FAQ

We package our oak in multiples of 30gr and add the amounts we deem appropriate for each varietal. You can choose to add all of the oak provided, none at all, or slightly more. There is no wrong answer. However, the supplied oak quantity will help you obtain a taste as close as possible to the wine varietal. If you prefer a specific wine without oak, you can omit that step and save the oak for another product, or give it to a friend. The toasted oak (dark) will impart a smoky, chocolate/caramel flavor, whereas the natural oak (light) imparts more of a vanilla-type oak taste.

Actually, it isn’t. We provide a pack of yeast nutrient with every winemaking product, which should be added when the specific gravity is 1,040-1,050, as the fermentation is tapering off. This will give the fermentation a boost and ensure it finishes dry (sugar completed fermented out). If you prefer, the yeast nutrient is a little bit like an ‘insurance policy’ ensuring that the fermentation will be completed. All our products can be made without using the yeast nutrient at all, it might just take a little longer for the fermentation to complete without it.

Not to worry, simply add the package marked wine yeast as soon as you realize the mistake (the sooner the better). When you reach the yeast nutrient step, simply skip over it and continue with the remaining instructions. However, be careful when adding the yeast, there may be formation of foam and overflow of must out of your fermenter. We advise you, before adding the yeast, to divide your 23L of must beforehand in two fermenters in order to avoid any overflow.

We recommend stirring daily during the first phase of the fermentation in order to resuspend the yeast and encourage it to “eat up” more of the sugar. It is ideal to stir 2 times/day, but stirring one time every day is also fine. If you forget to stir your wine once, don’t worry – simply stir again the following day.

Many winemakers do not have an airlock on the primary fermenter because technically this is not necessary. If you already have an airlock and bung on your lid, please ignore the direction of not sealing the lid of your primary fermenter.

Yeasts need oxygen to live, to multiply and to turn sugar into alcohol. The must in fermentation releases a lot of CO2 gas during the primary fermentation. Yeasts, if they are ”submerged” by too much CO2, will not be able to complete their mission and finish the fermentation. In addition, the lid helps prevent external contamination in your must. Additionally, it makes it simpler to stir the must daily without having to remove the cover. However, if you have an airlock and prefer to continue doing it your way, that is fine too.

We do not include Bentonite in our products as it is not required in our opinion. The Kieselsol and Chitosan finings are just fine for clarifying after fermentation, and the addition of extra clarifiers is detrimental to the taste and colour of the wine.

Technically, yes. Malolactic fermentation is a process by which bacteria turns malic acid into the more ‘buttery’ lactic acid. However, we don’t recommend malolactic fermentation because of the many factors out of our control, which can result in several things going wrong. Many winemakers do still wish to pursue a malolactic fermentation, but should be aware that they do so at their own risks – unfortunately, Mosti Mondiale cannot honor its 100% satisfaction guarantee on a wine with malolactic bacteria added to it. If you still intend to make your wine undergo malolactic fermentation, we strongly urge you to follow the malolactic bacteria manufacturer’s instructions very carefully.

All of our wines Ph and acidity levels have already been adjusted to optimal levels.

It is quite common to notice rather odd smells during the fermentation process. The musty smell of reduction sometimes appears during the (alcoholic) fermentation. It could happen, from time to time, that the wine doesn’t smell as good as you anticipated during the early days after the end of the vinification process. Most often this is because of a by-product of the work of the yeast that converted the sugars to alcohol. Wait a few weeks at the most and the smell in question will have disappeared. If you adequately filtered your wine, leaving no sediments, your wine should not smell bad post-fermentation.

We recommend topping up with finished and filtered wine, in order to not dilute your newly fermented wine. For example, adding 500mL (16.9 oz.) of water to a full batch of wine with 13% ABV will bring the final alcohol level to 12.7%, as well as slightly unbalance the pH and acidity. On the other hand, 500mL of wine at 11% ABV added to a full batch of wine with 13% ABV will maintain the final alcohol level very close to 13% (12.95% to be exact), as well as maintain the acidity and other important parameters close to their original and intended values. Please note that topping up your carboy is very important in order to avoid oxygen contact that can ruin your wine!

All wines can produce small tartaric crystals if chilled, known as “wine diamonds”. This is, in fact, a very natural phenomenon that occurs in wines made with fresh must.  If you wish to prevent this, you may chill your wine in the Carboy by placing it in a cool temperature and let the crystallization process occur before bottling. For white wines only, we recommend the use of Kristalblok®, a completely natural crystal blocker. DO NOT use in reds or rosés. The tannins of red wines will react with the Kristalblok® and make the wine hazy and unfilterable. The use of Kristalblok® will NOT alter the taste of your wine.

The more often a wine is racked, the more oxygen it absorbs. As a general rule, this speeds up the aging process and sometimes removes certain sulphurous aromas that result from the fermentation process. Racking- transferring wine from one container to another – gets rid of eventual deposits, therefore reducing the need for fining and filtering the wine later. It should be noted that, as well as oxygenating the wine, racking also helps to eliminate some of the carbon dioxide gas. As with everything, however, this technique should be used judiciously and with moderation, especially if you wish to preserver the wine’s fruity, varietal aromas at their best.

Although not recommended, you can choose to bulk age your wines in the carboy for several months prior to bottling. To do this successfully, we suggest adding ½ teaspoon of potassium metabisulfite for every 6 months of bulk aging in addition to the potassium metabisulfite included with your winemaking product. For example, if you plan on bulk aging for 3 months (or less), you would only add the potassium metabisulfite included with your product as stated in the instructions, then if you let it age for another 3-6 months, add another ½ teaspoon of potassium metabisulfite, and then bottle.

There are a couple of ways to check the sulfite inside your wine; using a small titration kit or you can equip yourself to perform a ripper titration. In the event that you are not equipped to measure your sulfite levels, we recommend that you add 3 grams of sulfite every 3 months. We strongly recommend that you measure your sulfite levels to avoid any unpleasant surprise either by contacting your local home winemaking shop to discover what tools can be made available to you to properly measure the sulfite currently found within your wines.

The clarifiers (Kieselsol and Chitosan) we use are made from shellfish derivatives so consumers should be aware that anyone with a shellfish allergy should not consume a wine clarified with these clarifiers. Other clarifiers are easily available, including Bentonite. Some individuals also have a sensitivity to metabisulfite.