Back sweetening problem

[terroirdejeroir]

I am new to making fruit wines, but have nevertheless had some success. When I have back sweetened wine in the past I have followed the proper procedure for adding sorbate and kmeta and then proceeded directly to sweetening the wine.

This process worked for both strawberry and persimmon wines as fermentation did not restart and the wine cleared nicely in a few days. Two weeks ago I stabilized and back sweetened some peach wine and it still hasn't cleared. Two questions:

--Is it really necessary to wait after stabilization to sweeten?
--Is it safe to assume my peach wine will clear on its own or do I need to add some sort of fining agent?

I don't usually add any fining agents for fruit wines as they seem to clear pretty readily on their own - usually...

 

[ronhayesthw]

I think you'll need to fine and filter. I don't believe it will clear on its own

 

[Julie]

Peach can take awhile to clear, if you are not in a hurry to bottle, let it sit for a few months and see how it goes.

 

[Tom_S]

I've sweetened and added potassiun sorbate and metabisulfite directly afterwards, but there's a chance that a little refermentation might happen before the yeast dies out. Waiting a while after adding sorbate and K-meta gives the yeast time to die out before you sweeten. But I don't think it's absolutely crucial to wait.

 

[Deezil]

How well, and how quickly the peach wine clears depends on how well its been degassed. Even then though, peach is one of those fruits that takes a while (months rather than weeks)

My 2010 peach wine cleared out fine, just took its sweet time. I've never used fining agents in any of my wines, nor have i filtered any although i do own one.

 

[terroirdejeroir]

In the future should I wait 48 hours to sweeten after stabilizing?

 

[Julie]

In the future should I wait 48 hours to sweeten after stabilizing?

You can but to be honest, I stabilize and usually an hour later I'm bracksweetening.

 

[Tom_S]

I don't think that you need to wait 48 hours. You might not even really need to wait at all, and can start backsweetening when you add the sorbate & metabisulfite.

 

[terroirdejeroir]

Thanks much

How well, and how quickly the peach wine clears depends on how well its been degassed. Even then though, peach is one of those fruits that takes a while (months rather than weeks)

My 2010 peach wine cleared out fine, just took its sweet time. I've never used fining agents in any of my wines, nor have i filtered any although i do own one.

I degassed (again) my peach wine and it cleared almost immediately. Seems like there is always more gas....