Too Much Sulfite

Before treating, I suggest you know for sure you have identified the problem. You could send off a sample to Vinquiry and have them do some analysis for you, or you could have someone who is knowledgeable in wine taste and smells check it for you. It depends on how much wine you have and how much you are willing to spend to have it checked out. I have difficulty using the titrets used to check for SO2, others do not.

It's hard to imagine adding so much sulfite that you can smell it, how much did you add into what quantity of wine? It's hard to answer with any precision without knowing that.

I use titrettes to measure sulfite, it costs around $1.25 to measure using one. You can't use them if you are color blind and they can be tricky at first. If you don't use them but have access to a winemaking shop they will probably do it for you.

Let us know a little more about what you did and the condition of the peaches and grapes and we can go from there.

Joe

Some are very sensitive to sulfite, so it is possible to get that much, but it's an individual thing. Also, if you put in sulfite in the form of Campden tablets and didn't get them completely dissolved, you can get a white residue on the top of the liquid in the carboy, and your headspace will have more of a sulfite smell than the wine.

I'd try the titrets (I've had good luck), but take a sample from down within the carboy, if you understand what I mean. Also, smell the sample, and see if it's as strong as the sniff you've already taken.

Rob

David - It could be something else, but it could be too much sulfite. This is fairly easy to handle prior to bottling (simplest approach is to rack a few times, with some good splashing). However, if you have already bottled this batch, your options are more limited. You could open all the bottles, pour the contents back into a carboy, and take it from there (rack and splash) until the sulfite odor is gone, then re-bottle (with fresh corks). Alternatively, you could do the same thing when you open a bottle -- open it early, decant it (maybe pour it back and forth once or twice) and let it sit for a while before drinking. Time alone is a reasonable option only if you're very patient -- if the bottles were properly corked, it could be years before the sulfite level drops significantly. Most of us aren't that patient. :-)

Doug

Your best course is to add more wine to it that has insufficient sulfite. IOW you titrate the SO2 to the correct level.

To do this right, you need to know the pH of the wine and the free SO2. That sounds hard but it really isn't. You need to know how to do those two simple tests so you can avoid this problem in the future.

You also need to be aware that the correct amount of free SO2 depends on the pH of the wine. As a rough approximation, the 2 digits to the right of the decimal on the pH reading is what the free SO2 should be. E.g. for a wine at pH 3.20 the free SO2 should be 20 ppm. At pH 3.50, the free SO2 should be 50 ppm. Don't ask about wines at pH 4.00 or 2.90! ;^)

Tom S

Thanks, everyone for replying to this. I posted this along time ago and got busy and forgot about it. I am pretty sure that it is definitely too much sulfite because it is the same smell as when I am cleaning my carboys. Sometimes for a quick rinse before I start a new wine I rinse the carboy with a sulfite solution. This is how I came to the determination that the issue was too much sulfite. I smell the carboy for some reason.

I have already bottled these. I only made two one gallon batches so I am not to terribly concerned. I added about 2 tsps of sulfite to each gallon. I did this because I had read the peaches oxidize easily.

So the odor will dissipate naturally over time then? If that is the case I will just let it sit for a year and try it. I have enough wine that that wont be an issue.

Thanks,

David

2 tsps of sulfite per gallon?!?! Holy mackerel, you bet you've got too much sulfite - 1/4 tsp per 5 gallons is about 50ppm, so let's see, 2 tsps per 5 gals would be 400ppm, so for 1 gallon you've got 2000ppm! That won't be drinkable in your lifetime, no matter what you do with this wine.

Peaches might oxidize easily, I don't know, but you can't go overboard with sulfite additions just because of that. Measure your pH and keep the sulfite at the right level throughout the winemaking process and the wine will be fine.

Pp

When you say undrinkable, should I just throw it out?

David

Smell it, if it's very strong on sulfite, taste a little bit. At that level it might taste closer to a match stick than wine (I'm really not trying to be a smart aleck, just warning you it may be very bad). You would have to blend in about 20 to 40 gallons to reduce this to 50 to

100 PPM, so it may not be worth it. Sorry.

Joe

The sun will go supernova before that peach brew becomes drinkable! Your IT administrator would call this an "unrecoverable error". Sorry. :^(

Tom S

It actually does smell and taste like a match stick. I referred to it as smoky to someone.

It wont hurt me to drink it though, just may taste bad?

Thanks,

I don't believe that SO2 is especially toxic to humans. At least, I've never seen any posts about anyone getting sick from too much SO2 in their wine, nor does Pot. Meta come with any particular cautions about toxicity, etc.

It sure wouldn't hurt to open the bottle early and decant the contents (maybe pour it back and forth a few times, in a well-ventilated place). But I don't think you'll be willing/able to drink enough of this stuff for it to constitute a health hazard. Who knows -- it might even disinfect your digestive tract . . .

Doug

You might end up with an asthmatic reaction from drinking it, and it could be quite severe. I'd dump it.

Tom S

Throw it away, sorry. I'm pretty sure the limit in wine in the US is

350 PPM (and that is total sulfite, you have around 2000 PPM free, maybe 4000 PPM total). It's not worth doing anything with. I have done dumber things, so just chalk it up to experience.

Joe