Hi everybody!

I am about ready to bottle a batch of Riesling that turned out too dry for
my tastes. I've already added K-sorbate and bought a gallon of 68-brix
concentrate to use for re-sweetening.

My question is, per 750mL bottle, what's a good amount, roughly, of
non-diluted concentrate to add so that the resultant wine has a sweetness
approximating a Spatlese or Auslese?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Brian

BTW, wine currently has a gravity of about 1.003 and alc of about 14.5%
(Used EC-1118)

Anybody?

Sure could use a hand or some ideas...

Brian


"Brian" > wrote in message
news:s9pyc.9$3W3.4@lakeread04...
> Hi everybody!
>
> I am about ready to bottle a batch of Riesling that turned out too dry for
> my tastes. I've already added K-sorbate and bought a gallon of 68-brix
> concentrate to use for re-sweetening.
>
> My question is, per 750mL bottle, what's a good amount, roughly, of
> non-diluted concentrate to add so that the resultant wine has a sweetness
> approximating a Spatlese or Auslese?
>
> Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
>
> Brian
>
> BTW, wine currently has a gravity of about 1.003 and alc of about 14.5%
> (Used EC-1118)
>
>
>
>

Measure out a quantify into a glass and measure the amount of sweetener you
add to taste. Adjust for your batch size. That's how I do it.

--
KB
St. Charles MO

"Brian" > wrote in message
news:GkLyc.508$3W3.400@lakeread04...
> Anybody?
>
> Sure could use a hand or some ideas...
>
> Brian
>
>
> "Brian" > wrote in message
> news:s9pyc.9$3W3.4@lakeread04...
> > Hi everybody!
> >
> > I am about ready to bottle a batch of Riesling that turned out too dry
for
> > my tastes. I've already added K-sorbate and bought a gallon of 68-brix
> > concentrate to use for re-sweetening.
> >
> > My question is, per 750mL bottle, what's a good amount, roughly, of
> > non-diluted concentrate to add so that the resultant wine has a
sweetness
> > approximating a Spatlese or Auslese?
> >
> > Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
> >
> > Brian
> >
> > BTW, wine currently has a gravity of about 1.003 and alc of about 14.5%
> > (Used EC-1118)
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>

"Brian" > wrote in message news:<s9pyc.9$3W3.4@lakeread04>...
> Hi everybody!
>
> I am about ready to bottle a batch of Riesling that turned out too dry for
> my tastes. I've already added K-sorbate and bought a gallon of 68-brix
> concentrate to use for re-sweetening.
>
> My question is, per 750mL bottle, what's a good amount, roughly, of
> non-diluted concentrate to add so that the resultant wine has a sweetness
> approximating a Spatlese or Auslese?
>

Spatlese or Auslese level can cover a wide range of residual sugar
levels, but I would start with around .07 to .10 liters (2.4 to 3.4 US
fl oz) per 750 ml bottle. This should get you in the range you're
looking for.

As Paul Harvey used to say, and now for the rest of the story.

The acid level of the wine can also play a very important part in the
apparent sweetness of the wine. Spatlese and Auslese wines tend to
have significant acid. If your wine does not, you may want to cut the
above suggestion down a bit.

The best thing you can do is a bench trial. Measure out multiple
samples of the wine and to each, add a different amount of the
concentrate. After you pick the one you like, use the amount of
concentrate added to that sample to determine how much to add per
bottle or the whole batch.

You mention you added Sorbate. I hope you've added a healthy dose of
sulfites also to keep the ML bacteria away from the Sorbate.

FYI, I never sweeten when I'm bottling anymore. I let the wine sit in
bulk after sweetening to make sure the wine remains stable.


Andy

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!

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!
>