On Sep 14, 12:01 pm, Doug wrote:
Kentucky -
Q1. Yes.
Q2. Tartrate crystals often form in grape wines. The usual
procedure is called "cold stabilization", and involves cooling the
wine close to freezing for a few weeks, to cause some of the tartaric
acid to precipitate out. Those of us in the North generally do this
over the winter, by putting the carboy outside for a few weeks. There
are other things you can do, but none as simple or effective. If this
isn't practical for you, just decant or strain the wine. The crystals
do not harm the wine - it's really a cosmetic issue.

Doug

Agreed on both; I have always wondered if the reason a Bordeaux bottle
has shoulders is to make it easier to decant and leave things like
cream of tartar behind. Not to mention they stack a heck of a lot
easier than anything else.

You have to get the wine close to 25F for it to pull cream of tartar
fast but long exposure (weeks to months) at higher temps arouind 40F
works too, just slowly.

Joe