Sanitizing Questions?

[freeballer]

My wine kit suggests that I use a sulfite solution to sanitize all my equiptment and fermentors. Is this really necesary? Or, could I use a bleach/one-step solution for the fermentors and just use a sulfite rinse on the wine bottle.

Is it possible to make wine without sulfites at all?

 

[DarkStar]

It is possible to make wine without adding sulfites but you will have a high risk of oxidation damage, wont age and keep properly, risks for contamination. Yeasts make low level amounts of sulfites during fermentation so it will never be free of them.

I would stay away from bleach, fresh mix of one step would work fine. Bleach can lead to TCA in bottled wine.

 

[wyon]

What did they do in the olden days then before sulphites and other chemicals were available? Surely it must be possible to make good brews without mixing them with chemicals that have dire warnings on the side of the packet? Any advice on how to do this would be much appreciated.