Ok, I made an apple wine. I used mostly bottled juice (with about a dozen apples of various types chopped up as well), added cane sugar to get the right gravity, corrected the acid level (using citric acid; don't shoot me), and fermented on two ounces of medium toast american oak chips using Lavlin EC1118.
Now primary has come to an end so far as I can tell. It's below 0.995, and falling clear. There's maybe 3/4" of lees settled. Should I leave it on the lees for a few months and then bottle it? Or should I rack it off the lees sooner? To do the latter, I'll need to top it up with a commercial wine. Any suggestions?
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N
Negodki
If you fermented "on the skins" (of the dozen apples that you chopped up), you should press immediately that fermentation stops, rather than leaving those skins and seeds in for any length of time. If this is the case, you will have to add more oak chips, as they will be "filtered" out with the skins and seeds when you press.
Regardless, you should move the wine from the (wide-mouth) primary to (narrow-mouth) secondaries, and top up. (Wide-mouth) primaries allow far too much headspace and surface-area exposure. But you can pour it or ladle it into the secondary (slowly, using a funnel), rather than racking, so you retain most of the lees and the oak chips.
Then, I suggest waiting 1-2 months from the time fermenation stops until the first racking. If you rack sooner, you will probably have
3/4" sediment again within a few weeks. If the wine is not VERY clear by this time, moving it into a refrigerated environment will do more to make it clear than anything else (in my experience). The oak chips should probably be left in until this first racking, depending how many grams/gallon you used.
A second racking may be needed in another 2-3 months, and possibly a third or fourth (each 2-3 months apart). A loose sediment will continue to form for some time, and you really don't want that in your bottles --- because it will cloud up when disturbed.
You will lose 10-15% of your volume due to racking, and thus you should have a variety of sizes of secondaries so that you don't have to top up with commercial wine or distilled water. Of course, once you have your own wine, you can top up with a bottle from last year (and drink what's left in the bottle after racking).
If possible, let the wine bulk age for at least a year before bottling. There will be a world of improvement in the taste.
There's nothing wrong with using citric acid for your acid-adjustments with apple wine, although malic would be preferable.
R
Ray
Just want to check some things on your procedure.
Normally you do not take primary fermentation down to 0.995. That is about the end of secondary. If you are truly still on the pulp in primary you need to press it and get it off. I don't know if you will get much secondary as there is not much left to ferment.
If you pressed a while back and are truly in secondary and it is finishing secondary and starting to clear, I would give it a couple of weeks after all fermentation ends and then rack off the leas for bulk aging. I would not leave apple wine on the leas for months.
On topping up. I would hate to think of topping up apple wine with any commercial wine. Where would you find a commercial wine like what you made? If it is full rich apple wine with plenty of alcohol a little water would not hurt. I would find proper size smaller jugs or even wine bottles and put in it containers that will properly hold it rather than messing it up with commercial wine.
Ray
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