can I bottle a 3 1/2 week wine

[pkirtani]

Hi,
I am new to wine making. About 3.5 weeks back I made raspberry wine )( 1gal) from a recipe. after transferring it to the secondary fermenter and raking it 2 weeks later, the wine is clear ( no sediment ).
the carboy has more than 2 inch airspace ... hence my concern..
1) should I bottle the wine?
2) top off the carboy with boiled& cooled water?
Thanks,
-Prasanna

 

[Rocky]

I would say that as long as you are sure that fermentation is complete and the wine is clear, you can bottle it. I would not add water to it lest you change the taste and ABV.

 

[dralarms]

Top off the wine with a similar wine, or something light like Apple. Don't bottle early you could end up with bottle bombs and that's a mess cleaning up.

 

[pkirtani]

Thanks. I tasted the wine and its pretty dry. What is the effect if I add sugar? also should I add a campden tablet and stabilizer to preserve it?

 

[Rocky]

If you plan to sweeten the wine, that is an entirely different problem. In order to guard against re-fermentation, you will need to treat the wine with Potassium Sorbate. Also, instead of using plain sugar, I suggest making up a simple syrup (one part water to two parts sugar) by dissolving sugar in water over heat. Let it cool before adding to the wine. I would also put the wine back under airlock in the event that the sorbate did not completely stop the re-fermentation. Once you are sure that there is no fermentation, you can then bottle the wine.

 

[pkirtani]

thanks. I want to sweeten the wine a bit. I have ordered potassium sorbate and am waiting for it to arrive.