I stabilized my Piazza last night and added the finings. This kit also had a small packet of Süss-Reserve so I added this after the sorbate and sulphite. The wine finished at a very low gravity—0.992—so the Süss-Reserve packet still left me with a fairly dry wine.
This wine had a large amount of dissolved gas and it took a lot of stirring to get rid of it. I fermented the Piazza at a lower temperature (18ºC) than the directions instructed. I did this because I replaced the EC-1118 yeast that came in the kit with Lalvin D-47. This yeast requires a lower fermenting temperature than the EC-1118. Lower temperatures also make degassing more difficult because carbon dioxide gas dissolves better in cooler liquids. So if you decide to ferment your wine at a cooler temperature be ready to do battle with the CO². I did get all the gas out and my wine is now clearing.
I checked the Toro’s gravity and it’s at .998. I’d like to see it drop some more so I’ll keep it for another week before I stabilize and clear it. The Selection Shiraz/Viognier is at 1.000 and still pretty active so that has another week to go before I look at it again.
I’ll be putting on my fourth kit tonight which will by the second white. It’s the Selection Pacifica from Winexpert. I’ll make a post tomorrow and let you know how it went.
