SO2 regimen for fermented wine in carboys.

[YoungsBlock19]

My wine has completed MLF, been racked, sulfite at a rate of 50ppm, and a solid bung to keep the air out.

A couple of questions:

1) Figuring that glass doesn't breathe, will I need to sulfite again between now and bottling?
2) I racked at end of primary and secondary fermentations; do I need to rack again between now and bottling?
3) Is there a benefit to aging the wine in carboys vs. bottles? I normally bottle in late summer to free up carboys for after the harvest crush.

Thanks for any input.

 

[Hazelemere]

My wine has completed MLF, been racked, sulfite at a rate of 50ppm, and a solid bung to keep the air out.

A couple of questions:

1) Figuring that glass doesn't breathe, will I need to sulfite again between now and bottling?
2) I racked at end of primary and secondary fermentations; do I need to rack again between now and bottling?
3) Is there a benefit to aging the wine in carboys vs. bottles? I normally bottle in late summer to free up carboys for after the harvest crush.

Thanks for any input.

Take it up to about 85 ppm total which should give around 28 ppm free at bottling i.e. 1/8 tsp each time you rack into a 25 bottle carboy adds about 11 ppm, into a 30 bottle carboy adds about 10 ppm. Wine ages better in bulk i.e. no oxygen through a cork, especially if the carboy is cool.

 

[Rice_Guy]

There is enough expansion between January and mid summer that I would expect a solid bung to pop off. You could do the reverse and take a warm summer carboy and have a solid bung stay/ pull a vacuum through winter.

 

[ChuckD]

I racked at end of primary and secondary fermentations; do I need to rack again between now and bottling?

At this point I don’t worry about lees until bottling. Even when aging a year In bulk. Also, when in bulk I have let them go up to six months without adding k-meta with no issues.

 

[winemaker81]

Supposedly gross lees (fruit solids) drops within 24 to 72 hours after fermentation completes. If your last racking was after that, then any sediment dropping is fine lees (yeast hulls) which can remain in the wine indefinitely. Look up "sur lie" and "battonage" as techniques you may consider.

Wine goes through a lot of chemical changes in the first 4 to 12 months. Bulk aging allows the wine to change as a single unit. I found, to my displeasure, than bottling early can lead to a lot of bottle variance, where I had good and bad bottles from a single batch.

OTOH, wine ages quicker in smaller quantities.

I'd stick with the plan of bottling in the summer.

 

[BigDaveK]

At this point I don’t worry about lees until bottling. Even when aging a year In bulk. Also, when in bulk I have let them go up to six months without adding k-meta with no issues.

I do the same. Boatload of benefits doing sur lie. I also do batonnage.

Try this for batonnage!!!!!!
I put my jugs and carboys on an old kitchen lazy susan. I spin jugs about 10 seconds, carboys about 15. Don't have to open to stir!!! No exposure to oxygen!!

 

[BigDaveK]

Expanding on what Bryan said - I had a couple 4 gallon batches that I broke down to a 3-gallon carboy and 1-gallon jug. The 1-gallon jugs were crystal clear a couple weeks sooner than the 3-gallon. Size matters for aging.