adding yeast to a sorbated wine?

Question

Hello,I had a look at some wine I bottled a few weeks back and it looks like I was too early.  They had more sediment than I was comfortable with and a slight cloudiness to them.  I emptied them back into a demijohn with half a crushed camped tablet.  There wasn't enough to fill the demijohn, so I added 1.5 pints of water with about 1/2 lb of orange blossom honey and about 1/4 lb sugar, followed by a new yeast starter.  I can't remember sorbating the wine, though it's possible that I did.  Am I right in thinking that sorbate just prevents yeast from breeding and not from making alcohol?  If so, will the yeast survive long enough to work on the sugar and honey I added?  I hope so, I tasted the wine before hand and I think the honey will be a perfect addition to it.

Steve · Accepted Answer

demijohn,If you added sorbate to the wine, then the yeast will not multiply. Hasit started fermenting? If not, you may have your answer ;)Steve

alien · Answer

It seems to be fermenting very slowly, there's a small layer of sediment which I stir up daily by gently shaking the demijohn to try and keep things moving.  I think this is going to take a long time.

Steve Thompson · Answer

Give it time, let the yeast do it's thing.Steve

Dar V · Answer

Can I ask what kind of a wine is this, how old the wine was when you bottled it, and how many times you racked it before bottling?DarleneWisconsin

alien · Answer

Apple & Cranberry,It was about 3 months old when I bottled, and it was in the bottle about a month.  The wine was clear until I moved the bottle, but it took days to settle again.  I think I racked it twice after moving to secondary. Once after three months and once again after fining.Dar V wrote:

pp · Answer

secondary.3 months is pretty short for a fresh fruit wine. It's probably justnormal sediment still settling down from suspension. You can even getsediment after filtering if you filter too early. The particles needtime to combine to get big enough to fall down, so even if the winelooks clear, it can still throw sediment later in the bottle.Pp

alien · Answer

That's what I was thinking, I just needed (well, wanted) the demijohn, I just didn't think it would be this bad.  I'm using a larger one for it now, which is why I topped up.

Dar V · Answer

I agree with the other poster; that's a bit young to bottle. I don't bottle my fruit wines until they are at least 7 months old; which some may think is still too young to bottle. Depending on the wine & how much sediment falls out, I will rack 2-4 times during that 7 months. Usually the most sediment I have in a bottle is a very light dusting (which is acceptable for me). I guess I would do what the others suggest with this batch, but the next time allow your batch to sit longer and bulk age.  You'll be surprised by how much sediment will fall out if you let it sit a few more months. Good-luck.DarleneWisconsin

adding yeast to a sorbated wine?

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