Adding Sorbate

[Flame145]

Should all wines be sorbated prior to bottling, even if the wine has been still ?? Is this done for precaution ?? I was under the impression this is only done for fruit wine and any wine that would be back sweetened. The wine is a red made from grapes.

 

[jiml]

If you are 100% sure the wine is dry(no sugar left) then you could omit the sorbate. However, I believe that is going to be hard to know for sure.

If there is any residual sugar remaining, yeast could activate in the bottle and that could get ugly. Even if your bottles don't leak or explode, you will potentially now have carbonated wine.

I have seen people post here saying they don't sorbate but I would ask what is gained by taking that risk? I can see doing it once you are extremely experienced. Me? I will just sorbate for peace of mind.

 

[winemaker_3352]

I don't add sorbate in my dry whites - however - i do sterile filter them though and this will filter out any yeasts that might be there - so there are no worries about fermentation kicking off again.

 

[Tom]

Agree. I think most here "age" our wines. By aging there is no need to add sorbate.
If you want to bottle a young wine I would suggest to sorbate. If you plan on adding a f-pac or back sweeten then I would add.

 

[AlFulchino]

Jon and Tom pretty much summed it up.....for an early wine its a good precaution....although sterile filtering has its place

Jim....aging properly really leaves no risk

 

[Flame145]

Agree. I think most here "age" our wines. By aging there is no need to add sorbate.
If you want to bottle a young wine I would suggest to sorbate. If you plan on adding a f-pac or back sweeten then I would add.

What would you consider a young wine ?? 1 year or less

 

[winemaker_3352]

What would you consider a young wine ?? 1 year or less

Fruit wines are usually around 6 months. I would say in the 6-9 month range would be a young wine.

 

[Tom]

yea it depends on what wine you have.
Kit wines 6 months
grape wines 6-9 months

 

[Flame145]

Thanks, my wine is a red made from grapes. I have roughly 80 gallons. I do have 5 of it in a carboy and wanted to bottle early, only because I'm out of wine and don't want to buy it. So my thinking was to let my barrel and 14 gallon demigon keep on bulk aging and I want to bottle my 5 gallon carboy for immediate consumption. The wine would be approximately 5 months old.
Now I know that is young, but like I said I'm out of wine. Thank you everyone for your help. I'm learning something every time I come on this forum. Thanks again.

 

[Manimal]

Another point to consider is whether or not the wine went through MLF... Malo and sorbate don't mix. You can end up with a strong geranium aroma which is impossible to eliminate.

 

[Catfish]

Sometimes I get so confused. lol


This is from Jack Kellars website.


"A few words of caution about potassium sorbate are in order. It does impart a taste to the wine, however slight, and you might want to avoid it if you intend to enter your wine in competition. Also, avoid sorbate if you intend to keep your wines a very long time. The "slight" taste tends to get stronger over time and after several years can be quite disappointing."

 

[mmadmikes1]

sorbate is no substitute for good old aging. You say you want to bottle early then go ahead. I can taste sorbate in wine so I avoid it, but it is not alway possible and has its place. I sorbate all fruit wines that I f-pak and/or backsweeten. It will not help preserve wine like K-Meta.

 

[Flame145]

Another point to consider is whether or not the wine went through MLF... Malo and sorbate don't mix. You can end up with a strong geranium aroma which is impossible to eliminate.

No I did not do MLF. I might give that a shot next time around though.