sulphury smell in fermenting wine

[jen]

I´ve just started to ferment 200 litres of white wine about a week ago and I´m getting a sulphury smell from the barrel.does anyone know how to cure it ?...More oxygen maybe...what if I put a copper pipe in it.I saw this once but I cant remember if it was for this reason.
jen

[Tim Hall]

Some strains of yeasts are known to give off a sulphury/rotten egg odor, which usually ages out of the final ferment. I once made a batch of mead using a lab-cultured Koelsch yeast that stank up the whole house it was so bad, but it turned into the most clean-flavored mead I've ever made. I personally wouldn't sweat it.

[Tim Hall]

Jen,
I thought of something else. Did you do a "primary" fermentation in another vessel and rack this into the barrel for aging? Or is this the primary fermentation? You may have a variety of yeast that doesn't lend itself to the "sur lie" method, in other words leaving the wine on the yeast sediment. If this wine hasn't been racked once already, it may benefit from it.

[jen]

Thanks a million for that.
we have been sitting with all the windows open,hoping we could hang on to it.We had just decided to rack it off when I picked up your post.Its still fermenting strongly,I think it will carry on ok.We are about to pick another 200 liters plus of red this week,I love wild fermenting things,but its always a little nerve racking(sorry about the pun)when you first start something off.
jen

[Tim Hall]

I'm not an expert on on grape wine, but if the sulfury smell doesn't start to dissipate after the fermentation slows, you might think about getting it off the lees (once the fermentation has slowed). Otherwise I would leave it alone. The one thing I would council against is more oxygen at this point...the yeasts have probably moved well into their anaerobic phase of fermentation, and more oxygen will likely only serve to compromise flavor/aroma or invite acetic acid bacteria. Hope it turns out well.