Wine making

[Thomas]

If I remember correctly, Campden tablets are sulfur dioxide SO2. Every time you add SO2 some of it binds in solution and some remains free; the bound type builds and the free type dissipates over time. There is a kit to measure SO2 in solution; look for it at the winemakers' shop. If you add SO2 indiscriminately you will ruin the wine (strip it, mostly). More importantly, if you allow the free SO2 to get out of hand, anyone with asthma who breathes in the stuff could have a serious respiratory reaction.

About that specific gravity of your Cabernet: 1 seems too high--too sweet, unless you like sweet red wine.

Do you guys have any home winemaker books? If you follow a good book you will learn a lot about what to do and not to do. Look for Philip Wagner's "Grapes Into Wine."