A year in!

[Bossbaby]

ABV is found by entering the original SG taken just before you started the Fermentation as your "Original SG" and the SG reading when fermentation was completely finished as the "Final SG" I looked back and found that at one point the SG (Before adding any Sugar) was at 1.026 - Did you add some sugar and take a new reading? That new reading taken hopefully very shortly before adding your yeast - That would be your "OG" Let's assume that you pushed it up to 1.066 before adding yeast - In that case if you ended up with a final SG of .998 then your ABV is 8.93. A tad low but still a viable wine. It will just need to be properly protected with your K-Meta which you indicate you have been doing at racking time.

To determine how sweet your wine is "by the numbers" you simply take a new SG reading of the wine once you have back-sweetened the batch. KEY POINT - Those numbers are just that - numbers - How sweet the wine is - that's what you determine with your taste buds and that's what matters most. If you are going to base the sweetness description by the measurements using the percentage of Sugar then Sour-grapes has given you that method.

For me I just make sure first, that I like the way it tastes - once that is where I want it - THEN I take an SG reading. The impact of the numerical sweetness is just a book number because the tartness, strength of flavor and the Alcohol content will all impact your perceived sweetness but again that perception is what matters most when you and friends are drinking your wine.

Have you been adding sorbate at every racking or just K-Meta? Sorbate only needs to be added once and it's most effective if added just before back-sweetening.

Yes, it was quite strong before I added any sweetener when we tasted it yesterday. I added the k-meta and racked it back to my carboy and gallon jugs while I wait for the corks and sorbate to arrive. Will add the sorbate and back sweeten and then bottle. The corks info said I should NOT soak them as I have seen recommended. I know I need to sanitize them...so what should I do?

If you have a floor corker you wont need to prepare the corks, they are sanitary as long as there kept sealed in the packaging, I keep extras in a zip lock bag.

 

[Sunshine Wine]

If you have a floor corker you wont need to prepare the corks, they are sanitary as long as there kept sealed in the packaging, I keep extras in a zip lock bag.

I do have a floor corker!

 

[hounddawg]

I do have a floor corker!

just my .2 cents worth, I've never sanitized a cork, i keep mine in gallon freezer bags up high on a shelf, i wash my hands before touching anything in my wine room, i keep at the door face masks because i have a permeant tracheostomy tube ,, and i keep exam gloves as well at the door to my wine room, but I'm the type that if i drank out of the milk jug I'd throw the milk away before putting it back in the fridge, funny thing is I'm single, home is a mess, typical Dude, lol,, but when it comes to my food or drink, i tolerate zero. shucks half my home is tool storage, saddles, you name it, OMG, but i was raised where i never got in the fridge growing up, mom would get every thing even if we 4 boys got thirsty at 2 am, we were dotted over, my manners stuck, my respect stuck , my food and drink stuck, hehe everything else went to heck in a basket, lol
Dawg

 

[Scooter68]

The pH you mention is on the high side but not out of reason. I prefer my finished wine to be 3.4 or lower but 3.6 is OK too.

As for corks - If they come in what appears to be a factory sealed bag, then you should be able to use them as it. Some folks do a quick dip in a sanitizer and then put them on a paper towel until they use them (In a short time) Some folks make what someone called a "corkador" basically a pretty strong solution of K-meta in the bottom of a jar and then put a baffle or some sort in there to keep the corks out of the solution but in the air and put a lid on. And some just put them in a basket Large jar and give quick spritiz of a strong k-Meta solution into the jar, put a lid on and let them sit there while they bottle the wine up. By strong I am guessing that they use like a teaspoon of K-meta in a quart or gallon for their spray or corkador solution. I use starsan and do just a quick dip and put them on a paper towel while I bottle up the wine. What you don't want to do is use wet/damp corks as they can slip out to easily.

 

[Sunshine Wine]

Printed some labels! I like this design! What do y'all think???

 

[Bossbaby]

Printed some labels! I like this design! What do y'all think???View attachment 70086

That will look very nice against a blackberry backdrop!

 

[Scooter68]

Very Nice

 

[Scooter68]

By the way if you want to add a little bit of color to your labels you can look at the colored artist paint pens. I used a deep red one of them to make a "Swoosh" across underneath my Plum wine name. A pen like this from Hobby Lobby. They have all kinds of pens some with wide chisel shaped tips

 

[winemaker81]

Getting old labels off the bottles and getting them washed up! Any suggestions for printing your own labels? I'm getting excited!

I really like the look of your label!

I took @Scooter68's advice with the Avery labels, although when I checked the package I purchased, I have Presta 94215 instead of the 94212 (don't recall why I have a different product). These labels have a plastic-like finish, can be re-centered if you goof while applying a label, and don't wrinkle in high humidity. Plus they peel off cleanly with no residue.

