"Dan Emerson" > wrote in message
om...
> I have about 15 litres of white wine from a blend of Pinot Gris and
> Chardonnay. It has finished alcoholic and malolactic fermentation and
> I have racked it off the lees and oak. The color is a fairly dark
> brown for a white wine and I don't know why.

Have you sulfited it yet? That will tend to bleach the color.

There appears to be a
> heavy particulate load as the wine is nearly opaque after
> fermentation. I wasn't concerned about this, looking forward to
> fining to see what color it was going to be.

Sounds to me like you're rushing things. Let it sit, topped up and
sulfited, for a few months. It should spontaneously clarify pretty well on
its own. Then you can hit it with Bentonite and Kieselsohl to heat
stabilize it, and chill it to cold stabilize it and tamp down the lees. It
should be quite clear after that.

> I first fined it with Spakalloid. Nothing happened except the
> Sparalloid settled to the bottom. Then I hit it with a couple of
> teaspoons of Bentonite. Still nothing happened. What is this? The
> wine smells good and tastes fine, expect I have to drop some acid
> through cold stabalization. What do I need to do?

You're too impatient if you're hitting it with fining agents so soon after
fermentation. All that suspended matter is too much of a load for finings
to work effectively on. Fining is not primarily for clarification; that's
frequently one result of fining, but it's a _side_ benefit. Fining is
mostly about stability and flavor improvement.

Tom S