WineXpert WINE EXPERT WINE CONDITIONER

[K&GB]

I got a bottle of the WE wine conditioner for back sweetening their kit wines, but I don't know what to expect if I use it. I plan to back sweeten a viognier that has finished clarifying. The bottle says 2 oz per gallon, but how sweet will that make the wine? I really only wanted to raise it to about .1% residual. Has anyone else used this product before? Any suggestions?

 

[grapeman]

Go slowly adding it. I would take out no more than a gallon and start with a small amount and add until you get almost as sweet as you want.(make sure you keep track of total addition per that gallon)Then multiply times five and add that to the rest of the batch(5 additional gallons-6 toatal).Example- you add one ounce per gallon and like it. Add five more ounces to the rest so you added 6 ounces total per 6 gallon kit. The advantage of the conditioner is that it will add a bit of body along with the sweetness.


Remember you can always add more but not take it back out.!Have fun sampling until you get it right!

 

[Wade E]

That is sound advice and remember, the sweetness will be perceived as more after it has aged a little.

 

[K&GB]

Bench Trials! I need to paint that term on my garage wall. Thanks.

 

[NorthernWinos]

That stuff is really sweet...go easy with it.

 

[myway22]

Regarding wade's post, does that mean that if you add the conditioner, the wine will get sweeter with age, or lose a bit?

 

[K&GB]

From what I've read, wine gets sweeter as it ages,even dry wines. I'd be interested to hear someone explain why.

 

[smurfe]

From what I've read, wine gets sweeter as it ages,even dry wines. I'd be interested to hear someone explain why.

The Wine Conditioner is a very viscous liquid that will not really be mixed and concentrated into the entire mass of wine when you first back sweeten. You would really have to beat the snot out of the wine IMHO to really get it mixed and dissolved well into the entire liquid mass. As the wine ages the sugar dissolves and dispersed throughout the wine intensifying the perceived sweetness.


This is my take on it and only my opinion. I could be total BS and hold zero merit of any coursebut hey, it makes me happy and I believe it.

As noted, go easy with it and taste often as adding. It is very sweet and I find if you over do it it gives the wine an off after taste.


The sweetness level will sneak up on you to. I was sweetening a raspberry an ounce at a time and it was not there yet. All of a sudden it was too sweet for my tastes. Correct me if I am wrong to but isn't this the same stuff that make up the F-Packs in sweetened kit wines?

 

[myway22]

I think it is somewhatthe same smurfe, but my question was more about kits that don't have the F-pack.

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

From what I've read, wine gets sweeter as it ages,even dry wines. I'd be interested to hear someone explain why.

I think its not the wine gets sweeter, the sweetness that is there is there, but as it ages the fruit flavors start to come forward, giving the perception of sweetness. Taste when done fermenting, its hot, alcohol taste, in time flavors develop, and if over sweetened early the flavors will clash with the too high level of sweetness. When I back sweeten I try to go a little under what I think is right, knowing its flavor profile will change when the fruit taste develops. Edited by: JWMINNESOTA

 

[Wade E]

What JWM said!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jhawk]

I used 1 whole bottle on a WE Vinter's Reserve Riesling kit to sweeten it a bit. And it came out perfect.

 

[mtstarr]

I have used this in the past and had problems with it. I would love to know what to do differently. Here is the scoop. I started with 6 gallons of wine and split it into two 3 gallon batches. I did a bench test to figureout how much sweetener to add. I took one of the half batchs, 3 gal, and sweetened it with WE conditioner. Stirred it in to the 3 gallons of wine. It tasted great. I bottled all six gallons and labeled them to tell the difference. After about a week the sweetened wine began to get floater in it. I have a bottle that I kept and it is disturbing how much "stuff" is in there.


On to the attempted rescue. I uncorked all bottles, put them into closest fitting jug I had, add an air lock and put it into a 32 or so degree fridge. After a couple of weeks I pull the jug, rack the wine and rebottled. The wine is much more clear but still has a small of amount of "dust" like particles if you roll the bottle.


The wine was from a kit so it hashadpotassium metabisulphated andpotassium sorbate added prior to the last racking.

 

[K&GB]

Werackedour WE viognier off the lees this past weekend (after three weeks clearing with isinglass) and tasted. It was very nice and crisp. We racked into a 5-gal carboy and a 1/2 gal jug, and we had almost a full bottle left over so we decided to sweeten the bottle. We added about 7 mils sweetner to an almost full 750 mil bottle and refrigerated. After several hours of chilling, we tasted the sweetened wine. It had more body in that it seemed a little more viscous, almost creamy rather than crisp. Sweetness was a good level, but my wife detected something that put her off. She couldn't describe it exactly. To me it also tasted a bit yeasty, but she didn't notice this. I personally liked it.


We plan to bulk age fora while. Then when we bottle, we plan to sweeten some with the conditioner, some with table sugar, and some not at all.


KenEdited by: K&GB

 

[muscadine wine]

I have the same problem with a batch of my wine. I had filtered it, and was going to bottle it a few days later. At that time I decided it still wasn't sweet enough so I added about 1/2 bottle of wine conditioner. I bottled it the next day. I now have what appears to be sugar crystals (?) floating around in my wine.

I was going to do just what you did, only I decided to heck with it. The particles may dissolve or not. If no one else likes it, I will drink it myself. It does taste pretty darn good!