Cold Stabilization 1
The process of ‘cold stabilization’ helps to minimize how many tartrate crystals will form in the finished wine. These crystals (they look like glass shards) usually show up on the cork or as sediment in the wine. This typically is more of a problem in white wines since they are usually chilled which drives the formation of these crystals. Chilling the wine to the mid thirties for an extended time (say a month) before it makes it into the bottle, can help to precipitate this to the bottom of the carboy. During the next racking (transferring from one carboy to another) the wine can be siphoned off leaving the sediment behind.
Rotating the 5 frozen bottles (thanks to my Dad for and endless supply of empty V8 bottles and Mary’s commercial freezer!) daily seems to do the trick.
Cold Stabilization 1
The process of ‘cold stabilization’ helps to minimize how many tartrate crystals will form in the finished wine. These crystals (they look like glass shards) usually show up on the cork or as sediment in the wine. This typically is more of a problem in white wines since they are usually chilled which drives the formation of these crystals. Chilling the wine to the mid thirties for an extended time (say a month) before it makes it into the bottle, can help to precipitate this to the bottom of the carboy. During the next racking (transferring from one carboy to another) the wine can be siphoned off leaving the sediment behind.
Rotating the 5 frozen bottles (thanks to my Dad for and endless supply of empty V8 bottles and Mary’s commercial freezer!) daily seems to do the trick.