Stuck fermentation after 2 months on first wine

[Pickers]

Hi all! Newbie here hoping for some help!

At the end of July I started a mint wine. I had a SG of 1.102 in a 4.5l carboy using generic wine yeast which should have a tolerance up to 15%

After a month I topped off with a mix of vodka/mineral water to 12% equivalent alcohol.
Small bubbles have been rising from the sediment until fairly recently.

I have just done my first racking (two months after starting the wine) to a slightly smaller demijohn so there is no headspace to speak of. I thought it was a bit sweet smelling/tasting so I took a hydrometer reading and it's about 1.035 so waaay off a completed fermentation. It's been sitting at 20 degrees pretty stable

Any suggestions on what I should do??

• Leave it and see if fermentation continues slowly?
• Move it back to larger vessel and repitch dry yeast?
• Move it back to larger vessel and make up a yeast starter?

This is my first wine and (seemingly) stuck fermentation so not sure what to do!

 

[Pickers]

My mistake. Tolerance is 11-13%

 

[Bocochoco]

Are you certain there is no bubbles on the hydrometer or it stick to the sides of whatever its floating in? 2 months is considerably long which isnt necessarily bad depending on the conditions but whats really throwing me off is this "generic" wine yeast.
I've never heard of generic wine yeast nor is there any way of knowing its alcohol tolerance.
Some yeasts will just die at 12% abv
I'd honestly in this situation just pitch a champagne yeast starter as they have quite extreme alcohol tolerance levels.

 

[Pickers]

Thanks Bocochoco. Definitely no bubbles on the hydrometer. The yeast is marketed as simple "all purpose wine yeast" but I confirmed the tolerance as 11-13 with the supplier.

I may well do as you suggest. It will involve moving it into a bigger vessel again I think. I assume oxidation is a concern at this stage.
Can you suggest a good method for getting the starter going? Pitching and stirring probably not best!

Really appreciate your help!

 

[Bocochoco]

If you still have risidual sugars and are in active fermentation the yeast will actually require oxygen. You should try EC1118. It's my go to when a fermentation gets stuck and I'm too lazy to troubleshoot it lol

 

[Coffee49]

Try raising ambient temp of juice up to 24, pitch yeast following directions on packet, 24-26 is good starting temp,after 1st rack 20-22 is good keep it stable