After nearly 9 months of fermenting, stabilizing, and clearing, the Apple Cider Wine was bottled today. The wine was extremely dry to the taste, (SG=0.990) thus requiring some back sweetening. At the last racking (about a month ago) I added 6 campden tablets to the wine. Today, I added 3 more because I suspect it will be aging for some time, perhaps 6 months or more. I also added 3 teaspoons of potassium sorbate to prevent re-fermentation when I add the sugar. For the 6 gallons of wine, I added 1.5 lbs of granulated sugar, dissolved in about 2 cups of warm water. That should sweeten it just enough.
Because of the added sugar (and perhaps the other chems), I was actually able to bottle 32 bottles. The wine is clear as a bell. Of course, it has been settling for 6 months and has been racked off the lees 3 or 4 times now. There is still a slight odor from the wine that I can’t place. Can’t taste it… but can smell it. When the wine is let to air for a minute, the odor goes away. The same thing happened with the peach-raisin, that we just recently opened after 6 months of aging. It has a wonderful taste and no more smell. I’m thinking the same will happen with the apple. We shall see.
I have to thank the folks at Windy Ridge Orchard for giving me the cider and for allowing me to experiment with it. I’m not quite sure that this is going to be the best wine that I’ve made, but will certainly satisfy its drinkers. I will hopefully be able to work with Windy Ridge again with other fruits at harves this summer/fall. Can anyone say Blueberry?