Hey everyone..
My goal is to make a wine, using nothing but organic grapes and sugar
but without any added chemicals.
My question is... What is a method for clearing wine that would not use
any added chemicals. Could I possibly chill it to 35 degrees then run
it through organic, coconut derived, activated charcoal, trapping the
lees and other solids?

P.S. This wine must also be vegan-friendly, cant use egg shells,
gelatin, or other animal derrivatives.

Weebl wrote:
> Hey everyone..
> My goal is to make a wine, using nothing but organic grapes and sugar
> but without any added chemicals.
> My question is... What is a method for clearing wine that would not use
> any added chemicals. Could I possibly chill it to 35 degrees then run
> it through organic, coconut derived, activated charcoal, trapping the
> lees and other solids?
>
> P.S. This wine must also be vegan-friendly, cant use egg shells,
> gelatin, or other animal derrivatives.

Also might want to add we are dealing with a white wine here..

Bentonite...It is nothing more than clay used for clarifying

http://www.eckraus.com/index.php?act...irections.html


"Weebl" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>
> Weebl wrote:
> > Hey everyone..
> > My goal is to make a wine, using nothing but organic grapes and sugar
> > but without any added chemicals.
> > My question is... What is a method for clearing wine that would not use
> > any added chemicals. Could I possibly chill it to 35 degrees then run
> > it through organic, coconut derived, activated charcoal, trapping the
> > lees and other solids?
> >
> > P.S. This wine must also be vegan-friendly, cant use egg shells,
> > gelatin, or other animal derrivatives.
>
> Also might want to add we are dealing with a white wine here..
>

rack it and then rack it again as required to get the clarity you are
seeking.
"Walter Venables" > wrote in message
...
> Bentonite...It is nothing more than clay used for clarifying
>
> http://www.eckraus.com/index.php?act...irections.html
>
>
> "Weebl" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
>>
>> Weebl wrote:
>> > Hey everyone..
>> > My goal is to make a wine, using nothing but organic grapes and sugar
>> > but without any added chemicals.
>> > My question is... What is a method for clearing wine that would not use
>> > any added chemicals. Could I possibly chill it to 35 degrees then run
>> > it through organic, coconut derived, activated charcoal, trapping the
>> > lees and other solids?
>> >
>> > P.S. This wine must also be vegan-friendly, cant use egg shells,
>> > gelatin, or other animal derrivatives.
>>
>> Also might want to add we are dealing with a white wine here..
>>
>
>

It appears as if that clay uses the same method of clarification as
activated charcoal and due to the fact that i already have organic
charcoal I am going to be using it to save money (I dont see any major
difference between clay and charcoal's mode of action)

Ill rack it and let it sit as well to make sure i get most of the
particles settled and seperated out

Weebl ) wrote:
>It appears as if that clay uses the same method of clarification as
>activated charcoal and due to the fact that i already have organic
>charcoal I am going to be using it to save money (I dont see any major
>difference between clay and charcoal's mode of action)

>Ill rack it and let it sit as well to make sure i get most of the
>particles settled and seperated out

I wouldn't use charcoal. IT's used in winemaking for stripping
unwanted flavors, but has the drawback of stripping lots of the
flavors you want to keep, as well. It's a method of last,
desparate, resort.

Bentonite is know to strip flavors too, in higher quantities, but
not nearly so much as charcoal.

Dave
************************************************** **************************
Dave Breeden

"Weebl" > wrote in message
ps.com...
> Hey everyone..
> My goal is to make a wine, using nothing but organic grapes and sugar
> but without any added chemicals.
> My question is... What is a method for clearing wine that would not use
> any added chemicals. Could I possibly chill it to 35 degrees then run
> it through organic, coconut derived, activated charcoal, trapping the
> lees and other solids?
>
> P.S. This wine must also be vegan-friendly, cant use egg shells,
> gelatin, or other animal derrivatives.
>
>
I am a little confused. If you define charcoal as organically derived, then
you could define almost any chemical used to clear wine as organically
drived. The most organic clarifying agent is time. If that does not work
use somethng else be it clay or egg white or gelatin or pectic enzyme or
something else. Charcoal would not be on my list.

Just remember that if you do not use things like K-meta-S or Campden then
concentrate of wines that are better drunk young. Less than 2 years.

Ray

Weebl wrote:
> Hey everyone..
> My goal is to make a wine, using nothing but organic grapes and sugar
> but without any added chemicals.
> My question is... What is a method for clearing wine that would not use
> any added chemicals. Could I possibly chill it to 35 degrees then run
> it through organic, coconut derived, activated charcoal, trapping the
> lees and other solids?
>
> P.S. This wine must also be vegan-friendly, cant use egg shells,
> gelatin, or other animal derrivatives.

Filter the wine.

> Filter the wine.

That is an option, rent a filter.

My whites are pretty clear on their own within 2 months, if you chill
it the tartrates falling out might help clear it too. Bentonite is
pretty cheap as a heads up and you can't get more organic than that.

Once you wine is fermented out, get religious about topping up.
Keeping air away from your wine will be the most important thing you
can do. When you rack, avoid splashing too. Let us know how it turns
out.

You probably know this but organic wines are actually allowed to
contain sulfite. I'm not saying that should influence your decision,
make it the way you want, it will probably be just fine.

You may want to consider small bottles for bottling too so you don't
have to worry about the wine turning once it's opened.

Joe


Joe

Okay, Ive kept it at 60 for the past few days and am tranfering to my
fridge where it will stay about 35 for another 2 weeks, then ill rack
it again and put it back into the fridge :-)
Its a tad clearer than it was before so Im betting even colder temps
couldnt hurt
Joe Sallustio wrote:
> > Filter the wine.
>
> That is an option, rent a filter.
>
> My whites are pretty clear on their own within 2 months, if you chill
> it the tartrates falling out might help clear it too. Bentonite is
> pretty cheap as a heads up and you can't get more organic than that.
>
> Once you wine is fermented out, get religious about topping up.
> Keeping air away from your wine will be the most important thing you
> can do. When you rack, avoid splashing too. Let us know how it turns
> out.
>
> You probably know this but organic wines are actually allowed to
> contain sulfite. I'm not saying that should influence your decision,
> make it the way you want, it will probably be just fine.
>
> You may want to consider small bottles for bottling too so you don't
> have to worry about the wine turning once it's opened.
>
> Joe
>
>
> Joe

Joe Sallustio wrote:
> You probably know this but organic wines are actually allowed to
> contain sulfite.

Technically this is true but possibly a little misleading. I understand
the OP didn't ask about certified organic, but just wanted to point out
that to be certified organic wine in the US the wine cannot contain
ADDED sulfites. Alternatively wine can be labelled "Grown with organic
ingredients" (or something close to that, I forget the exact wording)
and have added sulfites to 100ppm.

I think most European organic certifying agencies allow added sulfites
but even certified organic wines from other countries entering the US
cannot be called organic wine if they have added sulfites. The National
Organic Board's stance on sulfites in wine is very controversial to say
the least. For one thing they allow sulfur to be used in organic
growing of grapes.