Fizzy Wine

[Khristyjeff]

I just bottled some Petite Pearl, Foch and Marquette wines. I started Petite Pearl in September of 2020, Foch and Marquette in September of 2021.

Added sugar to taste before bottling and mixed it really well with a whip in my drill. I did not add anything to prevent re-fermentation because of how long the wines had been in a carboy.

All 3 wines are very fizzy. What are your thoughts/suggestions? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[Rocky]

I would guess that your wines are undergoing refermentation. I have never had the issue because only on one or two occasions did I back-sweeten a wine. In those cases, I added the Sorbate before adding the sugar, so I am not sure what you should do at this point.

 

[Rice_Guy]

At this time I have had fizzy wine twice, roughly a two year old apple and an under one year which was for spring contests.
This year with the two year old apple I pasteurized in a five gallon stock pot heating (in the bottle without cork) to 140F, > moved to an ice chest for gentle cooling > and then recorked next day/ once cool.

Option two is to pour back into a carboy > add sorbate > degas > recheck the free SO2 and sweetness level > rebottle

Option three filter with 0.45 micron ,,, basically add extra layers of safety.

 

[Khristyjeff]

I would guess that your wines are undergoing refermentation. I have never had the issue because only on one or two occasions did I back-sweeten a wine. In those cases, I added the Sorbate before adding the sugar, so I am not sure what you should do at this point.

Thanks Rocky. I rarely have backsweetened as well so a learning experience for sure.

 

[Khristyjeff]

At this time I have had fizzy wine twice, roughly a two year old apple and an under one year which was for spring contests.
This year with the two year old apple I pasteurized in a five gallon stock pot heating (in the bottle without cork) to 140F, > moved to an ice chest for gentle cooling > and then recorked next day/ once cool.

Option two is to pour back into a carboy > add sorbate > degas > recheck the free SO2 and sweetness level > rebottle

Option three filter with 0.45 micron ,,, basically add extra layers of safety.

Option 1 sounds the easiest.

I tried malolactic fermentation on the Petite Pearl and had read where adding sorbate to that could cause off flavors so wanted to avoid sorbate if possible.

I always enjoy your informative responses.

 

[Rice_Guy]

You shouldn’t have to experience that defect, ,, sorbate is metabolized by Ozaie (common strain for MLF fermentation) producing a geranium plant flavor.

The normal answer for Ozaie is to add metabisulphite since this organism is sensitive to free SO2. There are other organisms that metabolize malic generally categorize as wild lactic acid bacteria. Control for wild MLF can be 1) treat with lysozyme 2) treat with Bactiless and the old school 3) reduce the pH to 3.2 or less combined with SO2.

 

[HillPeople]

Rack into a carboy with recommended sorbate dose and K-meta, no headspace, and let it sleep in the dark at <60 degrees for 6 months to a year. Then rebottle. Time is wine's best friend.

 

[Khristyjeff]

Update: I decided to pasteurize this fizzy wine--using 2 canners on the stove top heated to 140F+ to kill the yeast. Will let these first batches sit overnight and cork and clean bottles tomorrow. I've blown one cork and with a second bottle, the bottom actually blew out. Luckily I wasn't near when it happened. I've turned on the air conditioning in my basement to cool things off and hopefully prevent more explosions until I can get the rest processed. Not a fun process but will be nice when it's done.

Good news is that the first batch of pasteurized wine tastes very good and is clear. Thanks again for your counsel.