is my wine done?

hey,

i've had my wine fermenting for a little longer than a month. i don't see any more bubbles around the surface.

I thought that it would be done about now but when i took a sip it was pretty sweet.

Vinometer says my wine is about 15% ABV.

a few questions...

1. I read that sugar can affect the reading of a Vinometer, would the sugar cause the reading to be too high, or too low? is this a big deal?

2. Should i let it sit for a while longer? Since it is pretty sweet, it makes me think that the yeast isn't done working. but at the same time i don't see anything like bubbles around the top. this makes me think that the yeast could be dead.

thanks.

Rack it to a secondary and give it another month. At 15%, the yeast are still working, but very slowly. Check it once a week.

Depends how dry you want your wine to be. If you want a little residual sweetness, you can halt fermentation with campden tablets and wine stabilizer tablets to prevent re-fermentation. If you're going for a dry wine then rack it and see how it goes. Patience

alright, i guess i'll leave it a while longer and check every week or so for ABV change.

Use a hydrometer, if it is below 1.000 it is done

If something it tastes sweet and doesn't burn off your tongue or cause instant and painful heartburn (as a young 15% abv might) I would say you're getting slightly skewed readings. hydrometer is the best way to go, I didn't realize how important it really was until i started using it.

mike