Well I'm here to tell you there is more then one way to skin a cat. Not that I would skin one because I like cats.Well that's just gross anyway, so on with the information at hand.

There is always a question on what to do with your wine once it is racked into the carboy the first time. At that stage it is not finished fermenting and still has a little way to go for the yeast to eat the rest of the sugar. This is where you get your potential alcohol. Some people expect the airlock to bubble alot more, but it may only bubble occasionally. It will work in it's own time, so be patient. Every wine is different and every yeast will work differently.

The first rack you don't need to add anything although some people add 1/2 teaspoon of sulfites per 5 gallons. There are several options of sulfites. Campdon tablets contain sulfites, but are designed to accomodate 1 pill per gallon. So you would want to add enough to what you are racking. There is also Sodium Metabisulfites and Potassium Metabisulfites. Yes these also double as a cleaner in stronger concentrations.

I think this is what causes confusion. To me as well.These Sulfites are used to eliminate wild yeast and bacteria in the first stages of fermentation. They are use again upon 2nd rackings in small doses as mentioned above, but only after fermentation is done. At that stage you are aging and cleaning your wine by racking it.

Potasium Metabisulfites are prefered over Sodium because it seems to taste better.This is added upon rackings to help clear the wine and stablize it.Myself, I have never added sulfites between rackings, but I also rack more then most people to clear up my wines. Some people are sensitive to sulfites and get migraines from consumption of wine. All commercial wines have sulfites and clarifyers added to them.

The above information is just a recomendation used by a lot of wine makers. I have had customers also clean with Sulfites and emty out the excess but leave a little in the carboys. Then upon racking wines into the clean carboy there is residual Sulfites sufficient enough to take care of the wine. So there you have it! Choices to a better wine. But now it is time to talk about the finished product and bottling time.

When it is time to bottle, you have many options to change the sweetness of your wine. No matter what you want to add a chemical to make sure fermentation will not start again. This is where Potassium Sorbate comes in. This is only added to wine before bottling. I myself have not used this correctly I suppose. Potassium Sorbate used to much will give wine an OFF flavor after bottling. So it is only reccomended for the bottling process. At this stage it is also recommended to add 1/2 teaspoon of sulfites per 5 gallons along with 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of Sorbate. This process will stabilize and prevent fermentation from trying to start again. Some people recommend not using Sorbate at all if you intend to enter contest with your wines. There are several recomendation quoted by Jack Keller. You may want to check them out on his website. He has a lot of different ideas on how to finish wines too.

There is a product which I have in the shop that contains sugar and Sorbate together that can be used to sweeten wines at the end. You just don't want to use to much to start with.

Well like I said there are many options for you to control your wine to make it unique and personal to your taste. I hope this didn't confuse you, but rather show you about that cat thing. Wine has been made for thousands of years and enjoyed by many.

So get creative and find what works for you. Do some research and experiment a little. Old ways and new ways both work, and even a combination of the two can still give you a wonderful wine.