Question about order

[southlake333]

I've made quite a few batches now but two things have been bothering me that I'd like to get clarification on.

Normally my process is to ferment till below 1.010, then rack to secondary carboy. From there I ferment dry, then rack again to carboy onto pot sorbate and kmeta. I then add sparkolloid to that mixture and let sit for a week or two. At that point the wine is clear and ready for sweetening/bottling.

So my questions are around backsweetening and kmeta. First, if I backsweeten with juice after it clears, I am sometimes introducing particles to the wine that will fall out in time. So should I age a bit in the carboy after sweetening rather than bottle right then? Or should I wait to add Sparkolloid until after I've sweetened? What I have been doing is just sweetening and then bottling.

That leads to my second point of confusion. Should I be adding more kmeta (campden) when I bottle? Or is there enough left from when I stabilized and cleared (considering that was only 1-2 weeks prior)?

 

[DoctorCAD]

If you don't rush to bottle, everything will fall out in time. I like 30 days after any additions to see if anything drops before bottling, and I filter most of my wines.

 

[southlake333]

So you'll sweeten, then leave in the carboy for 30 days after that? I might start doing that. How about kmeta/campden? Do you add more when you bottle after 30 days?

 

[DoctorCAD]

I don't add any additional, but I do wet-rinse all of my bottles with a 3X strength sulfite solution, so there is some in each bottle. It is an anti oxidant, so I figure it can't hurt.

 

[Turock]

In order to properly stabilize the wine, you need to add meta along with the sorbate.

 

[southlake333]

I don't add any additional, but I do wet-rinse all of my bottles with a 3X strength sulfite solution, so there is some in each bottle. It is an anti oxidant, so I figure it can't hurt.

I do that too but I still worry.

 

[southlake333]

In order to properly stabilize the wine, you need to add meta along with the sorbate.

Per my original post, I do:

...From there I ferment dry, then rack again to carboy onto pot sorbate and kmeta. I then add sparkolloid to that mixture..

Assuming you are attempting to answer my second question, the question was, if I add kmeta during stabilization, should I add it again when bottling if I bottle a week or two later? Or possibly 30 days later?

 

[blackfin1]

Hello:
Just some thoughts on adding kmeta before bottling; I add kmeta and sorbate after fermentation to stabilize the wine. I then wait or bulk age for as long as I feel fit. Now, the rule, from what I have read and have been using now for quite some time is; you should add an additional dose of kmeta every three months for antioxidant reasons. If you decide to bottle before the three months are up, then I would just bottle. If you are beyond the 3 month mark, add kmeta then bottle. No need to add kmeta if you already have a dose in the wine. Every 3 months is the ticket with kmeta.

I hope this helps,
Sal