And my reply:
Thanks for your experiment, ERD50. As a side note, did you keep any of your records of you Chilean Cab when you made it? Especially the final specific gravity/brix? ...
I know that additions of sugar do react with the phenols, thiols, to make it taste fruitier, I guess it's a matter if you can taste it. But of course, after adding the sugar, you had to stir up your mixture, which does make a BIG difference. Remember my posts of long ago on other wine topics, about taking a bottle of wine, and separating different portions. Sample A straight from the bottle, B shaken in a cocktail shaker, C in a blender. All three will taste different to most people. Also, Chilean grapes are considered a cold growing region, so their going to be a little "greener" or acidic, Checking your records you may find your Brix was about 22, and your pH about 3.2-3.3. Reds should be 3.4-3.6. Titratable acid should be 5-6gms/liter. Adding a small amount of sugar to your wine glass, will affect a lower pH wine, just as adding sugar to lemonade. ...
I'm a pretty casual/seat-of-the-pants wine maker. I've been brewing beer for several decades, and am familiar with slight differences in profile of many different styles. I've been attending monthly meeting for years, and we sample many styles, home-brew and commercial each meeting, usually a BJCP or two in attendance, and I've helped judge comps when we were short BJCP judges. So I know my way around the styles, defects, and variations in flavors in beer.
With wine, I'm more "I know what I like". Sure, I have general impressions of dry/sweet, acid, tannin, fruitiness,, etc, but I'm not too good at expressing those. And have only been making wine for a few years, and keep it simple. At least with the CA juice, other wine club/local supply store contracted directly with the vineyard, so the juice and grapes (shipped at the same time), were fresh (and delayed this year due to weather). But I really can't vouch for the quality. Not sure how they make the contacts with the Chilean sources.
So with that said, I measured 1.095 initially (Wyeast 4946 @ 72F, yeast nutrient added at start and when fermentation slowed a bit, bentonite added at start). I added 2 ounces Tartaric Acid to get Total Acidity to the 6~7 gm/L range recommended for reds. I don't have a pH meter, so I'm going by the color change with a titration kit, and I really don't trust myself, but it seems to work OK. After a 1 month primary, I racked to a carboy, de-gassed and measured 0.995. I didn't make any further measurements, but I'm pretty sure it was done at that point?
Racked/degassed again a few months later, adding 1/8th tsp Potassium metabisulfite ( again, I don't have the equipment to measure the residual levels and other components to know how much to add - but this has been working for me). Later I added a medium toast oak strip, and ended up leaving that for ~ 5 months. Then racked/degassed for bottling, adding another 1/8th tsp Potassium metabisulfite. By this time, I had purchased a vacuum transfer/de-gassing system, so degassed with that. Now I can transfer w/o needing to lift full 6 gallon carboys, which was scary, especially with my back problems.
So as you see, pretty basic - no skins/stems, nothing fancy. When DW and I have compared with the typical wines we would buy ($10 range), we sometimes felt my home made was much better, other times we felt the commercial was better with more complexity. If anything, I'd say my wines are a bit 'fruity', though they've been aging well, and seem more 'rounded' after a year or two in the bottle. I've been bulk aging everything in the carboy for a year now. Making a batch each spring and fall, and bottling right before then to free up the carboy, with one spare for transferring.
Any how, a couple of things come to mind. You say you could not taste sweetness in the RO water? That is good, and I'm glad that you used RO water and not tap water. That eliminates any minerals, or extra material that might be found in water, and their interactions. Could you perceive an aroma in the sugar water? Could you perceive an aroma if you preformed the same with sweet/unsweetened tea or coffee? I digress.
....
So yes, the sugar does react with the components in the wine more ways than one.
I will repeat this experiment, and see if I can smell any sweetness in the water. I don't recall any.
I think it would be fun to try this experiment with a group, with a commercial, easily available wine so we all start from a 'standard'. I may suggest that to the beer club (some make wine as well, but it's interesting in other ways too).
But I guess that's the key take-away. I'm not so much tasting the sweetness of the sugar, but the effect of the sugar with other components of the wine. In this case, I did still prefer it w/o that small sugar addition.
I did aerate the wine before pulling the sample to dose, and I made a 1:1 concentration, 6 grams wine, 6 grams wine, stirred that to dissolve the sugar, and then added 1/20th in volume to dose 100mL of wine with 0.3 mL sugar, so there was very little additional stirring of the 100 mL of wine - that 'syrup mixed in easily.
... Also, may I suggest a Pinot Noir with your salmon, regardless of how you prepare it? DW and I love Sauv Blanc, but enjoy PN more with salmon, you will not be disappointed!
Will give that a try - thanks!
-ERD50