Back sweetening

[Boone1964]

Looking for some
Pointers in sweetening my wine
Should I bottle at the same time or wait a few days

 

[pjd]

Looking for some
Pointers in sweetening my wine
Should I bottle at the same time or wait a few days

The safest way is to wait a week or so after racking, adding sorbate and sweetening. That being said, I have racked, sweetened and bottled on the same day without any issues.

 

[Rocky]

Boone, like Phil said, best to wait for a few days to be sure you don't get a re-fermentation from the added sugar. The addition of potassium sorbate should guard against that but it is not always successful. One other suggestion I always make is to bench test before you sweeten the whole batch. I also suggest under sweetening just a bit because it has been my experience that wine tends to sweeten slightly by itself.

Good luck.

 

[salcoco]

make sure potassium sorbate is fresh ( less than year old) otherwise it is ineffective. Best route add sorbate and sulphur first wait a few days do bench trials for sweetening, add selected dosage to larger batch, wait a few days to make sure refermentation does not start then bottle.

 

[djrockinsteve]

Actually you should test to find the specific point of sweetness you like. Then back sweeten all of your wine adding sir ate and a pinch of sulfite per 5 gallons. Rack and airlock it for a few weeks.

This will allow any final CO2 to escape, the taste of sulfite will dissipate and you will see if the sir ate is good by not having a re fermentation on your hands.

When I bottled a week after sweetening I will still have a slight sulfite taste in the wine.

Patience will produce an even better wine.