Cranberry apple wine by mixing two wines

[Ericphotoart]

I have 5 gallons of Cranberry wine that was stuck at 1.006, clear, and it has a great taste, slightly on a sweet side that I like and I am fermenting an apple wine which is now close to 1.000. It will be dry when the fermenting is finished. I plan to make a small batch of Cranberry apple or Apple cranberry wine but I'm afraid that by mixing dry and semisweet wine will start a new fermentation that I want to avoid. Should I treat it with Sorbate and Kmeta as when backsweetening?

 

[winemaker81]

The short answer is yes, you can stabilize the mixed wine as long as there is no active fermentation. No problem there.

What is your goal with this blend? Keep in mind the cranberry will overpower the apple, as a much stronger flavor, and blending in dry apple will reduce the sweetness of the cranberry. If this is simply an experiment, cool! Experimentation teaches us a lot!

If you haven't planned it, do bench testing by making up various blends in the glass, and taste testing them. You will probably want to backsweeten the apple just a bit, to bring out the fruit aroma and flavor.

 

[Rice_Guy]

The general instruction on sorbate is to use it within a week of before you are bottling.
Meta is a good idea any time you are moving/ racking.
Yes, ,, There is a risk of refermentation. there is another risk which is on a young wine you will have a few suspended yeast which will clump and generate some sludge on the bottom of a bottle, be careful decanting in that case or hold in a gallon jug with air lock till this is over.

I have 5 gallons of Cranberry wine that was stuck at 1.006, clear, and it has a great taste, slightly on a sweet side that I like and I am fermenting an apple wine which is now close to 1.000. It will be dry when the fermenting is finished. I plan to make a small batch of Cranberry apple or Apple cranberry wine but I'm afraid that by mixing dry and semisweet wine will start a new fermentation that I want to avoid. Should I treat it with Sorbate and Kmeta as when backsweetening?

 

[winemaker81]

@Rice_Guy makes good points, and got me thinking further. If it were me, I'd bulk age both wines so they are clear, and ready for bottling. At that time, decide upon a blend, backsweeten further if necessary, stabilize, and bottle. This will get you the result you expected when you completed the taste testing.

Other courses of action (such as blending the wines and letting the ferment continue) will produce a good result, but it may differ from what you are expecting.

 

[winemaker81]

The general instruction on sorbate is to use it within a week of before you are bottling.

That's my general thought as well; however, a Global Vintner Apres kit I just purchased has the sorbate added 5 weeks before scheduled bottling. Also of note, if this kit ferments out the ABV will be > 17%.

 

[Ericphotoart]

Thanks for your help. It is just an experiment. I have 5 gallons of cranberry and 10 gallons of apple so I want to have just more choices for me and my friends, not to mention my wife. Great suggestion to use small samples, like 1:3, 1:4, 1:5 ratios. Since cranberry is a stronger flavor it will be probably apple wine with a smaller amount of cranberry