In the past I have been ocassionally plagued by this and are currently having the following problem. I made a batch of wine from fresh juice (cabernet) and when finished I filtered with a #2 filter to polish. After bottling and storing for about 1-2 months I noticed that the wine bottles show a heavy stain when consuming a bottle. The area where the cork was of course remains clear but the area where the wine was is badly stained.
What did I do wrong and how can I prevent this happening?
A year's bulk aging in either glass or stainless prior to bottling should encourage most of that sediment to drop out therein, rather than in your bottles.
Tom S
Do you mean a hazy layer on the glass or sediment in the bottom? probably have tartrates forming and need to cold stabilize to get them drop out before you bottle or you need to wait longer in bulk storage.
I sometimes get this with petite syrah, the darkest red our group does, in carboy or bottle. I typically use Oxy Clean (yes, that over-hyped product by Billy Someone does have a use) in warm water to remove the stain. Let it sit for a couple hours and it should come off with no scrubbing.
That isn't a cold stability problem. If you had bulk aged the wine for 6 months to a year (or more) all that crud would have dropped out in the carboy or tank. You probably could have then bottled without the need to filter the wine.
Winemaking requires patience - especially if you're making reds.
Tom S
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