Bring on the "chemicals"
Someone asked me recently if I put chemicals in my wine. I immediately pictured the chlorine tablets used to sanitize swimming pools, and I responded, "No, of course not."
It took a longer conversation to realize the question was actually whether or not I put additives in my wine. And the answer to that question is, "Yes, I absolutely do."
Some might argue the semantics of chemicals versus additives, but the term chemicals has all sorts of negative associations, from chlorine tabs to Chernobyl. And I don't think these comparisons are fair.
I don't run a commercial winery where mass production, absolute consistency of product, transportation, or long-term storage in unknown conditions are concerns. But even so, I use a few common wine additives for one important reason – control.
Additives allow me to control things like:
The fermentation process and final ABV
The clarity of the wine
The taste (sweetness, acidity, oak) of the wine
The stability of the wine
Controlling Fermentation and ABV
A high quality wine grape may be capable of natural fermentation without the addition of a commercial wine yeast or added sugar. But if you don't have the time to wait for a lengthy, natural fermentation, or you don't have access to these varieties of grapes, or you want to ferment something other than grapes, a few additives will do the trick.
A commercial wine yeast consistently finishes in 10-14 days.
Granulated sugar increases the starting specific gravity (SG) of low-sugar fruits to achieve a predictable and desired ABV.
Wines made from wild or fresh fruit benefit from potassium metabisulfite prior to fermentation to prevent unwanted yeast strains from taking over the fermentation.
Controlling Clarity
Cloudy or muddy-looking wine isn't necessarily bad, but if you want a crystal-clear finished product, you have to do more than filter it. Many fruit wines need a little refinement, aka "finings", to get achieve maximum clarity.
Bentonite clay, or a combination of Kieselsol and Chitosan (contains shellfish), boost clarity by attaching to hazy particles in wine and dropping them to the bottom of the carboy.
Peptic enzyme, when added before or at the start of fermentation, breaks down pectin, which can create a cloudy appearance.
Controlling Taste
The same commercial wine yeast and sulfites that help control fermentation also contribute to a consistent taste in finished wine. Wild yeast is less predictable, both in the length of fermentation and the taste it imparts.
Once, while prepping dandelion tea to ferment into wine, I skipped adding sulfites. Within 24 hours, a wild yeast started fermenting the tea, and the smell it produced was a combo of old cheese and sweaty gym socks. There was no saving it. If you've ever made a floral wine, you know there's a substantial amount of time involved in picking and trimming flowers. It's a shame to waste that effort.
Fruit wines – strawberry, peach, blackberry, pear, and others – benefit from back-sweetening, the process of adding sweetness back into wine after it's fermented to dry. Even a small amount of simple syrup, made from granulated sugar and water, makes a big difference in fruit wines that taste too bland when fully dry.
Acid blend adds a little "bite" and lowers the PH in wines that need more acidity.
Oak chips and tannin powder add rich, oaky flavors, even if your wine never touched the inside of a wooden barrel.
Controlling Stability
A stable wine is one that can be safely bottled and stay in that bottle for months or years.
Sulfites, added prior to bottling, help preserve wine and prevent bacterial growth.
For back-sweetened wine, potassium sorbate helps prevent a second, unwanted fermentation, which could result in cork-popping and loss.
What about "natural" wine?
If you follow the natural winemaking movement (or if you just Google "natural wine"), you'll notice it's all about grapes. And not just any grapes. Good-quality wine grapes are harvested and fermented using as little human intervention as possible.
But even the RAWWINE community, which advocates for "clean wine cultivated in a clean environment", allows for a minimal amount of sulfites, and the use of certain refining agents, in the wines they market.
Additives, or "chemicals" as some like to call them, have their place in winemaking. The amount of additives varies per winemaker, and that's really where the distinction lies.
For me, I prefer not to waste time and money creating inconsistent wine that people are wary of trying from year to year. I'll continue to use minimal amounts of additives that give me control over my finished product.
