A few weeks ago I talked about how I was going to try to make a frugal version of R.J.  Spangles White Chocolate Port wine. Today I am going to give an update on that wine. A couple of weeks ago, the wine had cleared nicely and I racked it off the sediment. I took a PA reading and it was at 5% PA. That was sweeter than I had planned, but it tasted good. I added Chocolate and Raspberry flavoring to it and decided to give it some more time. Well it started fermenting again. I expected that since the sugar reading was so high. Now I am back to waiting for it to finish fermenting.

If I wanted to stop the fermentation now, I could try a couple of things. First, I could add Potasium Sorbate and Campden tablets to try and stop the fermentation. I don’t like to do that though because I haven’t had consistant results stopping fermentation early. The other option is to try and cool the wine to get the yeast to settle to the bottom of the carboy then rack the wine off the sediment. I have never tried this myself, so I don’t know how well it works to stop fermentation.

I just like to wait. Patience is a virtue in wine making. Sometimes a wine just needs time to do its thing. If it wants to start fermenting again while in the carboy, I will let it do that. I prefer to let my wines ferment to dryness. If it needs sweetened after the fermentation has completed, I will back sweeten the wine.

Remember, you can’t rush a good thing. Give the wine time to finish fermentation before you bottle the wine. Sometimes, after a racking, wine will start fermenting again, especially if there is residual sugar in the wine. This is normal and usually not something to worry about.

Relax, have some patience and remember; Good things come to those who wait!

Enjoy!

October 19th, 2009 | Category: Wine Making | Subscribe to comments | Both comments and pings are currently closed