Wednesday, January 25, 2012

another taste of orange wine

When I bottled my orange wine I had a bit of a mishap and ended up with a half  bottle.  Thought I would experiment and see if it would keep as a half bottle.  I have bottled all my wine in recycled wine bottles with screw tops.   At the time I thought I would have to drink the wine to save it but the wine was just too rough, even though I gave it a good try.   Then a couple of months ago I opened the bottle and had a taste.  There were no funny floaty bits so thought it should be OK.  It didn't take me long to replace the cap as the wine had an after taste of metho.  I closed my ears to the cries from the family about how I should just throw the lot out before I poisoned myself and I let it sit again for another couple of months.   Today while having a bit of a clean I unscrewed the half bottle.  It immediately fizzed up like it had been aerated and shaken and I screwed the cap back on quickly.  It took several attempts of slowly letting the air out before I was finally able to take the cap off and have a taste.   WOW   It is amazing the difference a couple of months can make.  I didn't want to stop at a taste but I have to drive in about an hour and a couple of sips went straight to my head.   Apart from being so mellow now it seems to be a potent brew.  It still needs to mature for another couple of months for the optimum taste but if it keeps getting better like this it is not going to last for very long after maturity.  I do have a few concerns about opening the full bottles though.  What if they all fizz up like the half bottle or was that just a fluke because it was a half bottle.   I haven't the time right now to find out cause if it decides to fizz and makes a mess then I will have to clean it up.   So even though I am hoping that the full bottles have the same flavor as the half bottle I am going to leave it till I have thought about the best way of opening them.  Also I am a bit concerned that the full bottles might start blowing their tops, so I will have to be extra careful if I am moving them.  Oh the joys and dilemma's of an amature wine maker.

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