Hi, I have been reading some past messages of this forum but still have some questions about the use of breastrets to know if I should add any sulphite to my wines.
I two 5 gallon varieties ready to bottle. Both were cold store pail juices from Cali. (not cooked bagged juice but shipped very cold)
One is a Pinot Noir and the other a Pebreaste Sirah.
I did not sulphite the wine at any stage. Not even to kill off any native yeast. I added yeast and only racked once after the primary fermentation.
2 wines with promiseHello ng: Last fall was my 2nd season making wine. Racked everything yesterday for the last time before long term bulk aging or bottling. 2 country wines really...
ML started soon after on its own so I let it go and did not rack either for 3 months (roughly) until it went still.
The breastret test (repeated twice without adding) gave me a result of 55 PPM and near 60 ppM on the two varieties.
I understand this test for reds is overstated up to 20 ppm.
The question is, if I never added sulphites is it even possible to have this reading even when adjusted? Based on this test, even if I subtract 20ppm, I would say I am well in range not to add any sulphite.
I do not want to over do it if I am fine. But do not want to risk spoilage if these numbers are not possible if I never added any sulphite during the process.
