Ok, this may fly in the face of conventional wisdome, but I have to ask
> this question. Since I started making wine, I have always added sulfites
> to keep oxidation down and protect the wine. I have never made a wine
> without sulfites. But, I recently had a wine tasting with a friend of
> mine who ONLY addes some sulfites to the must before fermentation (to
> "kill wild yeasts") and never adds any later. His wines are always
> terrific. His wines have a depth and flavor that surpasses most of my
> wines. I wonder if that extra bit of oxidation he gets actually helps to
> smooth out his wines. Ok, so some questions. . . .
>
> Does anyone have experience with fruit wines with AND without sulfites
> that could comment on this? In fruits other than grape, how much damage,
> or is it beneficial, to have some oxidation? Are there any studies that
> show sulfites conclusively add to the lifetime of a wine in the bottle? >
> Thanks for your input . . .
>
> Greg
Well, if you ferment the wine to some significant alcohol level such as
12.3% ABV or higher, the wine will generally preserve itself if well kept and sealed. The sulfites at this % and higher are more of a precaution than not.
I personally like to feed my wines gently until they no longer ferment and then feed a little bit more to desired sweetness, then my wine gets stored in bulk for more than a year. I know its still chancy that I might have a bottle restart fermentation in the bottle, but in 12 years I haven't had it happen yet. I try to avoid sorbates because they degrade the wine over time.
It also helps that I like stronger wines. My wines typically range between
13-15% alcohol for my dry wines, and up to even 18% for some of my sweeter wines, especially the Bing Cherry Wine I make for my wife.