Stabilizers & Preservatives

Preservatives are an important part of winemaking. You shouldnt worry that adding preservatives to your home-made wine will somehow make it not home-made.

The thing we most often recommend is sulfites; which naturally occur in small amounts during fermentation. Not only do sulfites keep wine from developing infections like film yeast, mold, and acetobacter (vinegar bacteria), they also keep the wine from oxidizing. Without the use of sulfites you have to be exceedingly careful to keep all of your equipment very sanitary; and your wine will spoil much more quickly, therefore it must be consumed more quickly.

Sulfites work by releasing free sulfur dioxide, which inhibits yeast, mold and bacteria. It does this in two ways: it kills some of the organisms outright, and it blocks the surviving organisms ability to reproduce. If your winemaking equipment is physically clean and you've rinsed it with a sulfite solution, nothing will grow on it.

Sulfites are also added directly to wine after fermentation, to help prevent oxidation. Oxidation in wine follows the same pattern that you see in the cut edge of an apple-the wine turns brown and takes on a flat 'cardboard' taste. Sulfur binds with the oxygen in the wine and prevents this damage.

Facts about Sulfites:

Sulfites are a recognized food additive. The federal government controls their use. All commercially available wines contain sulfites, even those labeled 'Kosher' or 'Organic'. The legally allowable amount in British Columbia, where WineXpert kits are made, is 70 PPM.
Nearly all dried fruits and meats contain sulfites. Raisins, for instance, have up to 250 PPM. Frozen orange juice, bacon, dried noodles, all contain sulfite.
The amount of sulfite provided in WineXpert kits will result in a level of between 15 and 30 PPM in a finished wine.
All grape-based wines produce sulfites naturally during fermentation, up to a level of about 1O PPM. Even with no addition of sulfites, wines will still contain them.
This is not to say that sulfites are totally benign. People with asthma or emphysema should avoid inhaling sulfite powder or the gas that comes off the prepared solution. It can act as a bronchial constrictor, aggravating any breathing problems. Also, adding extra sulfites to wine is of no benefit, as it can spoil I the flavor, giving it a 'burnt match', smell. It's important to follow directions for sulfite additions.
The upshot of sulfite use is this: without sulfites you'd have to be very careful to keep all of your equipment sanitary and you'd still have to drink your wine quickly, before it spoiled, probably within one or two months.
A final, but very important consideration is that if your customer insists on leaving out the sulfite from their wine kit, they must also leave out the sorbate. Sulfite suppresses malolactic bacteria, but sorbate does not. Without any sulfite to prevent malolactic fermentation, the bacteria will convert the sorbate into hexadienol, producing a stupendously horrible aroma of composting geraniums and rotting trout.