Wine Help - Please

[kernowyon]

hi, I have a wine question and hopefully someone will know what to do. I have made apple wine and the recipe called for the addition of chopped raisins after racking once. I have now noticed that eventually all the raisins have sunk to the bottom but there is also a layer of sediment as well, do I need to re-rack again? and if so what do I do about the raisins? I thought that leaving it stand on sediment for too long can taint the flavour.

any advice appreciated

[shirlthegirl43]

Is it still 'working' (fermenting)? What are the next instruction in the recipe you have? How long since you added the raisins?

Sorry for the questions but it might be easier to work out with the additional info.

[kernowyon]

Ok, here goes,

the wine has stopped for about 6 weeks now, the recipe (off internet) just went up to the point of adding raisins after the first racking (4/5 weeks ago)
then there was no other instructions apart from maturing for six months.

sorry doesn't really help anymore does it

[shirlthegirl43]

Rack it again then - as you say, not good to leave it on lees.

[kernowyon]

thanks Shirl - i was tempted to just rack it again and just needed someone else to suggest it. I took a little sip to see how it's coming on, tastes ok, will be a sweetish one. it is my first year at making my own from scratch - have previously used kits so I have a very steep learning curve.

[kitchengardner]

thanks Shirl - i was tempted to just rack it again and just needed someone else to suggest it. I took a little sip to see how it's coming on, tastes ok, will be a sweetish one. it is my first year at making my own from scratch - have previously used kits so I have a very steep learning curve.

Racking will certainly help and you can remove the raisans at the same time, but I would also recommend putting in some finings (available from you home wine making supplier) and a little pectinase before bottling to ensure it is clear

Regards

Kitchen Gardener

[shirlthegirl43]

I prefer to leave wines to clear naturally. I use finings for all the kits I do but the ones I do from scratch require longer to mature and I find waiting for them to clear is a good way to stop me trying them too soon

[yoanbob]

we dont use finings at all, even in the kit wines, it gives me a headache.

[Brewer-again]

unusual wine recipe

Sorry to be so late helping with this. Guess the recipe is trying to extract the juice from the fruit early on, then add the raisins so they can add body for the finished wine and nutrients to help the yeast. You will have probably got the assistance from the raisins after two weeks fermentation so racking off after this will be OK.
Must admit that I would have put them in all together, it would have made your life a lot easier.
It may taste sweet but this is not how it will finish, This is what all the fuss about specific gravities is all about. The more sugar you add, up to a point where the resultant alcohol kills the yeast, the drier it will be.
So you need to know roughly what sugar is in your fruit and how much you add.
It really is not too bad as there are minimum and maximum amounts of sugar you can use per gallon.

[lez]

allrite me ansome, I reckon rack you wine of as soon as the wine stops fermenting as someone suggested. Raisens are added to give a wine body and white fruit needs the help where red made from ie blackberries does not. As you rack the wine have a sip and see if it meets with your taste. You can always blend and a wine is only as strong as the day you make it. It will mellow with age so if the sample tatss ok bottle and leave. Time is whats needed so do im dreckly

[Brewer-again]

love it !

'Raisins are added to give a wine body and white fruit needs the help where red made from ie blackberries does not.

The above appears in quotes for everyone else so how have I m**ked up
I hate to disagree but then 'that is is what I do' !! There is only a very slight difference in the body or anything else between white and red fruits. Raisins help all fruits, white or red based, raisins add body, depth, thickness to the finished drink. They make the drink more wine like.

If you can get your head around it then accept drinks for the fact that they are going to be different, not so winelike. You can make beers, ciders, mead and wines etc. they all taste really nice and they all taste different.

[Hilary B]

'Raisins are added to give a wine body and white fruit needs the help where red made from ie blackberries does not.

The above appears in quotes for everyone else so how have I m**ked up
I hate to disagree but then 'that is is what I do' !! There is only a very slight difference in the body or anything else between white and red fruits. Raisins help all fruits, white or red based, raisins add body, depth, thickness to the finished drink. They make the drink more wine like.

If you can get your head around it then accept drinks for the fact that they are going to be different, not so winelike. You can make beers, ciders, mead and wines etc. they all taste really nice and they all taste different.

Wine is (strictly speaking) made from grapes. Raisins are grapes. If you make 'country wine' it will taste different, but you can make it closer to 'real wine' by including some raisins or grape-juice.

I can see the point to adding raisins to help the yeast along (after all, wine yeast evolved to work on grapes), but if I make strawberry wine, I want it to taste of strawberries........ If you want grapey wine, make it from grapes and have done with it! (yeah, there is plenty of room for compromise, but most of the ones with raisins in are 'grapey wine flavoured with.....')