I am going to use Kieselsol & Gelatin to fine some white wine that has not cleared on its own and I am wondering should I rack the wine first or just add the fining agents? There is a layer of sediment at the bottom of the carboids and a friend of mine said that the fining agents need something to hang onto, leading me to believe that the more cloudy the wine is the better for the fining. Also how soon after adding the Kieselsol & Gelatin should I rack the wine? Can I leave it till it is clear or should I rack it within a specific time? Thank you for your advice in advance.
Using Fining Agents
Nov 25, 2006
2 Replies
I am wondering should I rack the wine first
Smell the wine, if it smells good just add the fining agents. I don't see much reason to rack it ahead other than that. I don't know that I would say cloudy is better though. Rack it when it's clear; when it looks clean measure the height of the lees and look at it a few days later; it may compact a bit. Don't throw them out, either, resettle them in another bottle.
Joe
That sounds like you friend makes kit wines? Some kit makers design their kits that way - the goal is to minimize racking in the overall goal to finish the wine as fast as possible. That applies to a specific "formula" wine, done according to a recipe and fined with provided fining agents, where that whole procedure has been tested extensively in the lab - and the fining approach differs among the kit companies as well.
When you work with fresh grapes or fruit, the overall situation is very different, so chances are the "kit approach" to fining might not work very well, or at the very least, you'll end up using more fining agents than actually needed.
Pp
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