Chardonnay no Sulfite screw up turned Brandy

[Dougmatt]

Well I listened to some folks around here and stopped adding potassium meta-bisulfite (aka kmeta) to my wine I was barrel aging in case I wanted to make Brandy with it in the future.

Bad idea

I pulled a taste at 12 months out of my barrel and sure enough the wine was completely oxidized. 6 gallons of really brown Chardonnay…. Took another 3 months thinking about it then racked it into a carboy…. Tasted nutty, lost like almonds, but defiantly oxidized beyond saving as wine, though I considered it heading toward a Sherri…. Everything I read said, don’t drink it will as it might make some people sick…. Decided what the heck and ran it through the still. Took a tight, slightly heads forward cut for a little less than 2L and 3 days in, it’s a nice drinking, nutty brandy. Threw some medium char French oak in the jars at 58% and crossing my fingers.

From now on, I think I will just add a little kmeta to protect from oxidation and not lose the wine…… Haven’t noticed anything off in my Brandy’s from wine with meta I’ve run yet.

[OldRanch]

I think this is a fortunate outcome. Not only have you learned kmeta is necessary for winemaking, and that it doesn't have any negative effect when making brandy, but also that you can run alot of undrinkable swill to a still and make a darn good product. I'm excited for you to take another taste after a year on oak.