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
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 snipped-for-privacy@lightlink.com
Pp
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
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
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.
DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.