Need Help!

[Robert10]

I have several bottles of wine that have that started re-fermentation after bottling.
Yes, I did add Potassium Sorbate before I added sugar.
I emptied the bottles back into the carboy and added more Potassium Sorbate.
Can I save this wine or has it already gone bad? Any recommendations?
Should I be using a non fermenting sweetener?
I am also trying to make some dry wine. It is very sour tasting. Will this improve over time or do I need to add something to the wine? Any recommendations?
I appreciate any feedback.
Regards,
Robert (the beginner wine maker) from the finger lake region of NY

 

[TonyP]

Welcome to the forum. It would be helpful if you would let us know exactly what you're making. You mention sorbate but not k-meta, although I assume you did both. There's no reason to assume the wine went bad and I'd go with degassing and bottling.

On the dry wine, we need specifics on what you're making and where you are in the process.

 

[Bailey]

Wine that's started fermenting in the bottle hasn't "gone bad". It will have a higher alcohol content though.

Make sure the fermentation has completely finished before sweetening (3 or more days with no change in s.g.) before stabilizing.

Sorbate does have a limited shelf life so check that too - storage conditions significantly effect shelf life. Cool and dry are the best rule of thumb here. If in doubt - throw it out.

Once stabilized and sweetened I try to watch for a week or so before bottling.

Do this with the 'referment' wine before rebottling and you should be ok. I've double sorbated (accidentally) before and not been able to tell a taste diference so you should be ok there too.

 

[Robert10]

Thank you for the feedback.
What is K-Meta and when should I use it?
I only have been using Sodium Metabisulfite for sanitation and Potasium Sorbate to prevent re-fermentation.

The dry wine we are trying to make is from NYS Foch juice and also Concord. Fermentation took place back in October of 2012 and bottled in November. Why does it taste sour? Does it need more time?

 

[tonyt]

K is periodic table symbol for Potasium. I had to ask the same thing a few years ago. Lots of chemists and smart folks on here. Sometimes they leave me in the dust.

 

[TonyP]

Continuing on Tony T.'s comment k-meta is similar to sodium metabisulfite, but with potassium instead of sodium. It's preferred by most wine makers over the sodium alternative.

 

[BernardSmith]

K-Meta and sodium metabisulphite have the same functions. They are essentially identical. I think there was a shift from Sodium metabisulphite to Potassium metabisulphite because of the desire to use less sodium, but K-Meta and Na Meta act to kill wild yeasts before fermentation, act as a sanitizer and act with K Sorbate to stabilize and prevent further reproduction of the yeast in the wine before bottling

 

[Julie]

did you take any hydrometer readings to determine if your wine had completed fermentation?

You need to add the k-meta and sorbate if you plan on backsweetening. K-meta kill current yeast and sorbate prevents yeast from growing, it's like the birth control of yeast.

You need to figure out if your wine is still fermenting because you just might need to degass it if fermentation did not re-start.

 

[REDBOATNY]

The dry wine we are trying to make is from NYS Foch juice and also Concord. Fermentation took place back in October of 2012 and bottled in November. Why does it taste sour? Does it need more time?[/QUOTE]
You probably have a high acid (ta) content in the Concord and Foch. It is best to deal with before fermentation with calcium carbonate or dilution (water). You can also reduce some acid by adding potasium carbonate, then cold stabilizing. Sometimes I do both when dealing with northeast juice. I also live in Upstate NY and have had to learn to deal with high acid. I just bottled some Catawba that was 1.11 Ta, and was able to get it down to .70. All with help from this forum, and a good ph meter for acid testing. It may mellow some as is, or sweeten to taste for a chillable red.

 

[Deezil]

I am also trying to make some dry wine. It is very sour tasting. Will this improve over time or do I need to add something to the wine? Any recommendations?

Looks like RedBoat beat me to it, but this sounds like high acidity.

Depending on how high the acidity is, the potassium bicarbonate may or may not be needed - cold stabilization might do it itself, but the potassium bicarbonate helps drop more acid in the form of crystals.

Once dropped out of suspension through sustained temps in the high 20's low-to-mid 30's for 2-3 weeks, they wont dissolve back into the wine & you can warm it back up and rack off the crystals, and remeasure the pH/TA

 

[Pumpkinman]

The dry wine in question really just sounds like it is very young, if you fermented in Oct, and bottled in Nov. there wasn't much time to bulk age at all, and to be honest if it hasn't had a chance to age, then it also hasn't had much of a chance to release much CO2.
CO2 will add to the tartness of a wine, making a wine appear to be very acidic as well.
Bulk age and cold stabilize before you add anything else to adjust the acidity, time is the most important tool and additive, if you start adjusting the wine now, in 6 months you will have a totally different wine on your hands, and the adjustments that you make might be over kill and excessive.

That said, After having a batch of back sweetened wine start fermenting on me, I now wait at least 4 or 5 days to back sweeten after I stabilize with Meta and Sorbate.
I use to stabilize and back sweeten fairly fast, no more.
If the wine that is refermenting is a red, it will hide a lot of the extra Sorbate that you will be adding, but I agree with Julie, add Meta and Sorbate together.