I have just started making wines after several years of beer making. So am
new to it. I am wondering though about stabilizing wine and how to do it
without sulphites. I don't really want to use chemicals to do it and would
rather do it naturally if possible. However, if I have to use a chemical, I
am wondering if this can be achieved with Potassium Sorbate as opposed to
sulphites.

Any advice? Suggestions? Thanks.

gemery

Gemery:

To me stabilizing means stopping the yeast. Metabisulphite will not
stop the yeast. Potassium sorbate will stop the yeast if it is
inactive, ie basically finished fermentation. HOWEVER, if you add
sorbate you MUST add metabisulfite or run the risk of a geranium odour
in your wine. If you will NOT be sweetening the wine, then the
sorbate is not necessary.

Metabisulphite is an anti-oxidant and gives your finished wine shelf
life (ie it's a preservative of sorts). If you leave it out, your
wine will oxidize more quickly. How quickly? Don't know.

Personally, add the metabisulphite. Leave the sorbate out if not
sweetening.

Now, when are you going to ask about clearing or fining agents????
<grin>

Steve




On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 20:31:46 GMT, wrote:

>I have just started making wines after several years of beer making. So am
>new to it. I am wondering though about stabilizing wine and how to do it
>without sulphites. I don't really want to use chemicals to do it and would
>rather do it naturally if possible. However, if I have to use a chemical, I
>am wondering if this can be achieved with Potassium Sorbate as opposed to
>sulphites.
>
>Any advice? Suggestions? Thanks.
>
>gemery

If you try to stabilize with sulfites it will take more than you want to
use. If you try to do it just with sorbate, again, it will take more than
you want to use. Used together you can stabilize with a reasonable amount
of each. They work together very well.

If you really do not want to use any chemicals then invest some money in a
good filtration system that will remove all yeast. They are not cheap.
Then expect to drink your wine young as without the sulfites it is not going
to keep more than a couple of years. (Unless you do not mind a bit of
oxidation.)

Ray

> wrote in message
news:S_njf.179859$Io.56727@clgrps13...
>I have just started making wines after several years of beer making. So am
> new to it. I am wondering though about stabilizing wine and how to do it
> without sulphites. I don't really want to use chemicals to do it and would
> rather do it naturally if possible. However, if I have to use a chemical,
> I
> am wondering if this can be achieved with Potassium Sorbate as opposed to
> sulphites.
>
> Any advice? Suggestions? Thanks.
>
> gemery

You are mixing up different processes here. Stabilizing wine usually
refers to hot and cold stabilization to prevent haze. Otherwise Steve's
description of sorbate to stop yeast reproduction in sweet wines,
(rarely used in reds) and sulfites to prevent oxidation are correct. I
suggest you look at Lum's chapter on Clarification and Stabilizing or
possibly another chapter if you find out you are looking for some other
process besides stabilizing.

http://home.att.net/~lumeisenman/chapt15.html

I probably shouldn't have said sorbates are rarely used in reds because
I think they include them in most kits, and probably some wineries use
before bottling, but rather that they are usually unnecessary in wines
fermented to dry (and not resweetened).

miker wrote:
> I probably shouldn't have said sorbates are rarely used in reds because
> I think they include them in most kits, and probably some wineries use
> before bottling, but rather that they are usually unnecessary in wines
> fermented to dry (and not resweetened).

They are worse than unnecessary - they change the taste and can give
you the geranium off smells mentioned by Steve, especially for reds.
There is no reason whatsoever to add sorbate to dry wines.

Pp

I want to apologize to everyone since after looking at other sources I
see that stabilizing can refer to lots of different processes including
stopping refermentation as Steve suggests. I learned the term
stabilization to mean preventing haze, but it makes sense that it would
mean anything to keep the wine stable.

Miker