> "Lum" > wrote in message
>...
> >
> > I agree that an experiment such as this can't address what will happen
to
> > filtered wine in 20 years. But, it seems to me that Roberta's
experiment
> > does prove that a tight filtration did not significantly change the near
> > term characteristics of _those_ particular wines.

The filtered vs unfiltered debate will probably never end to everyone's
satisfaction, but it's been my observation that some wines are the better
for filtration and others poorer. It all depends on the specific wine in
question.

On balance, however, I'd say that the optimum is to produce clean wines that
do not require filtration. That's not the idealist speaking; rather the
lazy pragmatist.

Unfiltered wines are subjected to less handling. I'm sure that all would
agree that less manipulation required between the vine and the bottle
reduces the exposure of the wine to deleterious effects of oxygen and
spoilage organisms. So sayeth the pragmatist.

Less handling of the wine means more free time to surf the web, watch
videos, go on vacation or simply _sleep_! That's where the lazy/leisure
part comes in. :^)

Tom S