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Question on SG readings

My wine competed MLF so I racked and added sulfite and put out to cold stabilize. I was surprised by the differences in specific gravity. The batches all fermented without problem except the merlot that had a hint of H2S that went away with racking. AFter cold stabilization I will add more oak chips to tast and bulk age for another 6 months.

At this time the SG readings after MLF are:

Pinot Noir: 0.993 Merlot: 0.993 Baco Noir: 0.997 cab sauv: 0.994

Are these normal SG readings at this stage? Will the SG lower a bit after cold stabilization? Will it be safe to bottle with a little residual sugar? If there some way of removing the residual sugar? thanks Sarge

Reply to
Sarge
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All readings are probably fine. The three that are less than 0.995 will be nice and dry and that is probably what you want with those. The 0.997 wine probably has a little residual sugar left in it. It may or may not be noticeable. I would not worry about it but if you are you might do a cline test to see how much sugar is actually left. If it is high enough that you are worried about it starting up again, you might treat it with sorbate before bottling.

Ray

Reply to
Ray Calvert

What was your starting gravity? It affects how low you can go by the amount of alcohol after fermentation Also did you temperature correct your gravity reading to the calibration temperature on the hydrometer?

Reply to
J F

The temperature held steady at 68F during MLF. This is pretty close to the standard SG scale. The starting SG were 22Brix (SG 1.092) and sugar was added to raise Brix to

23.
Reply to
Sarge

On mine I add .001 (60'F calibration) which proabably already in the error of your hydrometer unless you have a narrow range model.

Probably some sugar left behind. Does it taste semi dry?

If you're concerned about to trying to bottle ferment take a half pint sample in a plastic bottle, warm it to 80F and let it sit for a week and see if it gets bubbly. It is possible that during extended cold stabilazation and rackings that the yeast will go dormant and settle out.

Reply to
J F

Thanks JF and Ray for the suggestions:) Sarge

Reply to
Sarge

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