When I first opened up the flextank, there was a very nasty layer of white film on top again.  I’ve seen this too many times before, but it has always just been an innocuous pectin haze.  The wine overall smells OK, though it has a slight acetylaldehyde whiff at first.  This odor does go away with a little time in a glass, so hopefully will blow off with all of the transferring it will go through today.

We pumped the wine out into several carboys and loaded them into the car with the empty flextank.  Then the syrah got to go for a ride down to the shop, where it was pumped back into one of the empty, neutral American oak barrels.  We also filled another whole 6-gallon Better Bottle and partially filled a 5-gallon carboy.  It’s been a long day, so I pitched about a teaspoon of Kmeta into the barrel and 1/4 tsp into each carboy.  I’ll check the free SO2 later and add some oak cubes, it definitely needs it!

When I moved the carboy for racking, the layer broke up into yucky white clots:

Luckily, though, these clumps either floated at the top or stuck to the sides, so I racked the wine away from it pretty successfully.  I took a sample to taste, it was very clear and had no off-odors or strange flavors.  Hopefully this means whatever that is on top is not something that will harm the wine.

I also checked on the small bottle that had the white layer before.  There was a faint oily-looking layer on top, but nothing significant.  I also took a sample from this bottle, and again it smelled and tasted fine.

A close inspection of the other carboys revealed another layer forming on a 6-gallon carboy of the petite sirah.  This layer was not as thick as the one on the merlot, but I racked it off also to be safe.  This wine also smelled and tasted fine.  Now it’s time to wait and hope for the best!

I discovered that one of the 4-liter bottles of merlot has a funky white layer similar to the one I found on the rescued petite sirah. I hope I can remedy this one better, since the infection came back in the petite sirah after racking.  Before racking I dipped cotton swabs in a Kmeta solution and tried to fish off some of the white stuff. I racked it into a clean bottle, and soaked the oak in cleaner/sanitizer solution before rinsing and adding back. I also stirred in a pinch of Kmeta to make sure there’s enough sulfite to keep the stuff from growing back.

It is at least very clear.  Nice oaky, fruity aromas, nothing strange;  the flavors are also great, lots of oak with tart fruit, but no detectable off tastes.  There is a good bit of acidity on the tongue, but our merlot last year was really big and tart similar to this at this stage.  I’ll hope for the best, a whole gallon of wine would be quite a loss if I can’t get rid of whatever this is.

The primitivo has been settling out since October, so it seemed like time to poke at it.  I like to splash rack my wine that is bulk aging in carboys at least once to try to give it a little oxygenation while it’s hanging out.

The primi has become wonderfully clear already, a lovely purple-ruby in color.  I gave it a taste to try to decide if I should leave in the oak cubes or not.  The wine with American oak cubes was quite spicy and definitely had a strong oakiness, so I won’t transfer those cubes after racking.  The wine with French oak, however, had a much more subtle oak character, so those cubes will get added back to the racked wine.  Overall the primitivo has nice aromas of ripe fruits with good spice.  Rich, velvety flavors of cedar, spice box, blackberry and currant are developing nicely.  I’m so glad I got these grapes!

I also have a small bottle petite sirah sludge that I want to get off of the nasty lees.  When I went to pull off the cleared wine, I saw that it had thin layer of creepy white stuff on top.

It smells OK, like wine, nothing funky.  So, I dipped under the weird layer and pulled off the clear wine.  I got about 400 mLs off, then took a little sample to taste.

It’s pretty, nice and clear, deep dark garnet in color — and totally yucky.  It’s got aromas of acetone plus something sickly-sweet, and tasted equally as nasty.  Ick.  I sprinkled a little bit of Kmeta in, otherwise I’ll just leave this one separate to see if it gets over it, or feeds my vinegar cultures in the garage.