timing advice sought regarding a sorbating

Sean:

Sounds to me like the fermenting is finished and the bubbles are CO2 escaping from the wine.

Are you planning to sweeten the 'plonk' before bottling? If not, then don't bother to sorbate.

However, if it is CO2, you may be advised to rack off sediment and stir to rid the wine of CO2. If there really is no sediment after racking, just poor the littgle bit in the current jug into the new jug (or drink it as a 'sample').

Steve

How old is the wine and how many times have you racked it? Darlene

I'd rack, then sorbate, then let sit for a few days, then bottle. .993 is dry enough for a welches!

DAve

Dar V wrote:

Hi Dave, It might be dry enough, but I guess I'm concerned about the amount of sediment left in the wine if it hasn't been racked enough. I follow Jack's advice; rack, sorbate, and let sit for at least 10 days before bottling, but this is usually after the Welchs has sat for 7 months and been racked 2-3 times already. Darlene

I dont anticipate huge sediment in the wine at this point, that would be a first. I will take a glass off and check it out, and if all is halfway decent, proceed to rack and sorabte and wait and bottle. Its maybe three months old. In there somewhere. I craft artisan wine this will not be, you understand.

Thanks guys

lol....too true.....in this case, actually my wifes taste buds...I cant drink it, it tastes too much like pop. But one pleases ones wifey at all costs, so concord wine it shall be! I just racked it...there was indeed a significant gooey sediment, and the wine is still cloudy. Thanks again for the assistance as always guys

If the wine is cloudy, don't even consider bottling! I'd add pectic enzyme, wait a week, add fining agent of choice, give it a couple of weeks, then evaluate for bottling.

As has already been mentioned, if you're not sweetening, don't bother with sorbate.

Bryan

I'm a little surprised you are still throwing a gooey sediment; this wine smells like grapes, right? (No stink is what I mean). Concord is grapey stuff.

I make sweet wine for other so identify with your situation. Tom S hated sorbate and I usually come around to his camp; he never led me wrong. Since you need to let this clear a bit anyway I am going to try hot bottling and will post the results. The idea is to bottle the wine 'warm' and let it cool slowly, the long contact time kills the yeast. I have some extra mediocre Riesling I'm willing to experiment with. I'll post the results.

It will be a little early for you to take advantage of if it works out but you do have other options.

You can bottle it all dry, then take half a bottle and fill the rest with sugar. Shake it until it dissolves, it will. (Yes, I'm serious.) That syrup will keep for months in the fridge. She can back-sweeten her wine to whatever level she likes and both of you are happy. When she runs out of syrup, use the last half of the bottle she opened to make more.

Sorbate can be problematic; it's commonly by home-winemakers used but I think it's more trouble than it's worth.

Joe

thanks joe...yeah it smells grapey.

To answer you question directly, I never sorbate until after the wine has completely cleared and no sediment is forming. You want all the yeast you can to fall out. Sorbate will not kill the yeast only stop it from reproducing so you want as few yeast cells as possible left in the wine.

Just a suggestion. No one says you have to bottle it all at once. I don't know how much you have but bottle a few bottles, maybe a gallon, and put the rest back to bulk age. Plane to drink what you bottled in a few months and it will not be a problem. There is not going to be any significant fermentation if it is down to .993. Then when the bottles are all drunk up it should be time to bottle the rest.

Ray