I know this is a common topic but I bottled a Muscato that I racked
three times. It was crystal clear when I bottled it but now, after
three weeks it still has a cloudy haze to it. I didn't use any
isinglass because I figured it was clear enough. Anyone know how it
can become hazy like this? I made it from juice, too, if that's any
help. It sat in my basement at about 65 degrees for five months before
I bottled it.

Did you cold stabilize it? Has the wine been cooler than 65° lately? If
the answers are "no" and "yes", then quite possibly you have a haze of
tiny tartrate crystals. This is why white wines are usually cold
stabilized before bottling. 65° just isn't cold enough to make excess
tartrate precipitate out.
Can you give us more info on your procedure?

--
Mike MTM, Cokesbury, NJ, USA

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wrote in message
oups.com...
I know this is a common topic but I bottled a Muscato that I racked
three times. It was crystal clear when I bottled it but now, after
three weeks it still has a cloudy haze to it. I didn't use any
isinglass because I figured it was clear enough. Anyone know how it
can become hazy like this? I made it from juice, too, if that's any
help. It sat in my basement at about 65 degrees for five months before
I bottled it.


Your Muscato might have a protein haze. Grapes contain small quantities of
protein, and the protein is carried over from the grapes into the wine
during fermentation. Originally, the protein molecules are much too small
to be visible in the wine. However, under certain conditions protein
molecules link together (polymerize) and grow larger. After many protein
molecules have linked together, the protein particles are large enough to be
visible. This growth process is very slow at normal cellar temperatures,
but when wine becomes warm, the protein molecules grow more rapidly. At
temperatures of about 120 degrees, protein molecules can link together and
form large particles in a short time. When white or blush wines are
subjected to warm storage conditions, protein hazes can form quickly, so all
commercial white and blush wines are specifically treated with Bentonite to
remove the excess protein before bottling. Winemakers call protein haze hot
instability because warm storage conditions trigger the phenomena. Leaving
a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc in a car trunk on a hot summer day can easily
produce a graphic demonstration of hot instability.

that my friend what filtering catches befrore it goes forth down the
road.......it is still good , or just filter it and clean it......it will
just be prettier, no different in taste..donny
wrote in message
oups.com...
I know this is a common topic but I bottled a Muscato that I racked
three times. It was crystal clear when I bottled it but now, after
three weeks it still has a cloudy haze to it. I didn't use any
isinglass because I figured it was clear enough. Anyone know how it
can become hazy like this? I made it from juice, too, if that's any
help. It sat in my basement at about 65 degrees for five months before
I bottled it.

Donny,
Filtering will not make a wine "protein stable"- just because a wine
goes into a bottle clear does not mean it is going to stay that way. It is
good practice to both hot and cold stabilize your wines. This is a bit of a
generalized statement and their are times that it may not be practiced. The
point I wish to make is that filtering is not the answer to this problem in
my opinion.
John Dixon
"Donny Tyler" wrote in message
...
that my friend what filtering catches befrore it goes forth down the
road.......it is still good , or just filter it and clean it......it will
just be prettier, no different in taste..donny
wrote in message
oups.com...
I know this is a common topic but I bottled a Muscato that I racked
three times. It was crystal clear when I bottled it but now, after
three weeks it still has a cloudy haze to it. I didn't use any
isinglass because I figured it was clear enough. Anyone know how it
can become hazy like this? I made it from juice, too, if that's any
help. It sat in my basement at about 65 degrees for five months before
I bottled it.