Cherry Wine & Cotes des Blanc Yeast

[jonereb]

I'm getting ready to make one gallon of cherry wine -- my first attempt. I'm using Cotes des Blanc to preserve the fruity flavor. Since this yeast leaves residual sugar, I don't plan to back sweeten, depending on the hydrometer reading at final racking. I'm shooting for semi-sweet or slightly less sweet but not dry. Here's my question: if I don't back sweeten, do I need to add sorbate & campden to stop any potential fermentation after bottling?

 

[dmtaylor]

Sorbate is wise. Racking several times during fermentation also slows things down to give you better control about when to hit with that sorbate. Everyone loves Campden but in my opinion it's the sorbate that is most effective at end of fermentation. Campden is the stuff to use before fermentation to prevent wild beasts from turning your wine to vinegar or icky.

Cheers and good luck.

 

[jgmillr1]

Keep in mind that sorbate only will inhibit yeast growth and not stop yeast activity. So adding sorbate to your actively fermenting wine will only make the yeast angry. You'll have better luck stopping the fermentation by sticking the vessel in the fridge and letting the cold stop & settle the yeast. You'll still need sorbate/sulfites when you warm it back up and rack it off the lees.

 

[jonereb]

I plan to let the yeast ferment until there's nothing left. But knowing that Cotes des Blanc leaves residual sugar, I'm wondering if there's a chance that the remaining sugar could kick off another round of fermentation and produce lees after bottling. That's what I want to avoid.