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FAQ-Stabilizers & Sweeteners

Question: How do I store my wine for a long time?
Answer:

A few simple things that you can do makes the difference:

Temperature

The temperature that you store a wine plays a big role in how well it will taste in the future. You want a cool, consistent place to keep the wine. The ideal temp to store a wine is 52° F. A lot of people can use their basement floors for storing wine as the floor tends to stay a consistent temperature of 52 to 55° F throughout the year. For those in areas that do not offer basements, a wine cooler is a good idea to invest in. A wine cellar would be ideal, but not everyone wants to take up their living room with a walk in cellar.

Humidity

Let’s face it; most of us don’t have a way to control this one too much. If you can keep the humidity around 60 to 70%, you are doing great. Do your best to keep the humidity up, or use a synthetic cork. The reason why you need to worry about humidity is because of the corks. If you use a standard cork, it can dry out over time. As the cork dries out it can shrink, which will allow more air to transfer into the wine.

Sorbate

Using Potassium Sorbate just before you bottle will help preserve the wine for a longer period of time. Look at sorbate like what lemon juice does for apples. The citric acid from the lemon juice helps prevent the apple from oxidizing.

Vertical vs Horizontal

You want to place your wine bottle on its side when you are using standard wine corks. The reason is that the wine will help keep the cork moist, so that it won’t shrink and dry out. Again, if your corks shrinks, it lets more air in that will oxidize your wine quicker.

Some Thoughts

Just follow the suggestions above and your wine will be able to store for many years without any problems. The use of a wine rack can help make the storage of your wine easier to access, and can take up less space. We offer several different styles of racks that can work with just about anyone’s décor.

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Question: Why does my wine have a brown tint to it?
Answer:

The reason your wine browns is because it is oxidizing. The biggest cause of early oxidation in homemade wines is the failure to use sulfites, or not using them properly. The second biggest cause of early oxidation is improper handling of the wine during fermentation, rackings, aging, bottling, and storage. All wines oxidize, but well-made, well-protected, and well-balanced wines resist oxidation for many, many years, and exceptional wines can last for 50-100 years without doing so....Click to Read full Answer

Question: What can I use to sweeten my wine?
Answer:

It isn’t unusual for a homemade wine to be a little dry because we simply add the yeast and let it ferment. A winery will take measurements throughout the fermentation process and will stop the fermentation when they believe the wine is at the correct sweetness level. If your wine is a bit dry for your liking, then we’ll show you how to sweeten it up.

Wine Conditioner
Grape Concentrate
Sugar
Fruit Juice

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Question: 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?
Answer:

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....Click to Read full Answer