# Clearing Red Wine



## sdelli (May 9, 2018)

How do you clear your red wines? Any additional tricks beyond racking and time? It can be filtered but in large quantities could be a huge task.


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## pgentile (May 9, 2018)

Racking and time here, my reds are usually clear around 9-12 months.


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## Boatboy24 (May 9, 2018)

Racking and time here as well. One thing I've learned is that when you think its ready to bottle, rack it and let it sit for at least another week or two. Back in January, I had planned to blend and bottle my 2016's. Upon racking the first wine, I realized at least some of them still had some sediment. I went ahead and racked, then blended, but put off bottling. Sure enough, I had sediment in every carboy. Still haven't bottled most of the 2016's, but am ready to do one final racking. I'll do that, then wait a week or so before bottling (before which, I'll rack one last time).


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## NorCal (May 9, 2018)

You can use clearing/finning agents if the wine isn’t clear, but give it a year or so, it should be good.

If you use a filter when you are doing your final, pre-bottling racking, it doesn’t add any time (assuming the capacity of the filter can keep up with the pump).


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## Johny99 (May 10, 2018)

Racks and time for me as well. I age mine in bulk at least two years, but they generally fall clear I;less than one.


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## sdelli (May 10, 2018)

My schedule for years is I crush the first week of November. Rack then mlf. Rack then barrels. Do not bottle until the second April. A year and a half. Rack a couple few times in that time frame. Maybe Finn with egg whites at the end depending on the taste. But in my last couple batches there is no sediment but the wine looks cloudy! Taste great... Everything just fine... But not as clear as I want it... Crazy...


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## jgmillr1 (May 10, 2018)

I will give the dry reds a 1-micron filter immediately before bottling and after they've aged for a year in the barrels. The wine is clear after the barrel aging, the filtering is simply to prevent any yeast sediment that was kicked up during racking out of the barrel from making it into the bottle.


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## Venatorscribe (May 11, 2018)

Racking and time, same as everyone else. I keep thinking about some form of filtering but don't want to spend the money on something that I probably don't need.


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## meadmaker1 (May 12, 2018)

I do friut wines but rack and time. Filtering seems to me would be more feasible for larger amounts. For five gallons doing nothing, but add a little bentonite early on, cant be easier.


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## masic2000 (Nov 8, 2018)

Has anyone tried using coffee filters during racking ? I haven't tried this, but wondering if they are fine enough to capture some lees or dead yeast while transferring . . . in addition to the proper tube attachment.


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## cmason1957 (Nov 8, 2018)

Coffee filters are very good for one thing. Filtering coffee. The average size of the holes is about 20 microns. Most people feel that filtering wine down to 5 microns is about the right amount, if you filter at all. Time and repeated rackings work better than a coffee filter.


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## Bubba1 (Nov 8, 2018)

I bottled my Sangiovese after 14 months bulk aging about 3 rackings and was clear as a bell the bottom of the carboy was full of wine diamonds.


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## winemaker81 (Nov 11, 2018)

masic2000 said:


> Has anyone tried using coffee filters during racking ? I haven't tried this, but wondering if they are fine enough to capture some lees or dead yeast while transferring . . . in addition to the proper tube attachment.


I use coffee filters for filtering limoncello after straining out the lemon zest. They plug REALLY fast -- I may go through a dozen filters for a 3.5 gallon batch.


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## winemaker81 (Nov 11, 2018)

I have started using kieselso/chitosan for all wines. Once the wine is degassed, the clearing takes less than a week.


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## Venatorscribe (Nov 11, 2018)

Bubba1 said:


> I bottled my Sangiovese after 14 months bulk aging about 3 rackings and was clear as a bell the bottom of the carboy was full of wine diamonds.View attachment 52107


Hi, apartfrom racking your Sangiovese, did you use any fining agents


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## winemaker81 (Nov 12, 2018)

winemaker81 said:


> I use coffee filters for filtering limoncello after straining out the lemon zest. They plug REALLY fast -- I may go through a dozen filters for a 3.5 gallon batch.


Hmmm. I can't find a way to edit the post. Anyway, the limoncello batch is 3.5 _quarts_, not gallons.


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## Bubba1 (Nov 13, 2018)

No fining agents just time and a couple of vacuum rackings


Venatorscribe said:


> Hi, apartfrom racking your Sangiovese, did you use any fining agents


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## Newine (Nov 14, 2018)

After about six months I put a carboys in a fridge I have for this purpose. Set as cold as it can go for at least a month. Ton of precipitation falls out, assume it's a lot of tartaric. Rack after and give another carboy it's turn. Got perfect scores on clarity the one wine I entered in a contest. Follow an every three month racking schedule in addition. No fining


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## masic2000 (Nov 15, 2018)

Shouldn't the temp. be kept constant, between (45 - 65F) with ideal being 55? I think playing with temperature swings can be bad for the taste. Even increasing the temp. to 75 for degassing should be avoided . . .The best approach would be to degas naturally over time and vacuum rack every 3 months to minimize oxidation.


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## Newine (Nov 15, 2018)

Cold stabilization is a common treatment.


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## winemaker81 (Nov 15, 2018)

Newine said:


> Cold stabilization is a common treatment.


When I lived in upstate NY, it was common (probably still is) to put the carboys in a covered porch for a week or so. My porch rarely dropped below freezing.

We did it to reduce acidity (Finger Lakes hybrid whites tend to be fairly acidic) although the side effect of clearly the wine was appreciated.


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