Bottling time. Potassium sorbate? Potassium metabisulfite?

I am soon ready to bottle my first batches of wine. I have 42 gallons in total. They were all made from juice from my local homebrew shop. I have:
6 gal Pinot Noir (unoaked)
6 gal Pinot Noir (oaked)
6 gal Cabernet Sauvignon
6 gal Sangiovese
6 gal Merlot
6 gal Pinot Grigio
6 gal Chardonnay

They're all dry wines (FG under 1.000), with no plans to sweeten. They're all cleared nicely, and they taste good to me. They've been in Better Bottle carboys for about 8 months now. I wanted to leave them closer to a year, but I'm going to be moving soon, and I'd rather bottle them than risk oxidation with the sloshing around in a moving truck.

Anyhow, I'm not clear on whether I should be using potassium metabisulfite or sorbate. I used potassium metabisulfite initially prior to adding my yeast, and nothing since then, with two rackings done in that time.

Because there is still a light layer of lees on the bottom of the carboys, I plan to rack them again just prior to bottling (like bottling day), since I'll be bottling with a racking cane and bottle filler, and will likely stir up the lees. Should I add the metabisulfite/sorbate when I rack? Should I add it several days before bottling?

I've been homebrewing for about five years now, but this winemaking stuff is all new to me!

Thanks for the help!

You are going to get some of the more experienced winemakers to chime in here but for now I can tell you this.
No need to worry about sorbate if you are not backsweetening.

I believe you are definitely going to want some potassium metabisulfite, especially if you haven't added any in 8 months. You are probably going to need to check the levels first. From my limited experience, I believe you should have been racking every 90 days or so and adding potassium metabisulfite at that time, along the way.

What DJ said. You should have been adding K-Meta all along. Skip the sorbate if you are not backsweetening.

Rack now, and add 1/4 tsp k-meta to each receiving carboy. That will give it time to disperse before bottling.

Thanks guys! How long should I wait after racking and adding K-meta before I bottle?

I would rack, add 1/4 tsp (1.5 grams) metabisulphite at that time. Let it sit overnight before bottling. I say that so you have a nice clean bottling and there is time for the SO2 to disperse. No need for the sorbate.

Thank you!

We rack out of the primary, degass, add metabisulfite and then bottle. Not sure why people are adding KM and waiting, just dissolve your KM in a quarter cup of water and stir it into your wine after its been degassed and then bottle. As far as your first question, its not do I add either PS or PM, its that you should add KM anyway, and then add PS if you are going to bottle a wine with residual sugars in it. Sounds like you are off to a good start, hope your new place has enough room for your new hobby or your going to have to move again when you fill up the new place with carboys WVMJ

Does the skip the sorbate apply also for kits?

grapezilla said:

Does the skip the sorbate apply also for kits?

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You can skip it only if the kit doesn't call for backsweetening. If it calls for adding additional sugars (f-pack, juice concentrate, etc.), then you need to add the sorbate, or else the yeast will consume those extra sugars, drying it back out and producing CO2 while in the bottle.

That extra CO2 can be dangerous, as the only options to relieve it are to shoot out the cork or have the bottle break. In the brewing world, they are called "bottle bombs", since, as the name suggests, the end result is explosive.

I'd rack, adding the aforementioned 1/4 tsp to each 6 gallon batch. Then I'd put the carboys in an elevated location for at least a week, and do a final racking right before bottling. This way, you can rack one last time before bottling and not worry about stirring up sediment when you put the carboy on the counter for gravity racking.

WVMountaineerJack said:

We rack out of the primary, degass, add metabisulfite and then bottle. Not sure why people are adding KM and waiting, just dissolve your KM in a quarter cup of water and stir it into your wine after its been degassed and then bottle.

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Jack,
Help me out here.

Are you saying not to add KM every 90 days or so, and just do it after it comes out of the primary only? OR
After adding your last bit of KM(following 90 days, etc.), just bottle right away and don't wait for it to disperse?

Also, the way your post reads, you rack out of primary, then bottle. I assume there is some clearing stage(s) in there also.

Thanks for all the help guys! I'll rack and add k-meta either today or tomorrow, then bottle in the next few days.

WVMountaineerJack said:

We rack out of the primary, degass, add metabisulfite and then bottle. Not sure why people are adding KM and waiting, just dissolve your KM in a quarter cup of water and stir it into your wine after its been degassed and then bottle. As far as your first question, its not do I add either PS or PM, its that you should add KM anyway, and then add PS if you are going to bottle a wine with residual sugars in it. Sounds like you are off to a good start, hope your new place has enough room for your new hobby or your going to have to move again when you fill up the new place with carboys WVMJ

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Having room for my brewery/winery is definitely a necessity for my new place! I've been brewing for about five years now and have amassed about twenty or so brew buckets, a dozen carboys, and ten kegs, plus all the brewing equipment... And now I'm considering going electric for brewing so that I can brew inside (I use propane now, which I have to use outside)... So there is more equipment and more space needed! And now that I'm getting into making wine, I'm already planning more and better bottle storage space.

It just never ends!