(MOhar871) wrote in message ...
I am one month into several gallons of juice. Supposedly, these will take about
3 or 4 months. To make a long story short, last time I made wine from juice I
ended up aith a lot of tartaric crystals in my wine and was told cold
stabilization can take care of this. I am assuming, if the weather is just
right...I can put these carboys outside? it is fairly chilly here right now,
40's and 50's. Would a week outside do the trick. Obviously, it wont be a
constant temp...but much cooler then it is in the house...Thanks so much,
Marlene

I live north of Buffalo (NY). When my wine is done fermenting and I'm
sure that all sugar has been consumed and that I've racked off a lot
of sediment, I bring my carboys up to the garage and leave them in
there for a month or so. Even when it's 10 degrees outside, the
garage is warm enough not to freeze the wine, but like the other
poster, I'd put vodka in the airlocks 'cause the water will freeze
sooner than the wine. I rack while it's still cold, so the crystals
don't dissolve, then bring back to the basement for some long-term
ageing.

If there's any sugar left in the wine, cold stabilization will only
deactivate the yeast cells, not kill them, and they may come back to
life when brought back to temp. and renew the fermentation. So...I
always make sure it's fermented to dryness before cold-stabilizing. I
know some people use K-sorbate to halt yeast activity, but I don't
like putting it in my wines.

Mark L.
Buffalo-Niagara USA