I'm attempting to make a cherry wine (my first attempt at wine-making) out of my backyard cherries and I think it may be having some problems. The recipe said that I should leave it fermenting in a primary fermenter (stirring daily) for twelve days. It's been about 7 days and the fermentation appears to have stopped. My version of a primary fermenter is a covered pot and it doesn't have an airlock so I can't be sure but it is no longer fizzing. Tasting the wine, it tastes like I'd expect but there is very little sweetness to it. Do you think the yeast have gone through all of the sugar? if so, should I add some more. When should I transfer to the secondary or, if fermentation has stopped, should I even bother with a secondary at all? Thanks in advance.

Howdy,
Thanks for coming to Brewers Roundtable. That's an interesting dilema you have. One input I would have is that often fruit wines that you might expect to be very sweet simply aren't that sweet. Strawberry wine is a classic example of a wine that's actually very mild flavored and not all that sweet. Most fruits don't even have enough sugar to sustain the fermentation which is why you have to add sugar to most fruit wines. My advice would be to stick with the recipe but be open minded to the result. Also, I'd wait the full 12 days or even a little bit longer since if you bottle and the fermentation hasn't fully stopped you're in for some trouble. I had a batch blow off the corks of every single bottle after I'd given it out as presents to relatives and stuff like that. They weren't too thrilled to have wine spilled all over their carpets or cars just because they waited to drink it. The thing is that I thought that fermentation had stopped. The wine was in a carboy and the airlock had not bubbled for a few days! Bad news. So in short, wait it out for 12 days or more, bottle, wait some more time, and they enjoy your wine for what it is. Also, the whole adage about wine improving over time is definitely true. What may not me that great in the first bottle often improves in the weeks and months after bottling. I hope that helps. Take it easy.
Matt

Welcome to the forum.

I would go to the secondary and install an airlock. If you have a hydrometer you can take a measurement. Anything below 1.020 SG is OK to rack out of the primary. If you have been 7 days in the primary and stirring and the temp has been about 70 degrees, and the majority of the bubbling has stopped I would bet most of the fermentation is finished. Once in the secondary you should start seeing the gross lees drop. Within the next three weeks I would rack again off of those gross lees. Sounds like all is going OK. Hope you are having a great 4th of July.

Without a hydrometer it is very difficult to judge how much sugar you have in your wine. Different fruits have different sugar values if they are picked from different vines, different areas or different times. If you followed a recipe the sugar is probably close. A hydrometer is a good investment if you plan on making more wine. They are fairly inexpensive.

You might just check out some of the recipes on Jack Keller's web site. You can judge how close you came with the sugar. The recipes are mainly for 1 gallon batches unless stated differently.

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request.asp

Thanks for coming to Brewers Roundtable.
Thanks a lot..