WineXpert Sugar

[690ride]

Can I sweeten my wine before bottling? It is Riesling.

 

[Runningwolf]

Give us some details please. Did you stabilize it with meta and sorbate??

 

[690ride]

It is a wine kit. Just added the last packets with the kit and degassed ..waiting the 14 days to bottle.

 

[cpfan]

It is a wine kit. Just added the last packets with the kit and degassed ..waiting the 14 days to bottle.

If you added all of the packets, then yes you can sweeten the wine. You probably should do it now. Just be sure that one of the packets was sorbate.

BTW, wine kit questions are usually better asked by including the name of the kit.

Steve

 

[690ride]

Vintners reserve reisling

 

[Rocky]

One caution. Sweeten slowly so that you do not over sweeten the wine. That is very hard to correct whereas if it is not sweet enough you can always add more sugar. Bench-testing is highly recommended.

There are two ways to go about sweetening; Simple syrup and sugar added directly to the wine. Simple syrup is two parts sugar to one part water, heated to dissolve the sugar and cooled before adding to the wine. Addng sugar directly to the wine is best done by taking about a pint of wine, heating it slightly (do not boil) and adding the sugar to it to dissolve. Cool and add to remainder of the wine.

 

[winemaker_3352]

Agreed - sweeten little bit at a time to taste. When you have it where you want it - let it site for a couple weeks - make sure the sweetening doesn't cause sediment to occur -then bottle.

 

[MN-winer]

I made this kit as my second kit a few years ago. This kit was excellent after sweetening it. We raised the sugar level very high and my wife loved it. She liked it better than the Columbia Valley Reisling that WE has at 2-3X the price. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. As others say - go slow. We did bench testing with teaspoons per glass and then added to the carboy. Make sure you let it sit for a few weeks before bottling to make sure that you don't have refermentation. Its rare with kits but you never know and nobody wants blown corks and wine all over the place.

 

[690ride]

I added the metabisulphite, sorbate, and the fining agent...degassed 4 days ago. The wine is clearing quickly. Can I still add the sugar? Do I need to stir it into wine or just pour in carboy? Suggestions on amount of sugar per gallon. Thanks in advance.

 

[Rocky]

a. Yes, you can still sweeten the wine.
b. Read my post above on two ways to sweeten the wine. You can also add a white grape concentrate, but then your wine would no longer be a pure Riesling.
c. DO NOT "just pour" the sugar into the carboy. It will take forever and a day to dissolve.
d. The amount to add is driven by how sweet you want the wine to be. What is the SG reading now? See this SG chart to determine what kind of wine you want in the end:

Dry <1.000
Medium dry 1.000-1.010
Medium sweet 1.010-1.020
Sweet 1.020-1.030
Dessert 1.030-1.040

Do some bench testing, adding a known amout of either simple syrup or sugar to a known volume of wine. Take the SG, taste, adjust to taste.

 

[690ride]

When I put the sugar solution in and stir the wine..will it effect my clearing by stirring up all the sediment?

 

[Runningwolf]

Yes it will. Rack your wine off the sediments first.

 

[Rocky]

Thanks, Dan. I meant to put that in as one of my points, but I must have had a "senior moment." Yes, 689ride, rack into a clean and sanitized carboy first and then sweeten.

 

[CB750]

a. Yes, you can still sweeten the wine.
b. Read my post above on two ways to sweeten the wine. You can also add a white grape concentrate, but then your wine would no longer be a pure Riesling.
c. DO NOT "just pour" the sugar into the carboy. It will take forever and a day to dissolve.
d. The amount to add is driven by how sweet you want the wine to be. What is the SG reading now? See this SG chart to determine what kind of wine you want in the end:

Dry <1.000
Medium dry 1.000-1.010
Medium sweet 1.010-1.020
Sweet 1.020-1.030
Dessert 1.030-1.040

Do some bench testing, adding a known amout of either simple syrup or sugar to a known volume of wine. Take the SG, taste, adjust to taste.

If you go to the tutorial section you will see a thread called how to use "The Pearson Square." this will help you calculate the amount of suger you will have to add to reach the SG found in the chart above.