I'm making a Sauvignon Blanc from frozen juice from Peter Brehm. All
is good so far and am planning the fining, bentonite + gelatin? +
isinglass. My question is, how clear should the wine be before you
start fining. Right now, there is a gradient from cloudy at the top
to pretty murky at the bottom. So it is still settling naturally.
When should I start?

"Dan Emerson" > wrote in message
om...
> I'm making a Sauvignon Blanc from frozen juice from Peter Brehm. All
> is good so far and am planning the fining, bentonite + gelatin? +
> isinglass.

Usually it's gelatin _or_ isinglass. I'd also recommend that you include
kieselsohl in there somewhere - probably after the bentonite.

My question is, how clear should the wine be before you
> start fining. Right now, there is a gradient from cloudy at the top
> to pretty murky at the bottom. So it is still settling naturally.
> When should I start?

The wine doesn't need to be that clear when you fine it, but racking off
most of the lees first is probably a good idea.

Tom S

Tom,
I usually only use Bentonite and Sparkaloid. I'd use gelatin if there
was a protein haze only. I do the same for Chard. Why gelatin and
kleisosol (sp?)?

thanks,
Gary

"Lewis Family Vineyards" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> Tom,
> I usually only use Bentonite and Sparkaloid. I'd use gelatin if there
> was a protein haze only. I do the same for Chard. Why gelatin and
> kleisosol (sp?)?

I use that combination on Chardonnay because it makes the wine _taste_
better. It improves the mouth feel of wines I've used it on. It is also
effective on other whites and red wines.

Fining is mostly about improving the flavor of wine. Heat stability and
clarification are effects of _secondary_ importance.

Tom S

As always, thanks Tom!! I'll give it a go...