How Sweet do you make your Wine?

[lukebuz]

So, I gave some of my "overly sweet" wine (I added too much sugar for my taste), and when he was telling me about it, he mentioned he thought it was a little "too dry". I was floored. It was a sweet mess (to me).

So, I know, different strokes, different folks...but, how much sugar do you add to your wines when finishing them?

I usually add 1/4 cup of Sugar or 1/4 cup of Honey for each Gallon. For my really sweet verisons, I'll go up to 1/2 cup of Honey or Sugar. Absolute Max for me.

So, how much, and what, do you add per gallon? I make a few from 0 to 1/2 cup. So, what about you?

 

[Maylar]

What kind of wine? The traditional levels of sweetness are different for different varieties.

Personally, I like my drinks semi-sweet, and I adjust by gravity. Somewhere in the 1.010 to 1.015 range.

 

[lukebuz]

So, how much sugar do you have to add to get to that level? Assuming it finished dry?

 

[ChelisHubby]

So, how much sugar do you have to add to get to that level? Assuming it finished dry?

I would assume that sugar is a no no! The yeast would just restart eating. But that said I am brewing my first batch of wine and do want it semi sweet also , I am wanting to use sweet and Low. but I don't know the quantity also.

 

[Yooper]

Almost all of my wines are bone dry. I don't like my wines sweetened, as I like both reds and whites to be dry. One of my dandelion wines is good dry, but it's good off-dry as well and I've done that one off-dry(1.000), but most others are .990-.996.

Many people like sweet wines, though. It really is a matter of taste- something that I would find unbearably sweet and undrinkable may be not-sweet-enough to someone else.

 

[lukebuz]

Good Point. I guess saying "half a cup of sugar" isn't a good measure to compare. Looking at how much a certain amount of sugar adds, I'm probably drinking them at 0.995 to no higher than 1.000. I guess I call 1.000 to be pretty "sweet". I'd guess most don't, however

 

[z-bob]

I like most wines almost dry. Most cheap wines are just a little too sweet for me. Peter Vella burgundy (in the 5 liter box) is about right, but even it might be a little sweet. The wines and ciders that I've made using champagne yeast and fermented totally dry were drinkable but not good (but some people might love it like that) Taste is pretty subjective.

 

[bernardsmith]

So my two cents.
First, you can always add fermentable sugars to back sweeten a wine as long as you a) make sure that there are few active yeast cells and b) you stabilize the wine using K-meta and k-sorbate. Those two chemicals working in tandem (not one or the other but both) will prevent a few remaining yeast cells from reproducing and from fermenting the yeast.
Second, rather than simply dump a quantity of sugar into a wine that has been stabilized you might want to bench test the wine to see how sweet this particular batch should be. That might depend on the pH of the wine , the TA of the wine, the tannins in the wine, the amount of alcohol in the wine, the flavor of the fruit etc etc etc. Take a four or five fixed and known quantities as samples and add different amounts of sugar to each glass. Taste. Find the two samples closet to the sweetness you (or your friends) prefer - one being not sufficiently sweet and the other being overly sweet and repeat the process only this time adding quantities of sugar to each glass that are between the two quantities you originally thought were too sweet and insufficiently sweet and repeat that process until you have hit the "sweet spot". Then simply determine how much total sugar you need to add (divide the volume of the whole batch by the sample size and then multiple the quantity of sugar that hit the sweet spot by that quotient).

 

[jonereb]

Bernard, I've also read that wine will sweeten during the aging process -- that a hydrometer reading of 1.10 could reach 1.20 as it ages. Any truth to this?

 

[bernardsmith]

Bernard, I've also read that wine will sweeten during the aging process -- that a hydrometer reading of 1.10 could reach 1.20 as it ages. Any truth to this?

I don't know that I have ever tested this idea by measuring a change in gravity. My sense is that that claim is close to nonsense if the claim is that the density of a wine increases over time. By observation you can see sediment drop out of a wine and that at the very least suggests that the wine is likely to be less dense...But I could be way off base. I have never had the urge to test my own wines and I have some I bottled four five or more years ago... but as wine ages you may find that malic acids are transformed into other less harsh acids and if the pH rises then any perception of sweetness will increase. There are other chemical changes taking place that may bring more "forward" the fruitiness of the wine and shift "backwards" the harshness of the alcohol so that too likely alters your perception of sweetness. Bottom line - I would at least propose that the sugar content does NOT increase but what changes is your PERCEPTION of the sweetness in the wine when you drink it.

 

[jonereb]

I'm looking to produce a muscadine wine that is more fruity flavored. I like the taste of red muscadines and want to capture that flavor. So aging is the key? Is two years enough to bring out the muscadine flavor?

 

[z-bob]

I'm looking to produce a muscadine wine that is more fruity flavored. I like the taste of red muscadines and want to capture that flavor. So aging is the key? Is two years enough to bring out the muscadine flavor?

I don't pretend to be an expert, but it seems if you pick a yeast that's not so aggressive, it leaves a nice fruit character and you can drink the wine young. If you use a powerful yeast like EC1118 or Premier Cuvee, there's not much left when they are finished and you have to let them age to get some character back.

I really like Cotes des Blanc yeast. I started a batch of concord grape wine on Memorial Day weekend using CdB, and I transferred it to a smaller carboy on Labor Day and I bottled 4 bottles. I've already drunk those 4. They didn't need any aging at all. (gonna bottle the rest of it this weekend and we'll drink it at Thanksgiving)

 

[Yooper]

Bernard, I've also read that wine will sweeten during the aging process -- that a hydrometer reading of 1.10 could reach 1.20 as it ages. Any truth to this?

No. No way.

The perception of sweetness does chance, so a wine you sweetened to 1.010 (not 1.100!) may taste sweeter to you after being bottled for a while, but the SG does not change.

Things happen to wine in the bottle, including bottle shock, and the flavor does change a bit. But the gravity readings won't change in a properly stabilized bottle of wine.

 

[madscientist451]

So, I know, different strokes, different folks...but, how much sugar do you add to your wines when finishing them?

The quick answer is I don't add any sugar or manipulate it in any way.
The wine is what it is. If a particular guest likes sweet wine but wants to try my "estate" bottled dry white or red, I'll offer to put a splash of sprite in their glass and call it a home made "wine cooler". Or I'll mix it with some sweet wine from the store or I received as a gift.
All of my 2015 dry white was consumed by Aug 1 2016, so I guess some how I got lucky.
My point is this: If you are a novice wine maker, keep it simple.
You can ruin a decent wine by using incorrect additives or in in the wrong amounts. There's nothing wrong with blending different wines or adding sweetener in the glass as you drink it.