# Question regarding fortifying peach wine



## olusteebus (Sep 7, 2012)

I will have about 6 maybe 7 bottles of peach wine I am making available to do something different with. I think I will get a .750 liter bottle of peach brandy and add that to the wine.

To complement the brandy, what degree of sweetness (spec. gravity) should I shoot for. I do not want a real sweet wine, just sweet enough to complement the brandy.

I am assuming one bottle of bradny will suffice.

Also, If I do that, would a bottle of the brandywine that has been opened last longer then a regular wine.


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## Turock (Sep 8, 2012)

I read about someone doing this at another wine site. They said to add 1 cup of peach brandy--apparently they meant 1 cup per 5 gallons.

This would require some bench testing to know how much to add to each bottle. There are 20-25 bottles per carboy depending on how much backsweetening has been done. 

Yeah--it's possible the brandy is sweet enough. Add the brandy FIRST--then adjust sweetness level if needed. Will it last longer opened? Maybe--depends on how much brandy you add. But I find that opened wine with a good tasting cork in it lasts a long time in the frig,anyway.


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## olusteebus (Sep 8, 2012)

Thanks Turock, I will add the brandy before sweetening. 

I have never tasted a cork. Do you mean a new one?


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## Deezil (Sep 8, 2012)

olusteebus said:


> I have never tasted a cork. Do you mean a new one?




He means a Tasting Cork, of good quality... They're the tops that you sometimes find with liquor bottles - they have a real cork insert but have a plastic top affixed to them & they just push in and out of the bottle as opposed to needing a corker.. They arent a long-term solution though, mostly for already-opened bottles


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## Turock (Sep 9, 2012)

Yeah--what Deezil said. I also have some that aren't "cork" and those really stick to the sides of the neck and seem to do a real good job of keeping the air out. 

But then, the term "left-over wine" is a foreign term around here!!!!


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## Rocky (Sep 9, 2012)

Olusteebus, not sure how much "fortifying" you are looking for but adding one bottle of peach brandy to 6 or 7 bottles of wine will not raise the alcohol level all that much. I did a quick calculation _making some assumptions_. I you do 6 bottles of 750 ml wine at 12% alcohol and add 1 bottle of Peach Brandy at 35% (70 proof), the resulting 7 bottles of fortified wine will only be about 15.3% ABV. If your peach wine is higher or lower than 12%, the resulting fortified wine would be higher or lower.


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## olusteebus (Sep 9, 2012)

Thanks Rocky. I am not so much interested in increasing the alcohol. I want the peach wine to take on a brandy taste and feel. Would one bottle not do that?


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## Rocky (Sep 9, 2012)

If that is your intent, one bottle would be fine. Do some bench testing to be sure you are getting what you like. Take one bottle of the wine and mix in 1/6 or 1/7 (depending on whether you do 6 or 7 bottles) of the Brandy and see what it takes like.


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## saramc (Sep 10, 2012)

I have only fortified when my wine has fermented dry and will stabilize with k-meta plus sorbate just in case the alcohol content from the soon to be added brandy is not high enough to prevent any new sugars from fermenting. I find I like to use 5-5.5 ounces of E & J VSOP brandy per gallon. (but the amount of brandy you opt to add will depend on what ACV you are seeking) I let it rest under airlock for a few days and taste and adjust the residual sugar if needed. I will have to calculate one day exactly how much this addition increases the ACV. 

IMHO: As far as lasting power of an opened bottle of fortified wine, it honestly depends on what the final ACV is. I have a Blackberry Port-style wine that is 21% ACV and I keep it sealed with an all-wooden t-top cork. This wine lasted seven months opened/sealed and in the refrigerator (it took me that long to drink it all) and the same wine also is fine on my counter for weeks. That was my personal experience. 

On tasting corks, can also find them listed as "t-top or tee top or bar top corks". At your LHBS you should find the clear plastic ones that are just "stoppers", or even the plastic topped cork. Many wineries use the wood topped t-top with their dessert wines and ports as the permanent cork, and I have even seen commercial wine sold with the black plastic topped t-top cork. 

















The photo of the three corks together is courtesy of http://www.homebrewit.com/wine-making-cork-supplies.php


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