The rewards and frustrations of home winemaking

Malolactic Fermentation on Merlot

Something interesting happened, the 6 gallon carboy of lot B merlot blew its top overnight.  I thought it was done fermenting …. oh well.  I’m sure it’ll be fine.  A lot of solids also fell out overnight, so I racked them both into clean carboys.  Each carboy got a dose of White Labs malolactic bacteria WLP675 that had been equilibrated to room temperature.  I did not add any nutrient, I wasn’t sure if the White labs stuff needed it.  I also added one ounce each of medium and heavy toast French oak cubes.  Another variable that should make the final tasting of all 3 batches very interesting!