WineXpert Stags Leap District Merlot Part 1

This is the first installment in the adventure of making a red wine kit. Not just any kit, this is a WineXpert (yes, that's how it's spelled) "Eclipse" premium kit with Merlot juice and grape skins from the famous Stags Leap District in California.

[@stuh4645]

I will use RO water, any idea on a salts profile I could use for red wine?

[@dustanburrell1571]

I was contemplating this the other day and while I'm new myself to this and just guessing but with beer brewing the salt would matter because you're using water as an ingredient. Wine making from a kit like this though you're only replacing the water that was removed to concentrate it so to me it should be as pure as possible nothing added and as close to 0 ppm as possible. I have no proof that this is correct it just seams to make sense. I would love for someones input on this.

[@stuh4645]

@@dustanburrell1571 what you have suggested sounds completely plausible to me. For my first batch I will go with spring water I think rather than RO. I may also try something that I would use in a balanced beer profile with RO on future kit.

[@Yo-vv7vy]

Even though my kit provides clearing agents, I use a wine filter. I hand these out as gifts and I want zero sediment in bottles. Does filtering the wine remove sulfites?

[@makingwineathome1212]

No. There's been a lot of discussion about ways to remove sulfites from wine. But the most drastic is through the use of hydrogen peroxide, which I do not suggest as you could ruin the very gift you're trying to have folks enjoy. I have read that the limit of Sulphur dioxide in commercial wines is 350 ppm; however homemade wines should have less than 100, if made adhering to the directions. Remember, it's impossible to remove all the sulfites, as they are used to arrest the fermentation process.
What is it you're really trying to address? Sulfites are blamed for headaches (histamine response) and sometimes bitterness. The latter is typically attributed to the tannins in red wine and not sulfites. The former is typically attributed to dehydration and a histamine response. A good rule of thumb is to follow each glass of wine with a glass of water.
If you're filtering your wine, that's a great step to ensuring you've removed likely contributors to other issues. For my whites, I always use a fine filter (#3) that
polishes the wine (and removes potential microbial contaminates). For red wines, I use a #2 and possibly a #3 before bottling. But neither of these will remove sulfites, however both will go a long way to keeping your wines (especially white) from throwing sediment.
I hope this helps.

[@Yo-vv7vy]

@@makingwineathome1212 yes this helps. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t removing them by filtering. Thanks so much

[@Puddleford]

​@@Yo-vv7vy good to know, thanks

[@daveallison3037]

never use tap water

[@makingwineathome1212]

Correct. I say in my videos that you shouldn't use tap water. The water I use is typically spring water. I've also said that the water from my tap is fed from a well, which I have tested regularly.

[@snssambrekar8378]

Use 20 lit. Water Cane.or boil tap water .20lit water (drinking) Container is very cheap &good ......use best quality from UR area

[@pilsplease7561]

This is bullshit same with chlorine being a factor in brewing, im a commercial winemaker and we use tap water in cleaning stuff and for water to dissolve additives and stuff and just put it right into the must. No issues and anyone who says tap water is bad is full of shit.
Just like we sanitize with Proxi which is sodium carbonate peroxihydrate, rinse with tap water, add citric acid, rinse with tap water, then we use tap water ran through a ozone generator and run that into tanks right before we use them. Literally no risk.