On Apr 11, 10:17 am, "Dirty Harry" > wrote:
> "Just some clarifications - geraniol smell only develops if a sorbated
> wine goes through a malolactic fermentation, that should not be an
> issue if the wine is properly sulfited. As I recall the article with
> the table, one major assumption was that the yeast population is low,
> and that's not the case for an active fermentation.
>
> For the past 2 years, I've been making off-dry and sweet wines using
> this method and as Steve pointed out, it's way harder than fermenting
> to dryness and then back-sweetening. The method I've been using is to
> use the cold outside temperatures to stop the active ferment, wait
> until most of the yeast drops down, then rack and sulfite and fine at
> the same time with bentonite and Sparkalloid, keeping the wine as cool
> as possible all the time. Finally, I filter and add the preservative -
> sorbate last year and benzoate this year. After all this, I'm finding
> that when I bring the wine back to room temperature, there is still
> some yeast activity. Last year I dealt with it by re-filtering but the
> wine is lacking in aroma, so I'll probably just add some sorbate this
> year again - so after all the trouble, I'm basically at square one. I
> think I'll go back to back-sweetening next year.
>
> Lastly, 1.050 seems awfully high for a white Zinfandel, that's more
> residual sugar than most dessert wines have! Your alcohol levels will
> be low and because of that the wine will be in more danger of
> spoilage. If you really want it that sweet, I'd highly recommend
> fermenting to get at least 10-12% of alcohol and then adding sugar or
> sugar syrup.
>
> Pp"
>
> Thanks good to hear from someone who's tried this. Yea My SG is 1.005 sorry
> for the mixup. I tasted some when racking yesterday and really liked the
> level of sweetness. What size of filter are you using? I've read that I
> have to use a #2 and then a #1 (.5 microns?) so it doesn't plug up but like
> you said I think it could strip out too much flavor.

The .5 micron filtrer is #3 - assuming you're talking Mini/Super jet?
They label is as "sterile" but it isn't actually, so even going
through #3 might not be enough, #2 certainly isn't. Last year I did #2
first and then 2 passes through #3; this year I'm doing only #2
because of the stripped aroma last year.

Also, make sure you degas the wine before filtering, otherwise it will
happen pretty violently during filtering - I actually suspect this
more than anything for the aroma stripping last year.

One other thing - what yeast did you use? Some are easier to stop this
way than others - one that's _supposed_ to be temperature sensitive is
Cotes de Blanc. I've used it on two wines this year and it's just
about impossible to kill!

Probably the best setup for doing it this way is a temperature
controlled old chest freezer, if I had space that's what I'd use.

Pp