I typically ferment those wines that I prefer a little off-dry by
fermenting them right out then fining and cold stabilizing before
bottling. These include Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, etc. and
I just keep a container of sugar syrup in the fridge and sweeten in the
bottle to taste. This is done by experience and not carefully measured
but it works just fine for me.

This also avoids problems with bottle stability.

Glen Duff
--------------

Barry wrote:

Yes...

Sweetening bottle by bottle has two risks

1) being consistant is difficult
2) if the sorbate/PPM is not enough to inhibit yeast reporduction you
can end up with corks getting blown off.

After the wine has cleared well and I'm ready to bottle, if I find
that I'd like to take some of the dryness off, I'll sweeten to taste,
add PPM, & Sorbate - all in the carboy. After adding these I let it
sit at least another two weeks to even out & I keep checking to be
sure the Sorbate has really done the job. If everything still looks
good I'll bottle it.

I think, however, that it's always better to error on the side of too
dry before bottling because with time the acids mellow and need less
counter-balance.

Good Luck!