes from and how was the vintage year there?

  2. Have you bought juice from this source before? What quality are they and are they consistent

  3. Riesling can be particularily tricky, especially in a mediocre vintage. This is one of the most acidic grapes out there, so if they don’t have the sugar content to match that they can be puckeringly dry. This is why many German producers add “Suisse Reserve” to many Rieslings for younger drinking. Otherwise some of the top end Rieslings in the world can age for 25-30 years (just to take the edge off) A massive amount of time for white wine.

I digress a little here but I would say fresh pressed juice is going to always give you more mixed results than a kit. Time is still likely to be the greatest asset you have. If you think this was quality juice to begin with, I don’t see a reason for it not to come out in the long run.