Topping Off Question

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Mesa512

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Hey Everyone,

So this is the plan for my white wine (I got a sheet from the wine making place when I picked up the juice).

I ferment for 7-10 days then rack and let sit for 1 month. Then rack and let sit for 2 months. Then rack and let sit for 3 months. Finally stabilize and when ready bottle.

I just racked for the second time (basically I am going to let the wine sit for 2 months now).

I have a couple of questions...hopefully someone will be able to help me out.

When I racked the first time (right after fermentation) I followed the directions and kept some wine in a separate container so I would be able to top off the wine when I rack. I am not sure why but I don't think I collected enough wine into the top off container. After racking just now I added some but it is not enough. If I were to add all the wine in the top off container to my carboy I would use it all and it still would not be enough. I decided to add a little and save some for future racks. I currently have about 2-4 inches of air in my carboy. Does anyone see that being a problem? Is there anything that I can do?

My second question is...I was thinking about adding some oak chips to this Chardonnay. I feel letting the chips sit in the wine for 2 months would be a LONG time. Is it ok to add the chips in for 2 months or will that cause too strong of an oak flavor? As an alternative could I add it for 1 of the 2 months?

Any help would be appreciated. Again this is my first batch of wine so I am just a little nervous. Thanks so much!!
 
I would top off until the wine is above the shoulders and into the neck of your carboy. If its not quite there, you can use a similar, store-bought wine to get it there.

I would oak lightly at first. You can always add more if it is not strong enough. Don't be afraid to use your taste to get it right.
 
Ok, thanks for the advice.

Regarding the oaking....I have never done it before. Would you be able to recommend how I go about doing it. I would appreciate it.
 
actually...I have a follow up question.

I ran your advice by my father who is helping me make this wine. He said he heard from a friend that you should never top off your wine with store bought wine. Is there any truth to that, if so what would be the reasoning?

Thanks!!
 
Oaking is done with cubes, spirals or chips. It doesn't make a big difference what form you use but ere on the lighter side of adding oak.

Oak is added after the wine is clear and is now aging. For my reds I use 6-8 ounces of oak chips per 5 gallons and that is probably on the heavier side for most. We just like that oak flavor in our big reds. For whites you would use less.

You could place some oak into a tiny stocking and tie it off with unflavored floss and when you insert the bung hold onto the floss leaving some extend outside the carboy allowing the bung to seal it against the glass.

In a week or two take a tiny taste. Just be cautious as you will be reintroducing air into the carboy again and you would have to stir the wine to redistribute the oak flavor thru out the wine.

Depending on how much wine you are doing you could split it up among 2 or 3 carboys, oak one and not the others. This way you could blend unflavored wine if it was too strong.

I myself leave my oak in all year for reds and 6 months for whites. Again ere on the lighter side. Keep records for next time.
 
actually...I have a follow up question.

I ran your advice by my father who is helping me make this wine. He said he heard from a friend that you should never top off your wine with store bought wine. Is there any truth to that, if so what would be the reasoning?

Thanks!!

Generally you should not co mix wines, especially different years. However if you have too much airspace in your carboy you will loose the wine so yes top it off with store bought wine if you have nothing else.

This is why we all have many different size bottles so we do not have to buy wine or use up precious wine from past season. It's not uncommon for me to have a 5 gallon carboy and either a half or a magnum beside it.
 
actually...I have a follow up question.

I ran your advice by my father who is helping me make this wine. He said he heard from a friend that you should never top off your wine with store bought wine. Is there any truth to that, if so what would be the reasoning?

Thanks!!

I have never heard that.

In an ideal world, you would not need to add additional wine to top up. In the real world, even with various sized containers and extra wine to start with, you will sometimes need extra to top up with. Once you have been at this a while, you can just pull a bottle of last season's wine but until then commercial is your best bet.
 
Reading your post, it seems you aren't going to stabilize until bottling, after about 6 months. Have you already added sulphite and (optionally) sorbate when fermentation was complete? By "stabilize" perhaps you mean adding sorbate at bottling time?
 
Reading your post, it seems you aren't going to stabilize until bottling, after about 6 months. Have you already added sulphite and (optionally) sorbate when fermentation was complete? By "stabilize" perhaps you mean adding sorbate at bottling time?

The instructions say after the third racking (so the wine has be sitting for a total of 6 months) It says to add Potassium Sorbate...let sit for a month, then bottle.
 
Do you plan on sweetening the wine before bottling? If not, you can skip adding sorbate.
 

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