(newbie) What to use for back-sweetening plum wine

[gpeled]

I'm trying my hand for the first time at making wine, using excess plums from my tree. Started secondary fermentation now, it tastes promising, and I'm looking ahead to split it at bottling, into semi-dry and desert wine.

Searching around for information about how to back sweeten, it seems some use corn or granulated sugar, while somewhere I saw an argument against it. It was calling for using some of the original fruit to get better flavor.

It sounds compelling, but I'm wondering 2 things:

1. Does it really make a difference, or better keep it simple and just go for corn sugar?

2. If I did make plum syrup now, then froze it until bottling, then add it, then what should be fairly clear wine by then, would suddenly become very cloudy again. How do you handle that or prevent it?

Thanks for any advice!!
Guy

 

[Yooper]

I'm trying my hand for the first time at making wine, using excess plums from my tree. Started secondary fermentation now, it tastes promising, and I'm looking ahead to split it at bottling, into semi-dry and desert wine.

Searching around for information about how to back sweeten, it seems some use corn or granulated sugar, while somewhere I saw an argument against it. It was calling for using some of the original fruit to get better flavor.

It sounds compelling, but I'm wondering 2 things:

1. Does it really make a difference, or better keep it simple and just go for corn sugar?

2. If I did make plum syrup now, then froze it until bottling, then add it, then what should be fairly clear wine by then, would suddenly become very cloudy again. How do you handle that or prevent it?

Thanks for any advice!!
Guy

1. I use a simple syrup, of table sugar and water (not much water, just enough to dissolve). You need to stabilize the wine first, using campden and sorbate and then you can sweeten to taste.

2. You sweeten when the wine is completely done, and no longer dropping ANY lees after at least 60 days. Once that happens, you stabilize the wine by racking into the campden and sorbate. At that point, you can add your syrup. If the syrup is clear, then the wine will remain clear. If you want, you can strain your syrup so that it is clear. You want NO chunks or pieces of fruit or anything like that. If the wine has been probably stabilize, fermentation won't restart (whether you backsweeten with must, or sweeten with sugar) and the wine will remain clear.

 

[jonereb]

Yooper, when back sweetening, could one siphon just enough wine to dissolve the sugar instead of using water?

 

[Yooper]

Yooper, when back sweetening, could one siphon just enough wine to dissolve the sugar instead of using water?

Sure, but boiling the wine with the sugar will take out the alcohol. It's just as convenient to use 1 cup of water.