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. 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.

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?

Dan

"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

Thanks Tom,

Yes I have sulfited and it is in good stable condition. Its just that
I've never seen such opaque wine after fermentation. Fermentation was
complete more than a month ago and still the wine is opaque (for a
white of course). I'll wait a while.

If it clears to mildly tubid, can I re-stir the finings or are they
spent?

Dan

"Tom S" > wrote in message om>...
> "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

"Dan Emerson" > wrote in message
m...
> Thanks Tom,
>
> Yes I have sulfited and it is in good stable condition. Its just that
> I've never seen such opaque wine after fermentation. Fermentation was
> complete more than a month ago and still the wine is opaque (for a
> white of course). I'll wait a while.
>
> If it clears to mildly tubid, can I re-stir the finings or are they
> spent?

You'll need to rack and fine again. It would be a good idea to do some
bench trials to determine what to fine with.

Frankly, it worries me that the wine is brown after fermentation and
sulfiting. A young Chardonnay should have a distinctly perceptible greenish
cast to it - even if it has been fermented in the presence of wood. Maybe
it'll look more normal after it settles out.

Tom S

My Chardonay looked green after it was done fermenting.
I thought something was wrong with it.
over a month in the garage with oak, it is turning yellow now.

It is clear as can be, with no added finning


On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 03:19:39 GMT, "Tom S" >
wrote:

>
>"Dan Emerson" > wrote in message
om...
>> Thanks Tom,
>>
>> Yes I have sulfited and it is in good stable condition. Its just that
>> I've never seen such opaque wine after fermentation. Fermentation was
>> complete more than a month ago and still the wine is opaque (for a
>> white of course). I'll wait a while.
>>
>> If it clears to mildly tubid, can I re-stir the finings or are they
>> spent?
>
>You'll need to rack and fine again. It would be a good idea to do some
>bench trials to determine what to fine with.
>
>Frankly, it worries me that the wine is brown after fermentation and
>sulfiting. A young Chardonnay should have a distinctly perceptible greenish
>cast to it - even if it has been fermented in the presence of wood. Maybe
>it'll look more normal after it settles out.
>
>Tom S
>

I don't have much volume to do bench trials, only three gallons! I'm
concerned about the color too. I have a smaller volume in a one litre
bottle in the fridge that I am saving for topping. It's color is
better after cold stabilization.

This is my first white wine from grapes. I pressed pretty hard with
an Idrophore press. One press pass and then a break up of the pomace
and a second press. Maybe I pressed too hard and got high tannins?

The numbers we

Brix 24.5
T.A. 7.2 gm/l
Don't have a pH recorded but I recall it was OK.

Fermented cool at around 55 degrees with EC1118. It was slow.

I don't know how this will turn out. I guess I'll wait and see. It
is stable and can sit as long as necessary.

Thanks for your comments.

Dan


"Tom S" > wrote in message om>...
> "Dan Emerson" > wrote in message
> m...
> > Thanks Tom,
> >
> > Yes I have sulfited and it is in good stable condition. Its just that
> > I've never seen such opaque wine after fermentation. Fermentation was
> > complete more than a month ago and still the wine is opaque (for a
> > white of course). I'll wait a while.
> >
> > If it clears to mildly tubid, can I re-stir the finings or are they
> > spent?
>
> You'll need to rack and fine again. It would be a good idea to do some
> bench trials to determine what to fine with.
>
> Frankly, it worries me that the wine is brown after fermentation and
> sulfiting. A young Chardonnay should have a distinctly perceptible greenish
> cast to it - even if it has been fermented in the presence of wood. Maybe
> it'll look more normal after it settles out.
>
> Tom S