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!