Mine are 6 labels per sheet and fit a bottle like this:



I prefer Bordeaux bottles as they stack better on their sides, and I place the labels low so they match when I use non-Bordeaux bottles.

For split bottles which I use for dessert wines and liqueurs, I have used a shorter label, although the 94215 fits on splits.



For non-dry wines, I list the residual sugar. I use the SG from when fermentation was complete and the final SG to calculate the residual sugar. [Recently I realized I was doing the calculation wrong. Oh well!]

The desktop version of Avery's Design & Print (which I use) is no longer offered -- Avery wants folks to use their on-line product. I tried it some years back and the online version used fonts my printer did not support, and printed a batch of really ugly labels before I realized. The current version is probably better than it was, but I get consistently good results with the desktop version, so I stick with it.

EDIT -- @Scooter68 reports that current online tool produces a PDF, so the printer font problem no longer exists.

I'm already designing my labels for this year's wine:



Design & Print lets me set a background image and place objects (text, pictures) where I want. This tool is designed to print labels, so I create one label and it prints 6 on the sheet (templates are available for ALL Avery products). [I'm sure other products do this as well.]

I made the background by opening a picture in Paint.NET (free graphics program) and washing it out (fading it). An unfaded picture made the text very hard to read, and dominated the label.

I had access to a color laser printer pre-COVID, but printed last year's wine labels at Staples (office supply) at a reasonable cost -- they let me bring in my media. I'm looking to purchase a personal color laser printer.

Regarding what to call the wine? Yes -- whatever you want! The pictured bottle is a 2019 2nd run blend of all my grapes from that year, so I unimaginatively called it "Red Blend". The Black Forest is a RJ Spagnols dessert wine kit, which was formerly marketed as "port", although they removed that name probably due to copyright and/or trademark infringement. Since I'm not so constrained as a non-commercial winery, I use "Port" on the label. Other names include "Merlot", "Zinfandel", "Elderberry", "Elderberry Port", etc.

The proposed label for next year is a blend of Bordeaux grapes grown in California, so I selected "Meritage", which is the name selected by the Meritage Alliance to avoid copyright infringement for member wineries marketing Bordeaux-style blends. [Member wineries pay a fee to use the name, but I'm not a commercial winery and my wine will never go beyond family and friends, so I am ok with using the name.]

Edit -- my brother-in-law makes up names as he's making the labels. Some were obviously created following extensive quality control, e.g., he was obviously lit. One name I remember is "Just Peachy" for a (you guessed it!) a peach wine that tasted just like a fresh peach. Unfortunately he only made 5 gallons of it ....

 

[Scooter68]

Never had font issues with the Avery site but I did have an issue with drifting labels. Their tech support provided a fix that worked the first time I used it but.... the issue returned. Then I bought a color laser printer (Same one I mentioned in an earlier post on this thread.) It has worked without issues since then. So I suspect a lot of potential issues with label printing have to do with settings on the printer and in their program. My labels are downloaded as PDF files so the font really isn't an issue for me.

What works for you best is what matters.

 

[winemaker81]

@Scooter68, thanks for the update, it's been a number of years since I used Avery's online tool. I have updated my post to reflect this.

 

[Sunshine Wine]

Getting ready to bottle!! Wish me luck!!

 

[Rembee]

Yes, the dry, semi-sweet or dessert was what I wondered about. How do I know what it is considered? Not sure how to figure ABV, either...lol. I'm leaning toward a table or dessert wine because I like it sweeter. Will keep researching! I'm going to go with my title on here: "Sunshine Wine". Just trying to figure out what all to put on my label. Thanks for all your help!

Sunshine Wine reminds me of a quote from Galileo,
"Wine is Sunlight held together by water"

 

[Sunshine Wine]

Is this about right? I used the bottle filler and when I took it out, this is how much space is left...

 

[Rembee]

Is this about right? I used the bottle filler and when I took it out, this is how much space is left...

Is there suppose to be a picture included ?

 

[winemaker81]

Is this about right? I used the bottle filler and when I took it out, this is how much space is left...

The bottle fillers I've used displace enough wine that when I fill a bottle to the brim, when the tube is removed, the wine level drops to a proper level.

 

[Rembee]

You want enough space left for the cork to be seated without spillage.

 

[Sunshine Wine]

Sorry forgot to post the picture..lol.

 

[winemaker81]

The wine level looks a bit low. When filling, let the wine rise to the rim of the bottle before stopping. Put a paper towel beneath to catch drippage, and wipe the bottle if necessary. With a bit of practice, you'll spill very little wine.

If you have a full bottle of that style, compare it to yours, they should be close. In general, you want 1/2" to 3/4" between the bottom of the cork and the wine.

 

[Rembee]

As mentioned from winemaker81, fill to the brim with the bottle filler then once you remove the bottle filler the level in the bottle will be at the proper height to insert the cork with no spillage.