Wine making 8th post

Hello and welcome back,

This is just an update about how the wine is progressing.

The raspberry wine which was started back in May and June is getting close to bottling time, it has taken on a nice ruby red color, very clear and stable as far as flavor goes, the wine had a taste of SO2 gas which was absorbed by the wine due to pressure inside the jug during the end of the fermentation process.

The next step is to degass the wine and let it settle, since I didn't have the proper wand for my drill, I shook the wine in the jug to get it to fizz,(think a race car driver shaking champagne after a race, but not shooting wine all over my kitchen), then let it settle, and repeat, do this until the wine doesn't fizz anymore( like 3 day old beer). this releases the traped gas and calms the wine, there was a dramtic difference in flavor after I let it sit 15 min after degassing. The degassed wine is known as still wine, the opposite is known as sparkling wine.

I am still getting sediment on the bottom so I am continuing to rack, the last rack I added 1 campden tablet per gallon and 1/2 tsp per gallon of potassium sorbate with 1/3 cup of cooked sugar, this is all dissovled into the wine to sweeten. The campden and potassium are what keep the wine from restarting fermentation, I don't need it to be any more alcoholic, also I have read that using the 2 chemicals together works much better than either one alone, so I add them and now I have to wait and see.

Both raspberry wines (1st and 2nd batch) have taken on a similar color and flavor, it seems that the farther in the process we go the more they seem to be the same, I have gotten all my wine on the same rotation with racking so now once every two months I have 3 gallons of wine to rack.

And the rubarb wine,
I have tasted some of this already and I think once it settles it will be very good, It has a light crisp flavor with tones of citrus, strange considering rubarb is not considered a citrus fruit, but it has a little bite right now, its still to young for a dinner drink, once it has aged a year it will be very good. I happen to have some extra after racking so I filled a regular wine bottle sweetened it to over come the bite and put it in the fridge, my wife and I are drinking it 1 glass at a time.

I know there are a few people that want to taste these creations, I will have a wine tasting once they are ready, In the mean time keep reading my blog and let me know of any flavors you want me to try.

next few projects:
installing a patio door
installing a new construction window
insulating an exterior wall
drywalling
making hard cider with pears
before winter I am going to try a cherry wine
I also want to make a basic white grape wine

so come back soon for more updates
thanks for reading