Help please with wine

[Therese]

Hi I have just remembered to check my wine (so much going on can't believe I forgot!!) and it has stopped bubbling. I think it may have stopped some time ago. I made the same recipe last year and it was beautiful. I made plum and blackberry wine. Last year it bubbled for 6 months then I bottled it. This time I think it has only bubbled for a month but now nearly 4 months have passed. Will it still be ok to bottle? I have 3 demijohns so I really will be gutted if it's all gone wrong. I'd feel especially bad as the plums this time are giant Victoria plums a nice lady let me pick from her tree. She let me strip it, I had 25lbs of them!! I promised her a few bottles and really don't want to let her down... I want to go back this year for more!!!!

Any help would be appreciated please.

Thanks in advance,

Therese

[arturobandini]

Hi Therese,

I know precious little about home made fruit wines and how long they take to ferment out. Leaving a finished beer on dead yeast can give off flavours in the brew over time. Going off your previous wine which probably contained more sugars if it bubbled away for six months then it appears that half a year on the wine yeast didn't do your first batch any harm.

Is this wine to bottled flat? If so then I don't see that you would have a problem. Your yeast will probably have settled out to the bottom meaning you can rack this bright into your bottles, cork or cap or whatever and mature as you would do normally. If in doubt have a taste and try and detect any off flavours that wouldn't normally be there at this stage. I'm sure if it isn't infected it will turn out well particularly as it has been air locked.

Keep us informed!

[Carpking]

Hi. I make wines too.
I find that when the bubbling slows or stops just rack into a clean demijohn, re-fit your airlock and leave it for another three months. Leaving it sitting does influence the flavour so just get it off that stuff and it will be fine. The best thing i ever did when i started wine making was to learn to forget about them, they take care of themselves. I have wine and port under my sink that i havent even looked at for about two months, i suppose i should look at it, but ive been making beer too much, or is it too much beer.
Anyway, it wont do your wine any harm to sit in a dj for a while before you bottle it. Good luck with it.

Also do you use a hydrometer? If not it might be worth investing in one, if it reads 0.990 or very close there is no sugar left and your wine is ready.

[Mitchamitri]

As a rule, the darker the wine, the longer it takes to ferment out.

[Therese]

Hi and thanks for the replies.

Firstly, I cannot remember what my wine tasted like at this stage last year. Damn!! Should have written notes!!
Secondly the plums were different ones on the first batch, and they were a lot darker too. Last years wine looks like a lovely red, where as this years will be (hopefully) a lovely rose.

So I bottled it any way, all 15 bottles!!! If I have to rack it again I will but I will leave it a month or so before I taste it.
It doesn't smell too good at the mo but I have faith!!
Last years is so nice, when you take the cork out it smells like a bag of sweeties, and tastes just as good.
When I was bottling this lot, the taste wasn't really there, but the potency definitely is. I am pregnant so not drinking at the moment obviously, but when I was bottling this lot, sucking on the syphon to get it going I could really feel the potency so I have decided that if it does end up tasting pants, then there is always someone out their who will drink it any way.

I will let you all know in a month or so if it is looking any better
Either way it can't turn out as bad as my cider did, that smelt and tasted like off white wine. Dunno what went wrong but a hell of a lot of work went into it for nothing!! Bugger!!!

Therese