On Thu, 5 Dec 2013 21:36:16 -0800 (PST), dncswclds
> wrote:

>
>You definitely have to watch for contamination but I always make sure it goes through the whole process until I sample the wares. Time cures a lot of problems so what it was you sampled too early. Usually tastes like crap until the last few weeks.

Until the yeast has settled out and the wine is relatively clear, it
will be very awful tasting. If it is to be a sweetened wine, it will
still not taste right until it's sweetened, but the really awful taste
of new wine will be gone as long as you've waited long enough for th
eyeast to drop out or have removed the yeast by filtering it out.

Time is a better answer than filtering, though, as you also filter out
some of the flavor components in the process. I typically do 4
rackings before bottling. Once after fermentation is completed, then
every 30 days. The last one is at bottling time.

Donald