The small amount of wine (less than a gallon) we made from our few Niagara vines was ready to bottle. It had been in the refrigerator for three months and we needed the space for the extra food that the Holidays require. During that time the wine cleared. Since I fermented the juice to dry, I needed to sweeten it. There is a lot of advice on how to do this and with what. A winemaker suggested using Splenda.
I did what research I could find on the use of Splenda to sweeten wine. There seems to be a mixed bag of information. Basically, Splenda will not cause fermentation in its present form. Although some people may be able to tell the difference in taste, many will not. The possible negative of using Splenda is aging the wine. It is believed, by some, that the enzymes in the wine will break down the Splenda into fermentable sugars. Since the few bottles I made won’t stay around long enough to age this shouldn’t be a problem.
I added enough Splenda to raise the sweetness to four percent, 40 grams per liter. This made the wine softer in the mouth and brought out some of the fruit and floral character common with the Niagara grape. Of note was the wine’s very long aftertaste lasting for several minutes. The Niagara taste reminded me of the taste one has after eating the fresh grapes. I’ve asked some of our guests what type of wine it was and they pointed to the Niagara vines. They must have tasted the grapes in late August.
So far I liked using the Splenda. It dissolved quickly and doesn’t seem to have an off taste. I will have to keep an eye on the wine to check for any refermentation, however the wine may not last that long.
Cheers,
Terry
So far now refermentation.