Why do I need to stabilize my wine before bottling? Can I bottle it immediately after it is stabilized, or should I wait ten days?
- Wine is stabilized to stop fermentation so that remaining yeast do not ferment added or residual sugar after bottling and cause the bottles to explode.
- After stabilizing, suspended yeast die off and lay down a thin layer of lees. If the wine has been bottled, the lees are trapped and are not only unsightly, but can impart off flavors.
- Our experience is that the dead yeast cells will precipitate out in 3-7 days. Allowing 10 days offers a 3-day margin of error, ensuring that all the dead yeast precipitates out.
- The wine is then racked off the lees, sweetened to taste and bottled.
