First time making wine

Hey I got a blueberry batch going. The starting sugar was about 1.1. It's 0.99 now. It is in the secondary fermenter. I've racked it once and it is certainly getting pretty clear. The taste is very sharp. When I put it in the secondary to fill it up I used sugar water when I tried it then it the taste was decent so I'm assuming before bottling when I go to sweeten it it will turn out good. I have a batch of strawberry going also so I just want to double check so if I'm doing something wrong I can fix it for future batches

Welcome to winemakingtalk.

On your blueberry batch, did you by chance add any k-meta and sorbate beofre adding the sugar water? If not, then your wine is probably re-fermenting. What yeast did you use?

I knew that it was going to start fermenting again. I didn't add any. I added the sugar water over a month ago. The fermenting seems to be done. I haven't see any bubbles in the airlock in over a week. I took a sugar reading yesterday and will do another one in a few days to double check. I was under the impression you add the k-meta before bottling then add sugar water to sweeten it up. I used champagne yeast.

bubbles or no bubbles in an airlock is not an indication of fermentation or non fermentation. What was your hydrometer reading? If it is 1.000 or below then fermentation has been completed. And you need to realize that initially you were having an ABV of around 14% but with the addition of the sugar water that will be higher. In the future try to keep you sg around 1.080 for fruit wines, having them over 12% ABV, they start to lose their flavor.

When backsweetening you need to add k-meta and sorbate before adding any sugar. Also, if I was you, when it does come time to backsweeten, I would take some of the wine out, add sugar to that, warm it up to disolve the sugar and add that back to the wine.

Thanks. I was thinking that was the main issue. I did do less sugar for the strawberry I have going.

Also it is below 1. It is pretty clear also. Does that mean it is good to start sweetening and bottle soon?

rack it off of any lees and yes stabilize (k-meta and sorbate) and you can backsweeten. I would leave it sit for a month before bottling.

It needs to be crystal clear before you bottle. Your wine is still degassing as it clears and dropping sediment. Since you just racked I would leave it alone for two months and rack off the sediment that is there. My indicator for readiness to bottle is crystal clear, degassed, and no sediment drop for 60d after the last racking. Then I can move to dose with KMS and sorbate and backsweeten, monitor for 2 weeks for refermentation, and rack one final time before I bottle (because stabilizing/backsweetening typically causes sediment). This typically takes a minimum of six months, but I am in no rush.

Thanks. So many people do things differently. I am pretty confident when i sweet it that will be a lot better and cut down on the alcohol a bit. For my strawberry I used less sugar but I think for my next one ill cut down on it a little more.