Cabernet Merlot, Port-Style: Fortification

Fortification 

a.k.a., "Yo dawg, I heard you like booze in your booze..."

So, it's been almost four months since I start this batch of wine, and it's come along quite nicely.

Due to my poor book-keeping (which I intend to improve upon), all I remember is that, after adding the corn sugar, the wine petered out at a respectable 16% ABV. I tried keeping the yeast going strong by adding some yeast nutrient to it, to little effect.

So, after I saw the alcohol stay at 16% for a while, it was time to go out shopping for some brandy. At the shop, I reached on down to grab the biggest bottle I could find from the bottom shelf.  As I was scanning across them, I told myself that I'm going to end up having 40+ bottles of this stuff, and I'd be investing quite a bit of time and money into this batch. So, I rethought the situation and reached for the second-to-bottom shelf and grabbed some E&J VSOP Brandy (40% ABV).

Yeah, it's pretty much empty. There's a reason for that...

Using Pearson's Square, I figured out that since I have 4 gallons of 16% wine, I would need to add 0.56 gallons (2.12L) of 40% brandy in order to get it to at least 19%. So I racked the Cabernet-Merlot into a new carboy, poured myself a small glass of brandy, and then poured almost all the rest of two big bottles into the mix. Then, it was time to set the carboy down for the long haul, letting it degas and settle for a few months.