# Cold stabilizing question



## nicklausjames (Jan 28, 2015)

Rather than keeping the wine at 20-25 degrees for a couple days will keeping it at 40 for a month drop the tartrate?


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## Deezil (Jan 28, 2015)

Not to the same degree. It will drop some, but not as much


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## vacuumpumpman (Jan 28, 2015)

I will typically cold stabilize at 28 degrees Fahrenheit for approx 4-6 weeks 

It almost takes a day in itself to drop down to that temperature from room temperature for a 6 gallon container. ( just an estimated guess ) I personally would go with the 40 degrees for a month rather than 2 days at 20-25 degrees 

also you may get slushy or possibly freeze the wine at those temps all depending on your alcohol content.


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## cmason1957 (Jan 28, 2015)

For me, it depends on reds or whites. Reds 2-3 weeks at about 33. Whites 4-6 weeks at about 33. 33 is what my refrigerator gets down to. The difference in time, reds I figure won't get chilled much, whites will. I think most all that is going to drop happens in the first couple of weeks, but who knows for sure.


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## ibglowin (Jan 29, 2015)

Your basically making the wine "stable" down to whatever temp you take it to. In your case whatever drops out at 40 degrees you are now stable down to that level and you should not see anymore diamonds forming if you store the wine at or above 40 degrees.


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## shoebiedoo (Jan 29, 2015)

My wife promised I could have the freezer in the basement once it gets empty funny how food always finds it's way down there. in the mean time is use this statement on bottles not consumed by me:

"to preserve the integrity of the wine, this wine has neither been filtered or cold stabilized. As a result, it is possible you could find "sediment" resembling white sand at the bottom of the bottle. this will not effect the taste or quality of the wine

Enjoy"

I know it's BS but, that's how I stabilize my wines


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## sour_grapes (Jan 29, 2015)

shoebiedoo said:


> My wife promised I could have the freezer in the basement once it gets empty funny how food always finds it's way down there. in the mean time is use this statement on bottles not consumed by me:
> 
> "to preserve the integrity of the wine, this wine has neither been filtered or cold stabilized. As a result, it is possible you could find "sediment" resembling white sand at the bottom of the bottle. this will not effect the taste or quality of the wine
> 
> ...



If you actually put that verbatim on your bottles, perhaps you want to change "effect" to "affect" in your verbiage.

(If this was just an example off the top of your head, then never mind.)


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## shoebiedoo (Jan 29, 2015)

Naw, it was off the top of my head. I do, however tell people they could find the white diamonds. some day I'll get to use MY freezer


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## Deezil (Jan 29, 2015)

Every wine is different, so while there are general guidelines, hard and fast rules don't always work in every case. Basically, you'll just have to try it.

It's moreso a combination of the temp & the time it spends at that temp, than it is one or the other


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## terroirdejeroir (Jan 30, 2015)

cmason1957 said:


> For me, it depends on reds or whites. Reds 2-3 weeks at about 33. Whites 4-6 weeks at about 33. 33 is what my refrigerator gets down to. The difference in time, reds I figure won't get chilled much, whites will. I think most all that is going to drop happens in the first couple of weeks, but who knows for sure.



I am no expert at CS, but I have used a similar 33 degree refrigerator approach. FWIW, I found this works much better with wine made from grapes than with kits. Specifically, I get a lot more precipitate with the grape wines and they don't drop diamonds in the bottle. The kit wines will precipitate some, but I still get diamonds/sludge in the bottle. I no longer CS the kit wines....


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## ffemt128 (Feb 4, 2015)

I have both an extra fridge and freezer however both are always full. No room to CS there. This time of year I stick my carboys outside my cellar door under the door that covers the stairs. I have 36 gallons out there now and the temperature at last check was 33 degrees. Depending on the outside temps, it doesn't get much below that given that is is 6' underground and protected from wind. I plan on bringing in on Saturday and racking off sediment. I generally leave outside for 2-3 weeks, this batch will be 2 weeks on Friday. I can generally get 6-8 carboys out there at a time due to space and the fact that I don't like them above the 2nd step. 

DerekJames, I don't stir during CS.


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## cmason1957 (Feb 4, 2015)

I stir during MLF, but let sit undisturbed for about a month after adding K meta upon completion. I don't stir during cold stabilization and rack soon after my 2-3 weeks is up. If you rack soon after stirring you are not removing much.


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## salcoco (Feb 4, 2015)

assuming wine from grapes, you should rack at least once to remove gross lees. then do MLF and subsequent stirring. no stirring is required for cold stablization


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## cmason1957 (Feb 4, 2015)

I never add anything to "help" CS. I just put the wine into my fridge at about 30 or so, leave it for a week or three, take it out, rack. I usually rinse out a large amount of tartrates. Enough that I am sure I won't get any later.


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## Julie (Feb 4, 2015)

Why are you using cream of tartar for cold stabilization? Cold stabilization is a method to drop excess acid but you are adding acid prior to cold stabilization?


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## Deezil (Feb 4, 2015)

In an attempt to 'seed' the batch to get it to drop more acidity quicker... but it is a bit unnecessary.


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## cmason1957 (Feb 4, 2015)

Cream of tartar does not dissolve in the wine and does not increase the acid in the wine, it is potassium bitartrate and not tartaric acid. 

I don't think it is needed, but it is not unusual to use it. It gives the tartaric acid a place to build crystals. As I said in the other post on this subject, I always get a large amount out, just getting it cold for enough time.


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## Deezil (Feb 4, 2015)

Just FYI, 

I merged your two threads together because they're basically the same topic, in order to reduce clutter


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