Fining

What about good ol' egg whites ?

that just sounds disgusting.

Isinglass is _excellent_ for some wines - including reds. I fined my 2004 Chardonnay with isinglass after doing trials against my usual gelatin. The isinglass treated wine had better mouth feel. It was a subtle difference, but distinct.

Tom S

Personally, I don't care for egg white fining. It's not nearly as aggressive as gelatin, so you need to use more for a given wine, and it's a lot more trouble to prepare.

That said, I wouldn't rule it out.

Tom S

Yeah, gelatin is really powerfull and can strip a lot out of wine. Bentonite on the other hand is fairly gentle. Isenglass and aparkaloid are inbetween.

I use gelatin when I have a really really hazy fruit wine (like from plums, peaches, apricots -the worst-). It will pull out a pectin haze, I do not know of any other fining that will very well. If you do use gelatin, you will most likely want to add some tannin back...it takes that out too. Also I find that gelatin works better if left for a long time to fully settle. That is fine early, rack off the lees and then bulk age. A lot of times you will find "jellyfish" sitting on the bottom 9 months after fining. It would suck to have that in the bottle.

Persoanlly, I think every wine maker (assuming they make more than just grape wines) should have an arsenal of fining agents to use if need be. At least 3, isinglass or sparlaloid, gelatin (high pectin wines only) and bentonite.

Of course, there are dozens of finings you could use, try a few and decide which ones you like

I am a newbie but have not yet needed to use any fining materials for my grape wines (only made 4 so far ... 3 from concentrates and one from grapes from garden). However, I plan to make my first CHERRY (sour) wine this coming summer (I have a BIG tree). I have all three finings (Bentonite, Sparkaloid, and Gelatin) ... which of these would you try first for cherry wine if needed? Is one of these an obvious choice for cherry or would you simply start with the most gentle (bentonite) then try sparkaloid, then gelatin if still needed?

Thanks in advance for any comments! Roger L. Pelletier Aurora, NE USA

Hey Roger,

I am in Lincoln, my sister lives in Aurora.

It will really depend on what problem you have. The worse the wine looks, the stronger the fining you will want to use. If it is sitting there for 6 months and is still as thick as mud, go with the gelatin (again, only ever seen that needed in drupe wines -apricots, plums, peaches in that order of severity). If it just has a hint of haze, you could clear it by cold stabilization even. It really becomes a judgement call.

Cherries have significant pectin, but they are small enough that you can extract most of the juice without too much maceration, which I think is the biggest problem with things like apricots.

Thanks Droopy ... that helps.

I plan to try Jack Keller's recipe (North Star {sour} cherry wine). It calls for pectic enzyme up front. I wasn't sure if cherries had a lot of pectin or not so your response is helpful ... I'll make sure I use an ample quantity.

It's a small world! I buy some of my supplies from Kirk's Brewshop in Lincoln whenever I make a trip to Lincoln or Omaha. If you want some cherries come late-June, let me know. We usually always have buckets and buckets that just rot and go to the birds!

Thanks again, Roger L. Pelletier Aurora, NE USA

In article , Wino-Nouveau writes

I have been very pleased with results from using Bentonite in fruit and concentrated grape juice wines. I learned from this group to add it to the must at the start making the wines, but it can be added later if need be. Soak a little in water for 24hrs. then add about a teaspoonful of the mix to each gallon. It settles as sediment once it has done its job, and it is not a problem when racking.

Thanks Alan. I noticed a lot of kit wines also add Bentonite to the must prior to fermantation. I was planning to make 2 batches of cherry wine anyway so maybe I'll do one with pectic enzyme and one with Bentonite.

RogerL. Pelletier Aurora, NE USA

Sounds like you should be using pectic enzyme to treat that problem - not gelatin.

Tom S

I do use pectic enzyme. It still happens.

More trouble? You think so? I think egg whites are easier to prepare than making a bentonite slurry. Neither are very difficult.

One point this thread seems to be missing; the differences in fining reasons and strategies between whites and reds. With whites, it is not uncommon to use two fining agents in sequence; one positive, one negative. Some winemakers consider this necessary to clear a white of protein haze.

With reds, the issue is much more subtle; whehter to fine or not depends on the wine, and what you want of it. I like fining some reds that tend to be too harsh (tannins) with egg whites. I have some Syrah finishing secondary right now that I will likely egg white fine in the search for a Rhone style blender.

Bentonite isn't that bad to prepare. I boil a liter of water, pour it while hot into a blender, turn it on low and dump 50 to 60 grams of bentonite in and mix for a couple of minutes, using a rubber spatula to push the mud down the upper walls of the blender. You need to be careful not to (1) burn yourself with the hot water and (2) not to get the spatula into the blade while it's running. If you're a klutz, turn the blender off while scraping down. When the mixture is smoothly blended with no lumps, pour it (still hot) into a jug or bottle to finish hydrating for a day or two before using. Shake it up and you're ready to go!

The reasons and strategies are similar, but have small differences. Most reds don't require bentonite fining. In the first place, clarity isn't as much of an issue with reds as it is in whites. Also, most reds don't tend to throw protein haze. The dominant precipitate in reds is polymerized tannins.

That said, there are a couple of exceptions: (1) Pinot Noir, which tends to throw protein deposits in bottle if it is not treated with bentonite, and (2) reds that you wish to filter. Filters tend to become blinded more readily unless the wine in question has been at least lightly bentonite fined.

Most white wines don't require tannin reduction, but barrel aged whites can be an exception.

Aside from that, fining objectives are the same for reds and whites. The goal is always to make the wine taste better.

Tom S