Sulfite question

[petep1980]

I just mixed up an Italian Chianti from wine experts. I'm a little confused. The directions say if I plan to age the wine longer than 6 months I may want to add sulfites. However later in the directions it says the wine is best after allowed to age 3 to 6 months or longer. It seems like a contradiction.

I did not add sulfites. How long do you expect it'll last?

 

[TipsyDragon]

i dont see your confustion. do you plan on aging more than 6 months? if so add the sufites. if not don't add them.

 

[rsmith179]

If you haven't bottled yet, it's not too late to add the sulfites. Normally, if you're planning on aging a wine for any period of time, it is good to add sulfites as these help control unwanted restarts on fermentations, keeps bacteria inactive, and helps prevent oxidation in wine. With this Chianti, I would imaging that you're going to try and age this for at least a year. If that's the case, just add sulfites each time you rack the batch.

If you've already bottled, leave it be. There is absolutely no reason for you to dump each bottle back into a carboy to add sulfites.

 

[petep1980]

I just started fermenting yesterday. No racking for like a week. Maybe I will.

 

[rsmith179]

That's perfect. No need to worry then. Once you've hit your FG, transfer your wine to the secondary and add the sulfites. The SO2 will help seek out any oxygen in your batch and will help keep your wine stable over the next months/years. Just remember, you'll add the sulfites every 2-3 months each time you transfer your batch until bottling.

 

[gregbathurst]

Sulfites added at primary are very quickly bound anyway. Red wines bind sulfites with their pigments so you don't end up with much free so2. You don't want to add sulfites too often or you will end up with very high levels of bound so2 which can start to affect the taste and get to levels where it is bad for your health. I would consider 4 additions to be the max, preferably less.