Fermentation Continuing After Clearing!

I am making my second batch of Pinot Grigio (Master Vintner 6 gal). Everything has gone well except…
The specific gravity fell to 0.996 and the fermentation appeared to have stopped as indicated by no more regular bubbling; to be certain I waited several more days as I noticed there would be an infrequent bubble coming out. I thought it might even be caused by the temperature fluctuating. So being finally convinced, I degassed the wine by transferring to another fermenter, agitating the dickens out of it and transferring to a carboy for clearing. After adding the bisulfite and sorbate and clearing agents, the wine has clarified very nicely. EXCEPT, I noticed that it is producing an occasional bubble as if it is still fermenting! I have read that neither the sulfite or sorbate actually kill the yeast; the sorbate only causes the yeast to fail to reproduce; they can still consume the sugar. So I am in a quandary about what to do. I think I will transfer the wine once more to separate it from the sediment where the remaining live yeast must reside before bottling. Any thoughts?

Making wine requires patience. Every time you rack you will get some activity from degassing. Don’t rack it to often. I don’t put any of that stuff in my wine. Just let it finish and rest to settle. I’m not sure agitating the Dickens out of it is something you want to do.

I agree with brew_cat. It is most likely done fermenting at .996 but there is dissolved co2 in there still.

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In addition, weather conditions can create a ‘false’ fermentation. Changes in ambient temps, atmospheric pressure can allow CO2 to escape.

Keg, bottle… It’s dry and ready…
Sneezles61

So all ended well. Wine turned out a (IMHO) perfect balance of dryness & fruit. I had driven out the CO2 and added the Sorbate and Bisulphite but the key factor I believe was allowing the wine to clear,-FULLY. No bubbling whatsoever after the wine was allowed to clear for 7 days, although it seemed clear after only 2-3. Waiting the full seven was important. I also racked the wine one last time immediately before bottling to be certain to separate out the sediment. Used the synthetic corks this time as the composite corks have allowed the wine to gradually creep up even after just 6 months. After a year I had one bottle with red wine within a quarter inch of the top!!

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Sounds like the wine is degassing

Absolutely!

Every time you rack you run risk of infection,